19. NET-VEINED CHAIN FERN
Woodwardia angustifolia
Swampy places from Maine to Florida, in wet woods near the coast.
Sterile fronds.—Twelve to eighteen inches high, pinnatifid with minutely toothed divisions united by a broad wing.
Fertile fronds.—Taller than the sterile, once-pinnate; pinnæ much contracted; fruit-dots in a single row each side of the secondary midribs; indusium fixed by its outer margin, opening on the side next the midrib.
a
The Woodwardias are associated in my mind with sea-air, pine-trees, and the flat, sandy country near Buzzard's Bay, Mass. Both species were met with in one walk not far from the shore.
b
A little stream, scarcely more than a ditch, divided an open, sunny meadow from a bit of evergreen wood, and on the steep banks of this runlet grew the bright fronds of Woodwardia angustifolia, giving at first glance somewhat the impression of Onoclea sensibilis. The fronds of both are described as pinnatifid, and in this Woodwardia we find the divisions minutely toothed ([a]), giving them a rough outline which is wanting in Onoclea sensibilis. These are the sterile fronds. Among them and taller than they are the fertile fronds with very narrow divisions, covered on the lower side with the chains of fruit-dots ([b]).
PLATE XII
NET-VEINED CHAIN FERN
It is a handsome fern and very satisfactory to the novice in fern hunting, because, taking fertile and sterile fronds together, it cannot be confused with any other species.
Crossing the tiny stream, a path dim with the shade of low, dense evergreens and soft and elastic underfoot from their fallen leaves, leads through the woods. Here among the partridge-vine that runs over the rocks, growing from the soft, spongy soil, are groups of the sterile fronds only of this Woodwardia, charming little clumps of fresh green that invite one to dig them up and plant them in boxes or baskets for decorative purposes.