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.
Fronds.—Larger in every way than those of the Crested Shield Fern, nearly twice-pinnate; pinnæ broadest at base, cut into from eight to sixteen pairs of linear-oblong, obtuse, obscurely toothed divisions; fruit-dots large, round, near the midvein; indusium orbicular, smooth.
This is a much larger and more showy plant than the Crested Shield Fern. Its tall, broad, hardy-looking fronds are found in our moist woods. While not rare it is exclusive in its habits, and cannot be classed with such every-day finds as its kinsmen, the Marsh, Spinulose, Evergreen, and Christmas Ferns.
PLATE XXXI
Part of fertile frond of Goldie's Fern
a Portion of a fertile pinna