tufts, spreading or procumbent (4--12' long), gradually narrowed from a
cordate or auricled base to a long and slender acumination, which often
roots at the end and forms a new plant.--Shaded rocks, especially
calcareous rocks, N. Eng. to Minn., and southward to Kan. and Ala.--The
auricles are sometimes greatly elongated, and even rooting; in another
form they are lacking, as in the thinner leaved C. Sibiricus. July.
12. PHEGOPTERIS, Fee. BEECH FERN.
Fruit-dots small, round, naked (no indusium), borne on the back of the
veins below the apex. Stipe continuous with the rootstock.--Our species
have free veins and bright green membranaceous fronds, decaying in early
autumn. (Name composed of [Greek: phego/s], an _oak_ or _beech_, and
[Greek: pteri/s], _fern_.)
[*] _Fronds twice pinnatifid; pinnae all sessile, adnate to the winged
rhachis._
1. P. polypodioides, Fee. Fronds triangular, _longer than broad_ (4--9'
long), hairy on the veins, especially beneath; pinnae linear-lanceolate,
_the lowest pair deflexed and standing forward_; their divisions oblong,
obtuse, entire, the basal decurrent upon the main rhachis; fruit-dots
all near the margin.--Damp woods; common northward. July.--Rootstock
slender, creeping, bearing a few distant slender stalks, rather longer
than the fronds. (Eu.)
2. P. hexagonoptera, Fee. Fronds triangular, _usually broader than long_
(7--12' broad), slightly pubescent and often finely glandular beneath;
pinnae lanceolate; upper segments oblong, obtuse, toothed or entire,
_those of the very large lowest pinnae elongated and pinnately lobed_,
basal ones very much decurrent and forming a continuous many-angled wing
along the main rhachis; fruit-dots near the margin; some also between
the sinus and the midrib.--Rather open woods, New Eng. to Minn., and
southward; common. July.--Larger and broader than the last, which it
often closely resembles.
[*][*] _Fronds ternate, the three divisions petioled; rhachis wingless._
3. P. Dryopteris, Fee. _Fronds smooth_, broadly triangular (4--6' wide);
the three triangular primary divisions _all widely spreading_,
1--2-pinnate; segments oblong, obtuse, entire or toothed; fruit-dots
near the margin.--Rocky woods; common northward. July. (Eu.)
4. P. calcarea, Fee. _Fronds minutely glandular_ and somewhat rigid,
_the lateral divisions ascending_; lowest inferior pinnae of the lateral
divisions smaller in proportion than in the last species, which it
otherwise closely resembles.--Iowa and Minn.; rare. July. (Eu.)
13. ASPIDIUM, Swartz. SHIELD FERN. WOOD FERN. (Pl. 19.)
Fruit-dots round, borne on the back or rarely at the apex of the veins.
Indusium covering the sporangia, flat or flattish, scarious, orbicular
and peltate at the centre, or round-kidney-shaped and fixed either
centrally or by the sinus, opening all round the margin. Stipe
continuous (not articulated) with the rootstock.--Our species have free
veins and 1--3-pinnate fronds. (Name, [Greek: a)spi/dion], _a small
shield_, from the shape of the indusium.)
Sec. 1. DRYOPTERIS. _Indusium reniform, or orbicular with a narrow sinus._
[*] _Veins simple or simply forked and straight; fronds annual, decaying
in autumn, the stalks and slender creeping rootstocks nearly naked._
1. A. Thelypteris, Swartz. Fronds pinnate, lanceolate in outline; pinnae
horizontal or slightly recurved, linear-lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid,
_the lowest pairs scarcely smaller_; lobes oblong, entire, obtuse or
appearing acute when in fruit from the _strongly revolute margins; veins
mostly forked_, bearing the (soon confluent) fruit-dots near their
middle; indusium minute, smooth and naked.--Marshes; common. Aug.--Stalk
1 deg. long or more, usually longer than the frond, which is of thicker
texture than the next, and slightly downy. (Eu.)
2. A. Noveboracense, Swartz. Fronds pinnate, lanceolate in outline,
_tapering both ways from the middle_; pinnae lanceolate, _the lowest 2 or
more pairs gradually shorter and deflexed_; lobes flat, oblong, basal
ones often enlarged and incised; _veins simple_, or forked in the basal
lobes; fruit-dots distinct, near the margin; indusium minute, the margin
glanduliferous.--Swamps and moist thickets; common. July.--Frond pale
green, delicate and membranaceous, hairy beneath along the midribs and
veins.
[*][*] _Veins, at least the lowest, more than once forked or somewhat
pinnately branching; fruit-bearing veinlets often obscure or vanishing
above the fruit-dot; fronds, at least the sterile ones, often evergreen;
stalks and apex of the thickened rootstock scaly or chaffy, and often
the main rhachis also._
[+] _Fronds small, pinnate; pinnae pinnatifid; indusia very large,
persistent._
3. A. fragrans, Swartz. Fronds (4--12' high) glandular and aromatic,
narrowly lanceolate, with linear-oblong pinnately-parted pinnae; their
crowded divisions (2'' long) oblong, obtuse, toothed or nearly entire,
nearly covered beneath with the very large thin imbricated indusia,
which are orbicular with a narrow sinus, the margin sparingly
glanduliferous and often ragged.--On rocks, especially near waterfalls,
mountains of northern New Eng., west and northward.--Rootstock stout,
nearly erect, densely chaffy, as are the crowded stipes and rhachis.
(Asia, and barely reaching S. E. Eu.)
[+][+] _Large (1--21/2 deg. high), the fronds mostly twice pinnate with
variously toothed and incised pinnules; indusia rather small, shrivelled
in age, or deciduous._
4. A. spinulosum, Swartz. Stipes with a few _pale-brown deciduous
scales_; frond ovate-lanceolate, twice pinnate; _pinnae oblique to the
rhachis, elongated-triangular_, the lower pairs broadly triangular;
pinnules set obliquely on the midribs, connected by a very narrow wing,
oblong, acute, incisely serrate or pinnatifid with spinulosely-toothed
lobes; _indusium_ smooth and _without marginal glands_.--In damp woods,
New Eng. to Ky., and northward. July.--The common European type, rare in
North America. (Eu.)
Var. intermedium, D. C. Eaton. _Scales_ of the stipe few, _brown with a
darker centre_; frond broadly oblong-ovate, twice or often thrice
pinnate; _pinnae spreading, oblong-lanceolate_, the lower unequally
triangular-ovate; pinnules crowded, ovate-oblong, spreading, pinnately
divided; the oblong lobes spinulose-toothed at the apex; _margin of the
indusium denticulate and beset with minute stalked glands_.--Woods,
everywhere.
Var. dilatatum, Hook. _Scales_ of the stipe large, _brown with a dark
centre_; _frond broader, ovate or triangular-ovate_ in outline, oftenest
thrice pinnate; pinnules lance-oblong, the lowest often much elongated;
_indusium_ (in the North American plant) _smooth and naked_.--A dwarf
state, fruiting when only 5--8' high, answers to var. dumetorum.--N. New
Eng. to Minn., chiefly in mountain woods, and northward. (Eu.)
5. A. Boottii, Tuckerman. _Scales_ of the stipe _pale-brown_; fronds
(1--21/2 deg. long) elongated-lanceolate in outline, somewhat narrowed at
base; lowest pinnae triangular-ovate, the upper longer and narrower;
pinnules oblong-ovate, sharply spinulose-serrate or the lower
pinnatifid; _indusium minutely glandular_. (A. spinulosum, var.
Boottii, of last ed. A. cristatum, var. uliginosum, _Milde_.)--Wet
thickets and about ponds, New Eng. to Del. and Minn. July.--Sterile
fronds much smaller and simpler than the fertile. (Eu.)
[+][+][+] _Large (2--4 deg. high); fronds once pinnate and the pinnae deeply
pinnatifid, or nearly twice pinnate; fruit-dots not very near the
margin; the indusium large, thinnish and flat, persistent._
6. A. cristatum, Swartz. _Frond linear-oblong or lanceolate in outline_
(1--2 deg. long); _pinnae short_ (2--3' long), _triangular-oblong_, or the
lowest nearly triangular-ovate, from a somewhat heart-shaped base,
acute, deeply pinnatifid; the _divisions (6--10 pairs) oblong_, very
obtuse, finely serrate or cut-toothed, the lowest pinnatifid-lobed;
_fruit-dots as near the midvein as the margin_; indusium round-reniform,
the sinus mostly shallow, smooth and naked.--Swamps, etc.; common.
July.--Stipes and the stout creeping rootstock bearing broad and
deciduous chaffy scales. (Eu.)
Var. Clintonianum. _Frond in every way much larger_ (21/2--4 deg. long);
_pinnae_ oblong-lanceolate, _broadest at base_ (4--6' long, 1--2' broad),
deeply pinnatifid; the _divisions (8--16 pairs)_ crowded or distant,
_linear-oblong_, obtuse, obscurely serrate or cut-toothed, the basal
sometimes pinnately lobed; veins pinnately forking, the lowest anterior
veinlets bearing the _fruit-dots near the midvein_; indusium orbicular
with a shallow sinus, smooth and naked.--Swampy woods, New Eng. to
N. J., N. Y. (_G. W. Clinton_, etc.), and westward. July.--Rootstock
stout, creeping, chaffy (like the stipes) with large bright-brown
scales. A showy fern, unlike any European form of A. cristatum, and
often mistaken for A. Goldianum.
7. A. Goldianum, Hook. _Frond broadly ovate_, or the fertile
ovate-oblong in outline (2--3 deg. long); _pinnae_ (6--9' long),
oblong-lanceolate, _broadest in the middle_, pinnately parted; the
_divisions (about 20 pairs) oblong-linear, slightly scythe-shaped_
(9--15'' long), serrate with appressed teeth; veins pinnately forking
and bearing the _fruit-dots very near the midvein_; indusium very large,
orbicular with a deep narrow sinus, smooth and without marginal
glands.--Rich and moist woods, from Conn. to Ky., and northward.
July.--A stately fern, often 4 deg. high, the fronds growing in a circle
from a stout ascending chaffy rootstock, and decaying in autumn.
Indusium with the sides of the sinus often overlapping, thus appearing
to be round and entire as in Sec. Polystichum.
[+][+][+][+] _Large (1--3 deg. high); stipes very chaffy at base; fronds
twice pinnate, but the upper pinnules confluent, some of the lower
pinnatifid-toothed; fruit-dots rather large; indusium convex, without
marginal glands, persistent._
8. A. Filix-mas, Swartz. Frond lanceolate in outline (1--3 deg. high); pinnae
linear-lanceolate, tapering from base to apex; pinnules oblong, very
obtuse, serrate at the apex and obscurely so at the sides, the basal
incisely lobed, distinct, the upper confluent; fruit-dots nearer the
midvein than the margin, and usually confined to the lower half of each
fertile pinnule.--Rocky woods, N. Mich. to Dak. and Col.--Frond thickish
but not surviving the winter. (Eu.)
9. A. marginale, Swartz. (Pl. 19, fig. 1, 2.) Frond evergreen, smooth,
thickish and almost coriaceous, ovate-oblong in outline (1--2 deg. long);
pinnae lanceolate, acuminate, slightly broadest above the base; pinnules
oblong or oblong-scythe-shaped, crowded, obtuse or pointed, entire or
crenately-toothed; fruit-dots close to the margin.--Rocky hillsides in
rich woods; common, especially northward. Aug.
Sec. 2. POLYSTICHUM. _Indusium orbicular and entire, peltate, fixed by the
depressed centre; fronds rigid and coriaceous, evergreen, very chaffy on
the rhachis, etc.; pinnae or pinnules auricled at base on the upper side,
crowded, the teeth or lobes bristle-tipped._
[*] _Fronds simply pinnate._
10. A. acrostichoides, Swartz. (CHRISTMAS FERN.) (Pl. 19, fig. 3, 4.)
Frond lanceolate (1--21/2 deg. high), _stalked; pinnae linear-lanceolate_,
somewhat scythe-shaped, half-halberd-shaped at the slightly stalked
base, serrulate with appressed bristly teeth; _the fertile_ (upper)
_contracted and smaller_, bearing contiguous fruit-dots near the midrib,
which are confluent with age, covering the surface.--Var. INCISUM is a
state with cut-lobed pinnae, a not unfrequent case in the sterile fronds;
sometimes with all the tips fertile.--Common in rocky woods, especially
northward. July.
11. A. Lonchitis, Swartz. Frond linear-lanceolate (9--20' high),
_scarcely stalked, very rigid; pinnae broadly lanceolate-scythe-shaped,
or the lowest triangular_, strongly auricled on the upper side, and
wedge-truncate on the lower, densely spinulose-toothed (1' or less in
length), copiously fruit-bearing; fruit-dots contiguous and near the
margins.--Woods, southern shore of Lake Superior, and northward. (Eu.)
[*][*] _Fronds bipinnate._
12. A. aculeatum, Swartz, var. Braunii, Koch. _Fronds spreading_ (11/2--2 deg.
long), oblong-lanceolate in outline, with a tapering base, the lower of
the many pairs of oblong-lanceolate pinnae gradually reduced in size and
obtuse; pinnules ovate or oblong, obtuse, truncate and almost
rectangular at base, short-stalked, or the upper confluent, sharply
toothed, beset with long and soft as well as chaffy hairs.--Deep woods,
mountains of New Eng., N. Y., and Penn., and northward. (Eu.)
14. CYSTOPTERIS, Bernhardi. BLADDER FERN. (Pl. 19.)
Fruit-dots roundish, borne on the back of a straight fork of the free
veins; the delicate indusium hood-like or arched, attached by a broad
base on the inner side (toward the midrib) partly under the fruit-dot,
early opening free at the other side, which looks toward the apex of the
lobe, and is somewhat jagged, soon thrown back or withering
away.--Tufted ferns with slender and delicate 2--3-pinnate fronds; the
lobes cut-toothed. (Name composed of [Greek: ky/stis], _a bladder_, and
[Greek: pteri/s], _fern_, from the inflated indusium.)
1. C. bulbifera, Bernh. (Pl. 19, fig. 1--3.) _Frond lanceolate,
elongated_ (1--2 deg. long), 2-pinnate; the pinnae lanceolate-oblong,
pointed, horizontal (1--2' long); the _rhachis and pinnae often bearing
bulblets underneath, wingless_; pinnules crowded, oblong, obtuse,
toothed or pinnatifid; indusium short, truncate on the free
side.--Shaded ravines, not rare from N. Eng. to Ark., commoner on
calcareous rocks. July.--Specimens from Tenn. and Ark. have sometimes
shorter fronds and few or no bulblets, indicating an approach to the
next species.
2. C. fragilis, Bernh. _Frond oblong-lanceolate_ (4--8' long, besides
the brittle stalk which is fully as long), 2--3-pinnate; the pinnae and
_pinnules_ ovate or lanceolate in outline, irregularly pinnatifid or
cut-toothed, mostly acute, _decurrent on the margined or winged
rhachis_; indusium tapering or acute at the free end.--Shaded cliffs and
rocky woods; common and greatly varying in the shape and cutting of the
pinnules. July. (Eu.)
15. ONOCLEA, L. (Pl. 16 and 19.)
Sporangia borne on elevated receptacles, forming roundish sori
imperfectly covered by very delicate hood-shaped indusia attached to the
base of the receptacles. Fertile fronds erect, rigid, with contracted
pod-like or berry-like divisions at first completely concealing the
sporangia, and at last, when dry and indurated, cracking open and
allowing the spores to escape. Sterile fronds foliaceous. Rootstocks
creeping and constantly forming new plants. (Name apparently from
[Greek: o)/nos], _a vessel_, and [Greek: klei/o], _to close_, from the
singularly rolled up fructification.)
Sec. 1. ONOCLEA proper. _Sterile frond with anastomosing veins._
1. O. sensibilis, L. (SENSITIVE FERN.) (Pl. 19, fig. 1, 2.) Fronds
scattered; the sterile ones long-stalked (2--15' long),
triangular-ovate, pinnatifid into a few oblong-lanceolate sinuately
lobed or nearly entire segments; veins reticulated with fine meshes;
fertile fronds contracted, closely bipinnate, the pinnules rolled up
into berry-like bodies.--Moist meadows and thickets, very common and
variable. July.--Imperfectly fertile fronds sometimes occur, with the
still foliaceous pinnae cut into obovate segments with free veins and
abortive sori; the so-called var. OBTUSILOBATA.
Sec. 2. STRUTHIOPTERIS. _Sterile frond with free veins._
2. O. Struthiopteris, Hoffmann. (Pl. 16, fig. 1--5.) Fronds growing in a
crown; sterile ones short-stalked (2--10 deg. high), broadly lanceolate,
narrowed toward the base, pinnate with many linear-lanceolate,
pinnatifid pinnae; veins free, the veinlets simple; fertile frond
shorter, pinnate with pod-like or somewhat necklace-shaped pinnae.
(Struthiopteris Germanica, _Willd._)--Alluvial soil, common northward.
July.--The rootstock sends out slender underground stolons, which bear
fronds the next year. (Eu.)
16. WOODSIA, R. Brown. (Pl. 19.)
Fruit-dots round, borne on the back of simply-forked free veins; the
very thin and often evanescent indusium attached by its base all around
the receptacle, _under_ the sporangia, either small and open, or else
early bursting at the top into irregular pieces or lobes.--Small and
tufted pinnately-divided ferns. (Dedicated to _Joseph Woods_, an
English botanist.)
[*] _Stalks obscurely articulated some distance from the base; fronds
chaffy or smooth, never glandular; indusium divided nearly to the centre
into slender hairs which are curled over the sporangia._
1. W. Ilvensis, R. Brown. _Frond oblong-lanceolate_ (2--6' long by
12--18'' wide), smoothish and green above, _thickly clothed underneath
as well as the stalk with rusty bristle-like chaff_, pinnate; the pinnae
crowded, oblong, obtuse, sessile, pinnately parted, _the numerous
crowded segments oblong_, obtuse, obscurely crenate; the fruit-dots near
the margin, somewhat confluent when old.--Exposed rocks; common,
especially northward, and southward in the Alleghanies. June. (Eu.)
2. W. hyperborea, R. Brown. Frond narrowly oblong-lanceolate (2--6' long
by 8--12'' wide), smooth above, sparingly paleaceous-hirsute beneath,
pinnate; the pinnae triangular-ovate, obtuse, pinnately lobed, the lobes
few and nearly entire; fruit-dots rarely confluent.--Mountain ravines,
northern Vt. and N. Y., and northward; rare. (Eu.)
3. W. glabella, R. Brown. (Pl. 19, fig. 1--3.) _Smooth and naked
throughout; frond linear_ and very delicate (2--5' high), pinnate;
_pinnae roundish-ovate_, the lower ones rather remote (2--4'' long),
obtuse, crenately lobed; fruit-dots scanty; the hairs of the indusium
fewer than in the last two species.--On moist mossy rocks, mountains of
northern New Eng., north and westward. First found at Little Falls,
N. Y., by _Dr. Vasey_. (Eu.)
[*][*] _Stalks not articulated; fronds never chaffy, often
glandular-pubescent._
[+] _Indusium of a few broad segments, at first covering the sorus
completely._
4. W. obtusa, Torr. (Pl. 19, fig. 4, 5.) Frond broadly lanceolate,
minutely glandular-hairy (6--12' high), pinnate, or nearly twice
pinnate; pinnae rather remote, triangular-ovate or oblong (1--2' long),
bluntish, pinnately parted; segments oblong, obtuse, crenately toothed,
the lower pinnatifid with toothed lobes; veins forked, and bearing the
fruit-dots on or below the minutely toothed lobes; indusium at length
splitting into several spreading jagged lobes.--Rocky banks and cliffs;
not rare.
[+][+] _Indusium entirely concealed beneath the sorus, divided into very
narrow segments or reduced to minute hairs._
5. W. Oregana, D. C. Eaton. Smooth, with fronds (2--8' high, 8--12''
wide) elliptical-lanceolate, pinnate, the fertile ones tallest; pinnae
triangular-oblong, obtuse, pinnatifid; segments oblong or ovate, obtuse,
finely toothed, and in larger fronds incised; fruit-dots near the
margin; indusium very small, divided almost to the centre into a few
necklace-like-jointed cilia.--Crevices of rocks, south shore of Lake
Superior (_Robbins_), and westward.
6. W. scopulina, D. C. Eaton. Much like the last, but the rather larger
fronds puberulent beneath with minute jointed hairs and stalked glands;
indusium deeply cleft into narrow segments ending in jointed
hairs.--Rocky places, Minn., southward and westward.
17. DICKSONIA, L'Her. (Pl. 17.)
Fruit-dots small, globular, marginal, each placed on the apex of a free
vein or fork; the sporangia borne on an elevated globular receptacle,
enclosed in a membranaceous cup-shaped indusium which is open at the
top, and on the outer side partly adherent to a reflexed toothlet of the
frond. (Named for _James Dickson_, an English Cryptogamic botanist.)
1. D. pilosiuscula, Willd. Fronds minutely glandular and hairy (2--3 deg.
high), ovate-lanceolate and acuminate in outline, pale green, very thin,
with strong chaffless stalks rising from slender extensively creeping
naked root-stocks, mostly bipinnate; primary pinnae lanceolate, pointed,
the secondary pinnatifid into oblong and obtuse cut-toothed lobes;
fruit-dots minute, each on a recurved toothlet, usually one at the upper
margin of each lobe. (D. punctilobula, _Kunze_.)--Common in moist and
shady places, from New Eng. to Minn.--Frond sweet-scented in drying.
18. TRICHOMANES, L. FILMY FERN.
Sporangia with a transverse entire ring, sessile on a cylindrical
receptacle which is produced from the end of a vein and enclosed in a
funnel-form or cup-shaped involucre of the same substance with the
frond. Fronds very thin and pellucid, often consisting of a single layer
of cells. (An ancient Greek name for some fern.)
1. T. radicans, Swartz. Fronds very delicate, oblong-lanceolate in
outline (4--8' long, 6--18'' wide), bipinnatifid; rhachis narrowly
winged; pinnae triangular-ovate, the divisions toothed or again lobed;
involucres tubular-funnel-shaped, margined, the mouth truncate;
receptacle often much exserted.--On moist and dripping sandstone cliffs,
Ky., and southward; rare.--Though the fronds are so very delicate, yet
they survive for several years; they begin to fruit the second or third
year, and thereafter the receptacle continues to grow and to produce new
sporangia at its base. (Eu.)
19. SCHIZAEA, Smith. (Pl. 20.)
Sporangia large, ovoid, striate-rayed at the apex, opening by a
longitudinal cleft, naked, vertically sessile in a double row along the
single vein of the narrow divisions of the pinnate (or radiate) fertile
appendages to the slender and simply linear, or (in foreign species)
fan-shaped or dichotomously many-cleft fronds (whence the name, from
[Greek: schi/zo], _to split_).
1. S. pusilla, Pursh. Sterile fronds linear, very slender, flattened and
tortuous; the fertile ones equally slender (1/4'' wide), but taller (3--4'
high), and bearing at the top the fertile appendage, consisting of about
5 pairs of crowded pinnae (each 1--11/2'' long).--Low grounds, pine barrens
of N. J.; very local. Sept. (Also in Nova Scotia and Newf.)
20. LYGODIUM, Swartz. CLIMBING FERN. (Pl. 20.)
Fronds twining or climbing, bearing stalked and variously lobed (or
compound) divisions in pairs, with mostly free veins; the fructification
on separate contracted divisions or spike-like lobes, one side of which
is covered with a double row of imbricated hooded scale-like indusia,
fixed by a broad base to short oblique veinlets. Sporangia much as in
Schizaea, but oblique, fixed to the veinlet by the inner side next the
base, one or rarely two covered by each indusium. (Name from [Greek:
lygo/des], _flexible_.)
1. L. palmatum, Swartz. Very smooth; stalks slender, flexile and twining
(1--3 deg. long), from slender running rootstocks; the short alternate
branches or petioles 2-forked; each fork bearing a round-heart-shaped
palmately 4--7-lobed frondlet; fertile frondlets above, contracted and
several times forked, forming a terminal panicle.--Low moist thickets
and open woods, Mass. to Va., Ky., and sparingly southward; rare. Sept.
21. OSMUNDA, L. FLOWERING FERN. (Pl. 20.)
Fertile fronds or fertile portions of the frond destitute of
chlorophyll, very much contracted, and bearing on the margins of the
narrow rhachis-like divisions short-pedicelled and naked sporangia;
these are globular, thin and reticulated, large, opening by a
longitudinal cleft into two valves, and bearing near the apex a small
patch of thickened oblong cells, the rudiment of a transverse
ring.--Fronds tall and upright, growing in large crowns from thickened
rootstocks, once or twice pinnate; veins forking and free. Spores green.
(_Osmunder_, a Saxon name of the Celtic divinity, Thor.)
[*] _Sterile fronds truly bipinnate._