FERNS AND FERN ALLIES. 
67 
adjoining pinnae were partly changed, and occasionally a row of 
sporangia adorned the margin of a segment. 
According to the latest classification of the plants in the sub¬ 
kingdom Pteridophyta, which embraces the ferns and fern allies 
the Osmundas constitute a family by themselves, the Osmun- 
daceae, which means simply plants resembling Osmunda, or 
more literally, osmundaceous plants. With a view to a closer 
comprehension of their relations to other families I will give 
the names of those which are closely allied to that under con¬ 
sideration. They are Ophioglossaceae, (after which comes 
Osmundaceae), Hymenophyllaceae, Schizaeaceae and Polypodi- 
aceae. These five families embrace all the plants commonly 
known as ferns, the six other families of the Pteridophytes being 
very different in habit and aspect, e. g. : Equisetum and Lyco¬ 
podium. So far as our own locality is concerned the third and 
fourth of the above-named families may be called exotic. There 
is no likelihood whatever that either of the filmy ferns (Tricho- 
manes) representing the third family will be found here. As to 
the fourth family, the finding of Lygodium, climbing fern, is a 
possibility, for anything that flourishes in Massachusetts may 
turn up in southern New Hampshire. The tiny Schizaea has 
long been known as a resident of the pine barrens of New 
Jersey. Recently it has been found also in Nova Scotia and it 
is confidently expected that it will be discovered at points inter¬ 
mediate between these two stations. There is accordingly a 
reasonable hope that it will be found in New Hampshire. 
For the present, then, all the local ferns may be considered 
as belonging to the three families, Ophioglossaceae, Osmun¬ 
daceae, and Polypodiaceae. The first family contains the two 
genera Ophioglossum and Botrychium, the second the well 
known genus Osmunda and the third, of which Polypodium is 
the type, all the rest of our ferns both common and rare. The 
order in which the family names are given above indicates the 
order of nature, the first family containing the most ancient 
and least specialized forms, the third the latest and most highly 
specialized forms, while the second is intermediate and consti 
