Part 32

This is the form of the species that abounds in our woods. Perhaps no one plant does more for their beauty than this stately fern, whose rich-green, outward-curving fronds spring in circles from fallen trees and decaying stumps as well as from the ground.

BOOTT'S SHIELD FERN

a Tip of fertile pinna]

The plant varies greatly in height, breadth, and way of holding itself. Sometimes the fronds stand three feet high, and are broad and spreading. Again, they are tall, slender, and somewhat erect. Again, they are not more than a foot high.

At its best it grows with almost tropical luxuriance and is a plant of rare beauty, its fronds having a certain featheriness of aspect uncommon in the Aspidiums.

Var. dilatatum (D. spinulosa dilatata)

Newfoundland to North Carolina, chiefly in the mountains.

Fronds.--Usually large, broader at base than in either of the preceding species, ovate or triangular-ovate, oftenest thrice-pinnate; pinnules lance-oblong, the lowest often much elongated; fruit-dots round; indusium smooth.

This form of the Spinulose Wood Fern is distinguished chiefly by its broader fronds and by the smooth indusia. As these indusia can be seen satisfactorily only by the aid of a magnifying-glass, there is frequently some difficulty in distinguishing this variety. Occasionally it occurs in a dwarf state, fruiting when only a few inches high.

41. BOOTT'S SHIELD FERN

Aspidium Boottii (Dryopteris Boottii)

Nova Scotia to Maryland, about ponds and in wet places. One and a half to more than three feet high, with somewhat chaffy stalks which have pale-brown scales.

Fronds.--Long lance-shaped, somewhat narrowed at base, nearly or quite twice-pinnate; pinnæ, the lowest triangular-ovate, upper longer and narrower; pinnules oblong-ovate, sharply thorny-toothed, somewhat pinnatifid below; fruit-dots round; indusium slightly glandular.

CRESTED SHIELD FERN

a A pinna b Portion of fertile pinna]

Boott's Shield Fern is found in moist woods and near ponds. It is distinguished by its long, narrow fronds and minutely glandular indusium.

42. CRESTED SHIELD FERN

Aspidium cristatum (Dryopteris cristata)

Newfoundland to Kentucky, in swamps. One to more than three feet high, with stalks which are chaffy, especially below, and which have light-brown scales, stalks of sterile fronds much shorter than those of fertile fronds.

Fronds.--Linear-oblong or lance-shaped, nearly twice-pinnate, fertile ones taller and longer stalked than the sterile; pinnæ (of the fertile frond, turning their faces toward the apex of the frond) rather short, lance-shaped or triangular-oblong, deeply impressed with veins, cut deeply into oblong, obtuse, finely toothed divisions; fruit-dots large, round, half-way between midvein and margin; indusium large, flat.

In wet woods, growing either from the ground or from the trunks of fallen trees, and also in open meadows, we notice the tall, slender, dark-green, somewhat lustrous fronds of the Crested Shield Fern, usually distinguished easily from its kinsmen by the noticeably upward-turning pinnæ of the fertile fronds, and by the deep impression made by the veins on their upper surfaces.

The sterile fronds are much shorter than the fertile ones. They are evergreen, lasting through the winter after the fertile fronds have perished.

Near the Crested Shield Fern we find often many of its kinsmen, broad, feathery fronds of the Spinulose Wood Fern, more slender ones of Boott's Shield Fern, great tufts made by the magnificent bright-green fronds of Goldie's Fern, symmetrical circles of vigorous Evergreen Wood Fern, and shining clusters of the Christmas Fern. All these plants, belonging to the one tribe, seek the same moist, shaded retreats, and form a group of singular beauty and vigor.

Part of CLINTON'S WOOD FERN

a Portion of fertile pinna]

43. CLINTON'S WOOD FERN

Aspidium cristatum, var. Clintonianum (Dryopteris cristata Clintoniana)

Maine to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, in swampy woods. Two and a half to four feet high.