Chapter XLII: SMOOTH WOODSIA, Woodsia glabella, 207 (4)

As its English title signifies, the Evergreen Wood Fern flourishes throughout the winter. In one of the October entries in his journal, Thoreau records his satisfaction in the endurance of the hardy ferns:

"Now they are conspicuous amid the withered leaves. You are
inclined to approach and raise each frond in succession,
moist, trembling, fragile greenness. They linger thus
in all moist, clammy swamps under the bare maples and
grapevines and witch hazels, and about each trickling
spring that is half choked with fallen leaves. What means
this persistent vitality? Why were these spared when the
brakes and osmundas were stricken down? They stay as if
to keep up the spirits of the cold-blooded frogs which
have not yet gone into the mud, that the summer may die
with decent and graceful moderation. Is not the water of
the spring improved by their presence? They fall back and
droop here and there like the plumes of departing summer,
of the departing year. Even in them I feel an argument for
immortality. Death is so far from being universal. The same
destroyer does not destroy all. How valuable they are,
with the lycopodiums, for cheerfulness. Greenness at the
end of the year, after the fall of the leaf, a hale old
age. To my eye they are tall and noble as palm-groves, and
always some forest nobleness seems to have its haunt under
their umbrage. All that was immortal in the swamp herbage
seems here crowded into smaller compass, the concentrated
greenness of the swamp. How dear they must be to the
chickadee and the rabbit! the cool, slowly retreating
rear-guard of the swamp army."

46. FRAGRANT SHIELD FERN

_Aspidium fragrans_ (_Dryopteris fragrans_)

Northern New England to Wisconsin and northward, on rocks.
Five to sixteen inches long, with very chaffy stalks having
brown, glossy scales.

_Fronds._--Lance-shaped, tapering to a point, nearly
twice-pinnate, fragrant; _pinnæ_ oblong-lanceolate,
pinnatifid; _fruit-dots_ round, large; _indusium_ large and
thin.

The Fragrant Shield Fern thrives in a colder climate than that chosen by many of its kinsmen. Though found in the White Mountains, in the Green Mountains (where it climbs to an elevation of four thousand feet), in the Adirondacks, and in other special localities of about the same latitude, yet it is rare till we journey farther north. It loves the crevices of shaded cliffs or mossy rocks, often thriving best in the neighborhood of rushing brooks and waterfalls. Frequently it seems to seek the most inaccessible spots, as if anxious to evade discovery. Mr. J. A. Bates, of Randolph, Vt., writes that he first saw this little plant through a telescope from the piazza of the Summit House on Mount Mansfield on an apparently inaccessible ledge, the only instance in my experience when the fern student has sought this method of observation, suggesting "Ferns Through a Spy-glass" as a companion volume to "Birds Through an Opera-glass." But even the most carefully chosen spots are not safe from invasion, as Mr. Bates tells us, for some unprincipled persons, having felled neighboring trees and constructed a rude ladder, have succeeded in uprooting every plant from the Fragrant Shield Fern Cliff on Mount Mansfield.

FRAGRANT SHIELD FERN

_a_ Portion of fertile pinna]

The fronds of the Fragrant Shield Fern grow in a crown and the fertile ones fruit in great abundance.

Eaton writes as follows touching the fragrance of this fern and its use as a beverage:

"The pleasant odor of this plant remains many years in the
herbarium. The early writers compare the fragrance to that
of raspberries, and Milde repeats the observation. Hooker
and Greville thought it 'not unlike that of the common
primrose.' Maximowicz states that the odor is sometimes
lacking. Milde quotes Redowsky as saying that the Yakoots
of Siberia use the plant in place of tea; and, having tried
the experiment myself, I can testify to the not unpleasant
and very fragrant astringency of the infusion."

The following delightful description of the Fragrant Shield Fern was written by Mr. C. G. Pringle, and is taken from Meehan's "Native Flowers and Ferns":

"In the several stations of _Aspidium fragrans_ among the
Green Mountains which I have explored, the plant is always
seen growing from the crevices or on the narrow shelves of
dry cliffs--not often such cliffs as are exposed to the
sunlight, unless it be on the summits of the mountains,
but usually such cliffs as are shaded by firs, and notably
such as overhang mountain-rivulets and waterfalls. When I
visit such places in summer, the niches occupied by the
plants are quite dry. I think it would be fatal to the
plant if much spray should fall on it during the season of
its active growth. When you enter the shade and solitude of
the haunts of this fern, its presence is betrayed by its
resinous odor; looking up the face of the cliff, usually
mottled with lichens and moss, you see it often far above
your reach hanging against the rock, masses of dead brown
fronds, the accumulations of many years, preserved by the
resinous principle which pervades them; for the fronds, as
they disport regularly about the elongating caudex, fall
right and left precisely like a woman's hair. Above the
tuft of drooping dead fronds, which radiate from the centre
of the plant, grow from six to twenty green fronds, which
represent the growth of the season, those of the preceding
year dying toward autumn."

47. BRAUN'S HOLLY FERN

_Aspidium aculeatum, var. Braunii_ (_Dryopteris Braunii_)

Canada to Maine, the mountains of Pennsylvania and
westward, in deep rocky woods. One to more than two feet
long, with chaffy stalks, having brown scales.

_Fronds._--Thick, twice-pinnate; _pinnæ_ lanceolate,
tapering both ways; _pinnules_ covered with hairs and
scales, truncate, nearly rectangular at the base;
_fruit-dots_ roundish, small, mostly near the midveins;
_indusium_ orbicular, entire.

This fern is said to have been first discovered by Frederick Pursh in 1807 in Smuggler's Notch, Mount Mansfield, Vt. In the Green Mountains and in the Catskills several stations have been established. It has been found also in the Adirondacks and in Oswego County, N. Y., and it is now reported as common in the rocky woods of northern Maine, and by mountain brooks in northern New England.

Braun's Holly Fern is one of the numerous varieties of the Prickly Shield Fern or _A. aculeatum_ (_D. aculeata_).

Though few of our fern-students will have an opportunity to follow the Prickly Shield Fern through all the forms it assumes in different parts of the world, yet undoubtedly many of them will have the pleasure of seeing in one of its lonely and lovely haunts our own variety, Braun's Holly Fern.

BRAUN'S HOLLY FERN

_a_ Portion of pinna _b_ Fertile pinnule, indusia gone]

48. COMMON POLYPODY. SNAKE FERN

_Polypodium vulgare_

Almost throughout North America, on rocks. A few inches to
more than a foot high.

_Fronds._--Oblong, smooth, somewhat leathery, cut into
narrowly oblong, usually obtuse divisions which almost
reach the rachis; _fruit-dots_ large, round, half-way
between the midrib and margin; _indusium_, none.

Strangely enough, the Polypody, one of our most abundant and ubiquitous ferns, is not rightly named, if it is noticed at all, by nine out of ten people who come across it in the woods or along the roadside. Yet the plant has a charm peculiarly its own, a charm arising partly from its vigor, from the freshness of its youth and the endurance of its old age, partly from its odd outlines, and partly from its usual environment, which entitles it to a more ready and universal recognition.

"The cheerful community of the polypody," as Thoreau calls it, thrives best on the flat surfaces of rocks. I recall the base of certain great cliffs where the rocky fragments, looking as though hurled from above by playful giants, are thickly covered with these plants, their rich foliage softening into beauty otherwise rugged outlines. Usually the plant is found in somewhat shaded places. Occasionally it grows on the trunks of trees and on fallen logs, as well as on rocks and cliffs.

A few weeks ago I found its fronds prettily curtaining the cleverly hidden nest of a pair of black and white creepers. It is with good reason that these birds are noted for their skill in concealing their dwelling-place. This special afternoon, when persuaded by their nervous chirps and flutterings about the rocky perch where I was sitting that the young ones were close by, I began an investigation of my precipitous and very slippery surroundings which was not rewarded for an hour or more. Not till I had climbed several feet over the side of the cliff to a narrow shelf below, broken through a thicket of blueberries, and pushed aside the tufts of Polypody which hid the entrance to the dark crevice in the rocks beyond, did I discover the little nest holding the baby creepers.

Thoreau writes of the Polypody with peculiar sympathy:

"It is very pleasant and cheerful nowadays, when the brown
and withered leaves strew the ground and almost every plant
is fallen withered, to come upon a patch of polypody ...
on some rocky hill-side in the woods, where, in the midst
of dry and rustling leaves, defying frost, it stands so
freshly green and full of life. The mere greenness, which
was not remarkable in the summer, is positively interesting
now. My thoughts are with the polypody a long time after
my body has passed.... Why is not this form copied by our
sculptors instead of the foreign acanthus leaves and bays?
How fit for a tuft about the base of a column! The sight
of this unwithering green leaf excites me like red at some
seasons. Are not wood-frogs the philosophers who frequent
these groves? Methinks I imbibe a cool, composed, frog-like
philosophy when I behold them. The form of the polypody is
strangely interesting, it is even outlandish. Some forms,
though common in our midst, are thus perennially foreign as
the growth of other latitudes.... The bare outline of the
polypody thrills me strangely. It only perplexes me. Simple
as it is, it is as strange as an oriental character. It
is quite independent of my race and of the Indian, and of
all mankind. It is a fabulous, mythological form, such as
prevailed when the earth and air and water were inhabited
by those extinct fossil creatures that we find. It is
contemporary with them, and affects us somewhat as the
sight of them might do."

49. LONG BEECH FERN

_Phegopteris polypodioides_ (_P. Phegopteris_)

Newfoundland to Alaska, south to mountains of Virginia, wet
woods and hill-sides. Six or eight inches to more than a
foot high.

_Fronds._--Triangular, usually longer than broad (4-9
inches long, 3-6 inches broad), downy, especially beneath,
thin, once-pinnate; _pinnæ_ lance-shaped, the lower pair
noticeably standing forward and deflexed, cut into oblong,
obtuse segments; _fruit-dots_ small, round, near the
margin; _indusium_, none.

Of the three species of _Phegopteris_ native to the northeastern States _P. polypodioides_, commonly called the Long Beech Fern, is the one I happen to have encountered oftenest.

It is a less delicate plant than either of its sisters, the effect of the larger and older specimens being rather hardy, yet its downy, often light-green, triangular frond is exceedingly pretty, with a certain oddity of aspect which it owes to the lowest pair of pinnæ, these being conspicuously deflexed and turned forward. This peculiarity gives it a decided individuality and renders it easy of identification.

_b_ Tip of pinna]

The Long Beech Fern I have found growing alternately in company with the Oak Fern and the Broad Beech Fern. It loves the damp woods, clambering over the roots of trees or carpeting thickly the hollows that lie between.

50. BROAD BEECH FERN. HEXAGON BEECH FERN

_Phegopteris hexagonoptera_

Quebec to Florida, in dry woods and on hill-sides, with
stalks eight to eighteen inches long.

_Fronds._--Triangular, as broad or broader than long,
seven to twelve inches broad, thin, slightly hairy, often
finely glandular beneath, fragrant, once-pinnate; _pinnæ_,
the large, lowest ones broadest near the middle and cut
nearly to the midrib into linear-oblong, obtuse segments,
the middle ones lance-shaped, tapering, the upper ones
oblong, obtuse, toothed or entire; _basal segments_ of the
pinnæ forming a continuous, many-angled wing along the
main rachis; _fruit-dots_ round, small, near the margin;
_indusium_, none.

BROAD BEECH FERN]

In many ways this plant resembles its sister, the Long Beech Fern, but usually it is a larger plant, with more broadly triangular fronds, which wear, to my mind, a brighter, fresher, more delicate green. In the Long Beech Fern the two lower pairs of pinnæ differ little in length and breadth, while in the Broad Beech Fern the lowest pair are decidedly larger and broader than the next pair. The wing along the rachis formed by the basal segments of the pinnæ seems to me more conspicuous in the latter than in the former.

The range of the Broad Beech Fern extends farther south than does that of its two kinsmen, neither of which are found, I believe, south of Virginia. It seeks also more open and usually drier woods. Its leaves are fragrant.

Williamson says that its fronds are easily decolorized and that they form a "good object for double-staining, a process well known to microscopists."

51. OAK FERN

_Phegopteris Dryopteris_

Northeastern United States to Virginia, west to Oregon
and Alaska, usually in wet woods, with stalks six to nine
inches long.

_Fronds_.--Usually longer than broad, four to nine inches
long, broadly triangular, the three primary divisions
widely spreading, smooth, once or twice-pinnate;
_fruit-dots_ small, round, near the margin; _indusium_,
none.

OAK FERN]

So far as I remember, my first encounter with the Oak Fern was in a cedar swamp, famous for its growth of showy lady's-slippers. One July day in the hope of finding in flower some of these orchids, I visited this swamp. It lay in a semi-twilight, caused by the dense growth of cedars and hemlocks. Prostrate on the spongy sphagnum below were hosts of uprooted trees, so overrun with trailing strands of partridge-vine, twin-flower, gold-thread, and creeping snowberry, and so soft and yielding to the feet that they seemed to have become one with the earth. The stumps and far-reaching roots of the trees that had been cut or broken off above ground, instead of having been uprooted bodily, had also become gardens of many delicate woodland growths. Some of these decaying stumps and outspreading roots were thickly clothed with the clover-like leaflets of the wood-sorrel, here and there nestling among them a pink-veined blossom. On others I found side by side gleaming wild strawberries and dwarf raspberries, feathery fronds of Maidenhair, tall Osmundas, the Crested and the Spinulose Shield Ferns, the leaves of the violet, foam-flower, mitrewort, and many others of the smaller, wood-loving plants. Among these stumps were pools of water filled with the dark, polished, rounded leaves of the wild calla, and bordered by beds of moss which cushioned the equally shining but long and pointed leaves of the _Clintonia_. Near one of these pools grew a patch of delicate, low-spreading plants, evidently ferns. It needed only one searching look at the broad, triangular, light-green fronds--suggesting somewhat those of a small Brake--with roundish fruit-dots below to assure me that I had found the Oak Fern.

Every lover of plants or of birds or of any natural objects will appreciate the sense of something more exciting than satisfaction which I experienced as I knelt above the little plantation and gathered a few slender-stemmed fronds. One such find as this compensates for many hours of fatigue and discomfort, or intensifies the enjoyment of an already happy day. The expedition had justified itself with the first full view of the solemn, beautiful depths of the cedar forest. The discovery of the Oak Fern provided a tangible token of what we had accomplished, and when finally we found the tall, leafy plants of the showy lady's-slipper, without a single blossom left upon them, our disappointment was so mild as to be almost imperceptible.

As is often the case, having once discovered the haunt of the Oak Fern, it ceased to be a rarity. It joined the host of plants which climbed over the mossy stumps and fallen logs, and at times it fairly carpeted the ground beneath the cedars and hemlocks.

52. BULBLET BLADDER FERN

_Cystopteris bulbifera_

Canada to Tennessee, on wet rocks, preferring limestone.
One to three feet long, with light-colored, somewhat
brittle stalks.

_Fronds._--Elongated, lance-shaped from a broad base, often
bearing beneath large, fleshy bulbs, usually twice-pinnate;
_pinnæ_ lance-oblong, pointed; _pinnules_ toothed or
deeply lobed; _fruit-dots_ roundish, _indusium_ short,
hood-like, attached by a broad base on the side toward the
midrib, early thrown back and withering so that the mature
fruit-dots appear arched.

The Bulblet Bladder Fern is never more at home than when it grows close to falling water, clinging to rocks dark and wet with spray. It seems to reflect the very spirit of the waterfall, all its life and grace, as it springs from the dripping ledges, clothing them with a diaphanous garment of delicate green which vies with their neighboring veil of white, now pouring over some rocky shelf a solid but silent mass of pale luxuriant foliage, now trailing down the cliff its long, tapering fronds, side by side with silvery strands of water, close to tufts of wind-blown, spray-tipped harebells.

BULBLET BLADDER FERN

_a_ Portion of fruiting pinna]

Although the plant is never seen at its best save in some such neighborhood as this, its slender, feathery fronds are always possessed of singular grace and charm, whether undulating along the dried rocky bed of a mountain brook or bending till their slender tips nearly touch the rushing stream or growing quite away from the rocks which are their natural and usual companions among the moss-grown trunks and fallen trees of the wet woods.

I know no other fern, save the climbing fern, which is so vine-like and clinging. In reality its stalk and midrib are somewhat brittle, yet this brittleness does not prevent its adapting itself with supple and exquisite curves to whatever support it has chosen.

In its manner of growth, as well as in its slender, tapering outline, the Bulblet Bladder Fern is so individual that there can be no difficulty in identifying the full-sized fertile fronds, even in the absence of the little bulbs which grow on the under side of the frond, usually at the base of the pinnæ. The sterile fronds are shorter and broader in proportion, and not so easily identified.

FRAGILE BLADDER FERN

_a_ Portion of fertile pinna _b_ Tip of fertile pinna _c_ Magnified fruit-dot showing indusium]

53. FRAGILE BLADDER FERN. COMMON BLADDER FERN

_Cystopteris fragilis_

A rock and wood fern, found from Newfoundland to Georgia.
Six to eighteen inches long, with slender and brittle
stalks, green except at the base.

_Fronds._--Oblong-lanceolate, thin, twice to thrice-pinnate
or pinnatifid; _pinnæ_ lance-ovate, irregularly cut into
toothed segments which at their base run along the midrib
by a narrow margin; _fruit-dots_ roundish, often abundant;
_indusium_ early withering and exposing the sporangia,
which finally appear naked.

This plant may be ranked among the earliest ferns of the year. In May or June, if we climb down to the brook where the columbine flings out her brilliant, nodding blossoms, we find the delicate little fronds, just uncurled, clinging to the steep, moist rocks, or perhaps beyond, in the deeper woods, they nestle among the spreading roots of some great forest tree. Their "fragile greenness" is very winning. As the plant matures, attaining at times a height of nearly two feet, it loses something of this first delicate charm. By the end of July its fruit has ripened, its spores are discharged, and the plant disappears. Frequently, if not always, a new crop springs up in August. We are enchanted to discover tender young fronds making patches of fresh green in every crevice of the rocks among which the stream forces its precipitous way. Once more the woods are flavored with the essence of spring. In our delight in this new promise we forget for a moment to mourn the vanishing summer.

The outline of the Common Bladder Fern suggests that of the Obtuse Woodsia. The two plants might be difficult to distinguish were it not for the difference in their indusia. At maturity the indusium of the Common Bladder Fern usually disappears, leaving the fruit-dot naked, while that of the Obtuse Woodsia is fastened underneath the fruit-dot and splits apart into jagged, spreading lobes.

The sterile fronds of the Slender Cliff Brake also have been thought to resemble this fern, in whose company it often grows.

Williamson says that the Common Bladder Fern is easily cultivated either in mounds or on rock-work.

RUSTY WOODSIA]

54. RUSTY WOODSIA

_Woodsia Ilvensis_

From Labrador and Greenland south to North Carolina and
Kentucky, usually on exposed rocks in somewhat mountainous
regions. A few inches to nearly one foot high.

_Fronds._--Oblong-lance-shaped, rather smooth above, the
stalk and under surface of the frond thickly clothed with
rusty chaff, once-pinnate; _pinnæ_ oblong, obtuse, sessile,
cut into oblong segments; _fruit-dots_ round, near the
margin, often confluent at maturity; _indusium_ detached by
its base under the sporangia, dividing into slender hairs
which curl above them.

Last Decoration Day, while clambering over some rocky cliffs in the Berkshire Hills, I found the Rusty Woodsia growing in masses so luxuriant to the eye and so velvety to the touch that it hardly suggested the bristly looking plant which one finds later in the summer.

This fern reverses the usual order of things, being gray-haired in youth and brown-haired in old age, with the result that in May its effect is a soft, silvery green. But even in August, if you chance upon a vigorous tuft springing from some rocky crevice, despite its lack of delicacy and its bristle of red-brown hairs or chaff, the plant is an attractive one.

Environment has much to do with the charm of ferns. The first plant of this species I ever identified grew on a rocky shelf within a few feet of a stream which flowed swift and cold from the near mountains. Close by, from the forked branches of a crimson-fruited mountain maple, hung the dainty, deserted nest of a vireo. Always the Rusty Woodsia seems to bring me a message from that abode of solitude and silence.

BLUNT-LOBED WOODSIA

_a_ Portion of pinna _b_ Fruit-dot magnified, showing indusium]

55. BLUNT-LOBED WOODSIA

_Woodsia obtusa_

Canada to Georgia and Alabama and westward, on rocks. Eight
to twenty inches high, with stalks not jointed, chaffy when
young.

_Fronds._--Broadly lanceolate, nearly twice-pinnate;
_pinnæ_ rather remote, triangular-ovate or oblong,
pinnately parted into obtuse, oblong, toothed segments;
_veins_ forked; _fruit-dots_ on or near the minutely
toothed lobes; _indusium_ conspicuous, splitting into
several jagged lobes.

The Blunt-lobed Woodsia is not rare on rocks and stony hill-sides in Maine and Northern New York. It is found frequently in the valley of the Hudson. Though not related to the Common Bladder Fern (_C. fragilis_), it has somewhat the same general appearance. Its fronds, however, are usually both broader and longer, and its stalk and pinnæ are slightly downy. Its range does not vary greatly from that of the Common Bladder Fern, but usually it grows in more exposed spots and sometimes basks in strong sunshine.

Meehan says the Blunt-lobed Woodsia is found along the Wissahickon Creek, Penna., on dry walls in shady places. "One of its happiest phases," he continues, "is toward the fall of the year, when the short, barren fronds which form the outer circle bend downward, forming a sort of rosette, in the centre of which the fertile fronds somewhat erectly stand."

The sterile fronds remain fairly green till spring.

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

Aspidium aculeatum var. Braunii, 182

Aspidium Boottii, 168

Aspidium Braunii, 182

Aspidium cristatum, 170

Aspidium cristatum, var. Clintonianum, 172

Aspidium fragrans, 178

Aspidium Goldianum, 174

Aspidium marginale, 176

Aspidium Noveboracense, 159

Aspidium spinulosum, 166

Aspidium spinulosum, var. dilatatum, 168

Aspidium spinulosum, var. intermedium, 166

Aspidium Thelypteris, 160

Asplenium acrostichoides, 124

Asplenium angustifolium, 98

Asplenium Bradleyi, 144

Asplenium ebeneum, 134

Asplenium ebenoides, 140

Asplenium Felix-fœmina, 120

Asplenium montanum, 130

Asplenium pinnatifidum, 142

Asplenium platyneuron, 134

Asplenium Ruta-muraria, 126

Asplenium thelypteroides, 124

Asplenium Trichomanes, 136

Asplenium viride, 138

Botrychium dissectum, 81

Botrychium gracile, 80

Botrychium lanceolatum, 86

Botrychium Lunaria, 84

Botrychium matricariæfolium, 86

Botrychium simplex, 81

Botrychium ternatum, 81

Botrychium Virginianum, 80

Camptosorus rhizophyllus, 146

Cheilanthes lanosa, 112

Cheilanthes vestita, 112

Cystopteris bulbifera, 194

Cystopteris fragilis, 198

Dicksonia pilosiuscula, 114

Dicksonia punctilobula, 114

Dryopteris acrostichoides, 96

Dryopteris aculeata, 182

Dryopteris Boottii, 168

Dryopteris Braunii, 182

Dryopteris cristata, 170

Dryopteris cristata Clintoniana, 172

Dryopteris fragrans, 178

Dryopteris Goldieana, 174

Dryopteris marginalis, 176

Dryopteris Noveboracensis, 159

Dryopteris simulata, 164

Dryopteris spinulosa, 166

Dryopteris spinulosa dilatata, 168

Dryopteris spinulosa intermedia, 166

Dryopteris Thelypteris, 160

Lygodium palmatum, 75

Onoclea sensibilis, 54

Onoclea sensibilis, var. obtusilobata, 56

Onoclea Struthiopteris, 56

Ophioglossum vulgatum, 77

Osmunda cinnamomea, 60

Osmunda cinnamomea, var. frondosa, 62

Osmunda Claytoniana, 72

Osmunda regalis, 67

Pellæa atropurpurea, 90

Pellæa gracilis, 87

Pellæa Stelleri, 87

Phegopteris Dryopteris, 190

Phegopteris hexagonoptera, 188

Phegopteris Phegopteris, 187

Phegopteris polypodioides, 187

Polypodium vulgare, 184

Pteris aquilina, 105

Pteris esculenta, 107

Schizæa pusilla, 63

Scolopendrium scolopendrium, 150

Scolopendrium vulgare, 150

Woodsia Alpina, 203

Woodsia glabella, 206

Woodsia hyperborea, 203

Woodsia Ilvensis, 200

Woodsia obtusa, 202

Woodwardia angustifolia, 102

Woodwardia Virginica, 156

INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES

Adder's Tongue, 77

Alpine Woodsia, 203

Beech Fern, Broad, 188

Beech Fern, Long, 187

Bladder Fern, Bulblet, 194

Bladder Fern, Common, 198

Bladder Fern, Fragile, 198

Blunt-lobed Woodsia, 202

Boott's Shield Fern, 168

Bracken, 105

Bradley's Spleenwort, 144

Brake, 105

Braun's Holly Fern, 182

Caterpillar Fern, 156

Chain Fern, Net-veined, 102

Chain Fern, Virginia, 156

Christmas Fern, 96

Cinnamon Fern, 60

Cliff Brake, Purple, 90

Cliff Brake, Slender, 87

Clinton's Wood Fern, 172

Climbing Fern, 75

Common Polypody, 184

Creeping Fern, 75

Crested Shield Fern, 170

Curly Grass, 63

Eagle Fern, 105

Ebony Spleenwort, 134

Evergreen Wood Fern, 67

Flowering Fern, 67

Fragile Bladder Fern, 198

Fragrant Shield Fern, 178

Goldie's Fern, 174

Grape Fern, Lance-leaved, 86

Grape Fern, Little, 82

Grape Fern, Matricary, 86

Grape Fern, Ternate, 81

Grape Fern, Virginia, 80

Green Spleenwort, 138

Hairy Lip Fern, 112

Holly Fern, Braun's, 182

Hartford Fern, 75

Hart's Tongue, 150

Hay-scented Fern, 114

Interrupted Fern, 72

Lady Fern, 120

Lance-leaved Grape Fern, 86

Little Grape Fern, 82

Lip Fern, Hairy, 112

Long Beech Fern, 187

Maidenhair, 108

Maidenhair Spleenwort, 136

Marginal Shield Fern, 176

Marsh Fern, 160

Massachusetts Fern, 164

Matricary Grape Fern, 86

Moonwort, 84

Mountain Spleenwort, 130

Narrow-leaved Spleenwort, 98

Net-veined Chain Fern, 102

New York Fern, 159

Northern Woodsia, 203

Oak Fern, 190

Ostrich Fern, 56

Pinnatifid Spleenwort, 142

Polypody, Common, 184

Prickly Shield Fern, 182

Purple Cliff Brake, 90

Rattlesnake Fern, 80

Royal Fern, 67

Rue Spleenwort, 126

Rusty Woodsia, 200

Scott's Spleenwort, 140

Shield Fern, Boott's, 168

Shield Fern, Crested, 170

Shield Fern, Fragrant, 178

Shield Fern, Marginal, 176

Shield Fern, Prickly, 182

Seaweed Fern, 156

Sensitive Fern, 54

Silvery Spleenwort, 124

Slender Cliff Brake, 87

Smooth Woodsia, 206

Snake Fern, 184

Spinulose Wood Fern, 166

Spleenwort, Bradley's, 144

Spleenwort, Ebony, 134

Spleenwort, Green, 138

Spleenwort, Maidenhair, 136

Spleenwort, Mountain, 130

Spleenwort, Narrow-leaved, 98

Spleenwort, Pinnatifid, 142

Spleenwort, Rue, 126

Spleenwort, Silvery, 124

Spleenwort, Scotts', 140

Ternate Grape Fern, 81

Virginia Chain Fern, 156

Virginia Grape Fern, 80

Walking Fern, 146

Walking Leaf, 146

Wall Rue, 126

Wood Fern, Clinton's, 172

Wood Fern, Evergreen, 176

Wood Fern, Spinulose, 166

Woodsia, Alpine, 203

Woodsia, Blunt-lobed, 202

Woodsia, Northern, 203

Woodsia, Rusty, 200

Woodsia, Smooth, 206

INDEX TO TECHNICAL TERMS

Antheridia, 34

Archegonia, 34

Alternation of generations, 33

Asexual generation, 34

Frond, 28

Fertile frond, 3

Fertilization, 34

Indusium, 31

Once-pinnate frond, 30

Pinnatifid frond, 29

Pinnæ, 30

Pinnules, 30

Prothallium, 34

Rachis, 30

Rootstock, 28

Sexual generation, 33

Simple frond, 29

Sori, 30

Sporangia, 30

Spore, 30

Sterile frond, 31

Twice-pinnate frond, 30

Veins, free, 30

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Transcriber's Notes

Moved some illustrations to paragraph breaks.

Page ix: Corrected listing Preface to page v instead of vii.

Page xi: Corrected order of plate listings XX. and XXI.

Page 48: Corrected GOLDIE'S FERN reference page to 174 instead of 175.

End of Project Gutenberg's How to Know the Ferns, by Frances Theodora Parsons