Athyrium Filix-Fcemina, Roth. 
Asplenium Filix-Foemina, Hooker and Arnott. 
LADY FERN. 
Root— R adicles strong and wiry, caudex large and tufted. 
Fronds — Numerous, from one to five feet in length, 
broadly lanceolate, tapering at the apex, sub-erect, rigid, 
bipinnate ; the three lower pairs of pinnae droop, the lower- 
most pair forming acute angles wdth the rachis. 
Stipes — About one-fifth the length of the frond, often of 
a reddish purple colour, and clothed with a few dark, 
pointed, membranous scales at the base, which forms a 
permanent part of the caudex. 
Rachis — S mooth. 
Pinnae — A lternate, lanceolate, pinnate ; the pair of pin- 
nules nearest the main rachis being generally longer than 
the next two pair; apex long and acute. 
Pinnules — Distant, linear, pinnatifid ; the lowest lobe in 
each pinnule on the side furthest from the main rachis is 
proportionately longer than the others ; each lobe dentate. 
Sometimes very narrow and much crowded. 
Venation — Lateral veins alternate, and forked, each 
branch of the fork ending in the point of a lobe, the lower 
lobe furthest from the main rachis having a fork of five 
branches. 
Fructification — Oblong, at length arched ; clusters of 
capsules on the forks of the pinnules. 
Habitat — Moist shady places, in bogs and hedges, 
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