Part 37

56. NORTHERN WOODSIA. ALPINE WOODSIA

Woodsia hyperborea (W. alpina)

Northern New York and Vermont, and northward from Labrador to Alaska, on rocks. Two to six inches long, with stalks jointed near the base.

Fronds.--Narrowly oblong-lanceolate, nearly smooth, pinnate; pinnæ triangular-ovate, obtuse, lobed; lobes few; fruit-dots somewhat scattered; indusium as in W. Ilvensis.

This rare little fern has been found by Dr. Peck in the Adirondacks and by Horace Mann, jr., and Mr. Pringle in Vermont. In his delightful "Reminiscences of Botanical Rambles in Vermont," published in the Torrey Bulletin, July, 1897, Mr. Pringle describes his first discovery of this species:

"I was on the mountain [Willoughby] on the 4th of August and examined the entire length of the cliffs, climbing upon all their accessible shelves. Among the specimens of Woodsia glabella brought away were a few which I judged to belong to a different species. Mr. Frost, to whom they were first submitted, pronounced them Woodsia glabella. Not satisfied with his report, I showed them to Dr. Gray. By him I was advised to send them to Professor Eaton, because, as he said, Woodsia is a critical genus. Professor Eaton assured me that I had Woodsia hyperborea, ... another addition to the flora of the United States."

Later in the year Mr. Pringle made a visit to Smugglers' Notch on Mount Mansfield, when he was "prepared to camp in the old Notch House among hedgehogs, and botanize the region day by day." This visit was rich in its results. The most notable finds were Aspidium fragrans, Asplenium viride, Woodsia glabella, and Woodsia hyperborea.

NORTHERN WOODSIA]

57. SMOOTH WOODSIA

Woodsia glabella

Northern New York and Vermont, and northward from Labrador to Alaska, on moist rocks. Two to five inches long, with stalks jointed at base.

Fronds.--Very delicate, linear or narrowly lanceolate, smooth on both sides, pinnate; pinnæ roundish ovate, obtuse, lobed, lobes few; fruit-dots scattered; indusium minute.

The Smooth Woodsia closely resembles the Northern Woodsia, and one may expect to find it in much the same parts of the country. In texture it is still more delicate; its fronds are almost perfectly smooth, its outline is narrower, and its pinnæ are but slightly lobed.

SMOOTH WOODSIA

a Fertile pinna]

Mr. Pringle tells us that a letter from Mr. George Davenport, asking him to look for Woodsia glabella, awakened his first interest in ferns. His own account of these early fern hunts is inspiring in its enthusiasm:

"In 1873 George Davenport was beginning his study of ferns. A letter from him, asking me to look for Woodsia glabella ... started me on a fern hunt. The species had been found on Willoughby Mountain, Vt., and at Little Falls, N. Y.; might it not be growing in many places in Vermont? When I set out I knew, as I must suppose, not a single fern, and it was near the close of the summer. You can imagine what delights awaited me in the autumn woodlands. I made the acquaintance of not a few ferns, though it was too late to prepare good specimens of them. In this first blind endeavor I got, of course, no clew to Woodsia glabella. The next summer the hunt was renewed and persistently followed up. I found pleasure in securing one by one nearly all our Vermont ferns. At the time I thought it worthy of remembrance that a single field of diversified pasture and woodland on an adjoining farm yielded me thirty species. Although the two common species of Woodsia were near at hand, Woodsia glabella was still eluding my search. I sent a friend to the summit of Jay Peak in a fruitless quest for it. Finally, on September 1st, I joined Mr. Congdon at its old station on Willoughby Mountain, and made myself familiar with its exquisite form.

"During the first two years of my collecting in earnest, 1874 and 1875, several visits were made to Camel's Hump, the peak most accessible to me. In this way some time was lost, because its subalpine area is limited, and consequently the number of rare plants to be found there is small. Yet, with such dogged persistence as sometimes prevents my making good progress, my last visit to that point was not made till the 20th of June, 1876. On that day I clambered, I believe, over every shelf of its great southern precipice and peered into every fissure among the rocks. At last, as I was climbing up the apex over the southeastern buttress, my perilous toil was rewarded by the discovery not only of Woodsia glabella, but of Aspidium fragrans.... There were only a few depauperate specimens of each which had not yet succumbed to the adverse conditions of their dry and exposed situation."

In the following passage Mr. Pringle describes his pleasure, some years later, in the companionships fostered by a common interest in his pet hobby:

"... my delight in this preserve of boreal plants was shared with not a few genial botanists. Charles Faxon came before any of us suspected that he possessed undeveloped talent for a botanical artist of highest excellence. Edwin Faxon followed his young brother, and with me made the tedious ascent to Stirling Pond, a day of toil well rewarded. Thomas Morong came, before the hardships of his Paraguayan journey had broken him down.... Our honored President came.... In those days, as now, ... he was often my companion to add delight to my occupation and to reinforce my enthusiasm.... The gentle Davenport came at last to behold for the first time in their native haunts many of the objects of his first love and study. When I had found for him yet once more in a fifth Vermont station (this was under Checkerberry Ledge, near Bakersfield) the fern he at first desired, and, together with that, had discovered within our limits three or four others quite as rare and scarcely expected, I might feel that I had complied with the request of his letter. But that letter initiated a warm friendship between us and association in work upon American ferns, which has continued to the present time. During these twenty-three years of botanical travel on my part my hands have gathered all but thirty-six of the one hundred and sixty-five species of North American ferns, and from the more remote corners of our continent I have sent home to my friend for description and publication sixteen new ones. Yet I trust that the fern hunt upon which he started me in 1873 is still far from its close."

The above quotations illustrate fairly the enthusiasm aroused by a pursuit which is full of peculiar fascination. Almost anyone who has made a study of our native ferns will recall hours filled with delight through their agency, companions made more companionable by means of a common interest in their names, haunts, and habits.

INDEX TO LATIN NAMES

Adiantum Capillus-Veneris, 108

Adiantum emarginatum, 110

Adiantum pedatum, 108

Adiantum tenerum, 110

Aspidium acrostichoides, 96

Aspidium aculeatum, 182