CHAPTER IV. 
THE WOODSIAS. 
I. THE OBLONG WOODSIA. 
Woodsia ilvensis. 
J3ARE as beautiful, and beautiful as rare, are 
the Woodsias. Tiny plants are they, seldom 
reaching a greater length, from crown of root to 
tip of frond, than four or five inches. A tufted 
caudex, or root-stock, from which grow up in thick 
clusters the delicate fronds. These have short, 
scaly stems, are narrowly oblong, and somewhat 
blunt-pointed, widest at the base, and gradually 
tapering. On each side of the rachis is a row of 
leaflets, somewhat egg-shaped, attached to the 
rachis without the intervention of a stem ; at first 
in opposite pairs, but ultimately, towards the point 
of the frond, in alternation. These leaflets are 
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