By Adella Prescott.
Some years ago when for me there were but two species of ferns, those
that were finely cut and those that were not--and maidenhair--I supposed
of course that the narrow leaved spleenwort (_Asplenium angustifolium_)
was simply a hardy sword fern and that both were varieties of the
Christmas fern! But when I began to read the fascinating pages of Clute
and Parsons and Waters I found, even in the early summer, that there
were differences and by the time the sori appeared I was wise enough to
recognize the characteristic mark of the spleenworts. Even then I
thought it but a common fern for in the woods with which I was most
familiar it grew plentifully and it was not till sometime later that I
learned that it is at least rare enough to insure for itself a welcome
whenever found.
It is an extremely local plant and may be looked for perhaps for years
before being found though it has a wide distribution and is apt to be
plentiful where it grows at all. It prefers rather moist soil and seems
to like Goldie's fern for a neighbor as I have often found them in close
proximity.
The fronds grow in tufts from a creeping rootstock and are said to reach
a height of four feet but all that I have seen were shorter by at least
a foot. The blades are simply pinnate with many long, narrow pinnules
tapering to slender tips. The fertile fronds are taller with the
pinnules much narrower and the linear sori borne in two rows along the
midrib of each pinnule. The fronds are delicate in texture and are
easily destroyed by summer storms, yet the plant is able to adapt itself
in some degree to its environment for a plant that I have in a border
where it is exposed to cold winds has become much more rugged both in
appearance and in fact. It is a charming addition to the fern garden
making a pleasing foil to _Nephrodium spinulosum_, _Dicksonia_ and other
finely cut varieties.
I think it is a pity that the silvery spleenwort has no common name but
one that is suggestive of a varied assortment of "blues," and that does
not certainly belong to it at that. But when we consider the discomforts
suggested by the word "spleeny" we may think after all that this plain
unassuming plant would prefer to be classed among the spleenworts with
their fabled powers of healing rather than among the gentle folk of the
_Athyriums_ where perhaps it rightly belongs.
The silvery spleenwort, _Asplenium thelypteroides_, or _Athyrium
thelypteroides_ as some prefer to call it, has few characteristics that
would make it noticeable among other species. It is of an ordinary size,
from two to three feet in height, and the fronds are produced singly
from a stout creeping rootstock but they grow so close together as to
suggest a circular crown. They are once pinnate with deeply lobed
pinnules and have rather a soft velvety texture though quite thin and
delicate. The blade is oblong, tapering both ways from the middle and
there is little difference between the fertile and sterile fronds.
The sori are borne in regular double rows on the pinnules and while in
general they are like those of the spleenwort yet they are frequently
curved after the fashion of the lady fern, making a puzzling question on
which the botanical doctors fail to agree.
This species is fairly common over a wide area and while not possessing
any striking beauty is interesting and attractive to the true lover of
ferns.
_New Hartford, N. Y._