KEY TO THE WOOD FERNS
ASPIDIUM
Fronds pinnate, the pinnæ pinnatifid;
Blade soft and thin, not evergreen;
Lower pinnæ reduced to mere lobes
New York Fern
Lower pinnæ but slightly reduced;
Veins simple......................Massachusetts Fern
Veins forked..............................Marsh Fern
Blade rather thick (subcoreaceous) mostly evergreen;
Fronds small, narrow, glandular, rock species
Fragrant Fern
Fronds large, two or more feet high;
Lower pinnæ short, broadly triangular
Crested Shield Fern
Lower pinnæ longer;
Sori close to the margin.... Marginal Shield Fern
Sori nearer the midvein;
Frond lanceolate....................Male Fern
Frond ovate..............Goldie's Shield Fern
Fronds twice pinnate with the lower pinnules pinnatifid
Boott's Shield Fern
Fronds nearly thrice pinnate................Spinulose Shield Fern
[Illustration: Marginal Shield Fern. Aspidium marginale]
[THE WOOD FERNS]
The ferns of this group, not counting the small fragrant fern, prefer the woods or at least shady places. Although the genus Polýstichum represents the true shield ferns, the wood ferns are also thus designated, as their indusia have nearly the shape of small, roundish shields. The old generic name for them all was Aspídium (meaning shield), first published in 1800. For a long time its chief rival was Nephròdium (kidney-like), 1803. Many modern botanists have preferred the earlier name Dryópteris (1763), meaning oak fern, alluding, perhaps, to its forest-loving habits. THELÝPTERIS, still earlier (1762), may supersede the others.
[Illustration: Marginal Shield Fern. Aspidium marginale (From Woolson's "Ferns," Doubleday, Page & Co.)]
[Illustration: Sori of Marginal Shield Fern]
(1) MARGINAL SHIELD FERN, EVERGREEN WOOD FERN
Aspídium marginàle. THELÝPTERIS MARGINÀLIS
Dryópteris marginàlis. Nephròdium marginàle
Fronds from a few inches to three feet long, ovate-oblong, somewhat leathery, smooth, twice pinnate. Pinnæ lanceolate, acuminate, broadest just above the base. Pinnules oblong, often slightly falcate, entire or toothed. Fruit-dots large, round, close to the margin. Rocky hillsides in rich woods, rather common throughout our area. The heavy rootstock rises slightly above the ground and is clothed at the crown with shaggy, brown scales. Its rising caudex, often creeping for several inches over bare rocks, suggests the habit of a tree fern. In early spring it sends up a graceful circle of large, handsome, bluish-green blades. The stipes are short and densely chaffy. No other wood fern endures the winter so well. The fronds burdened with snow lop over among the withered leaves and continue green until the new ones shoot up in the spring. It is the most valuable of all the wood ferns for cultivation.
(2) THE MALE FERN
Aspídium Fìlix-mas. THELÝPTERIS FÌLIX-MAS
Dryópteris Fìlix-mas. Nephròdium Fìlix-mas
Fronds lanceolate, pinnate, one to three feet high growing in a crown from a shaggy rootstock. Pinnæ lanceolate, tapering from base to apex. Pinnules oblong, obtuse, serrate at the apex, obscurely so at the sides, the basal incisely lobed, distant, the upper confluent. Fruit-dots large, nearer the mid vein than the margin, mostly on the lower half of each fertile segment.
The male fern resembles the marginal shield fern in outline, but the fronds are thinner, are not evergreen, and the sori are near the midvein. Its use in medicine is of long standing. Its rootstock produces the well-known fìlix-mas of the pharmacist. This has tonic and astringent properties, but is mainly prescribed as a vermifuge, which is one of the names given to it. In Europe it is regarded as the typical fern, being oftener mentioned and figured than any other. In rocky woods, Canada, Northfield, Vt., and northwest to the great lakes, also in many parts of the world.
[Illustration: The Male Fern. Aspidium Filix-mas (Vermont)]
[Illustration: FIG. 33G. Aspidium filix mas 1, Illustration exhibiting general habit; a, young leaves: 2, transverse section of rhizome showing the conducting bundles; a: 3, portion of the leaf bearing sori; a indusium b, sporangia; 4, longitudinal; 5, transverse section of a soris; a, leaf; b, indusium; c, sporangia: 6, a single sporangium; a, stalk; c, annulus; d, spores. (After WOSSIDLO OFFICINAL) From a German print, giving details]
(3) GOLDIE'S FERN
Aspidium Goldiànum. THELYPTERIS GOLDIÀNA
Dryopteris Goldiàna. Nephrodium Goldiànum
Fronds two to four feet high and often one foot broad, pinnate, broadly ovate, especially the sterile ones. Pinnæ deeply pinnatifid, broadest in the middle. The divisions (eighteen or twenty pairs) oblong-linear, slightly toothed. Fruit-dots very near the midvein. Indusium large, orbicular, with a deep, narrow sinus. Scales dark brown to nearly black with a peculiar silky lustre.
A magnificent species, the tallest and largest of the wood ferns. It delights in rich woodlands where there is limestone. Its range is from Canada to Kentucky. While not common, there are numerous colonies in New England. It is reported from Fairfield, Me., Spencer and Mt. Toby, Mass., and frequently west of the Connecticut River. We have often admired a large and beautiful colony of it on the west side of Willoughby Mountain in Vermont. It is easily cultivated and adds grace and dignity to a fern garden.
[Illustration: Goldie's Shield Fern. Aspidium Goldianum (Vermont, 1874. C.G. Pringle) (Herbarium of G.E. Davenport)]
[Illustration: Goldie's Fern (From Woolson's "Ferns," Doubleday, Page & Co.)]
(4) THE CRESTED FERN
Aspidium cristàtum. THELÝPTERIS CRISTÀTA
Dryopteris cristàta. Nephrodium cristàtum
Fronds one to two feet long, linear-oblong or lanceolate, pinnate, acute. Pinnæ two to three inches long, broadest at the base, triangular-oblong, or the lowest triangular. Divisions oblong, obtuse, finely serrate or cut-toothed, those nearest the rachis sometimes separate. Fruit-dots large, round, half way between the midvein and the margin. Indusium smooth, naked, with a shallow sinus.
The short sterile fronds, though spreading out gracefully, are conspicuous only in winter; while the fertile fronds, tall, narrow and erect, are found only in summer.
It is one of our handsomest evergreen ferns and even the large sori, with their dark spore cases and white indusia, are very attractive. The fertile pinnæ have a way of turning their faces upward toward the apex of the frond for more light. In moist land, Canada to Kentucky.
Var. Clintoniànum. Clinton's Wood Fern. Resembles the type, but is in every way larger. Divisions eight to sixteen pairs. Fruit-dots near the midvein, the sides of the sinus often overlapping. South central Maine to New York and westward. "Rare in New England attaining its best development in western sections." (Dodge.) Mt. Toby, Mass., Hanover, N.H. July. Fine for cultivation.
[Illustration: Crested Shield Fern. Aspidium cristatum (Reading, Mass., Kingman)]
[Illustration: The Crested Shield Fern. Aspidium cristatum]
[Illustration: Clinton's Wood Fern. Aspidium cristatum, var. Clintonianum (Gray Herbarium)]
CRESTED MARGINAL FERN
Aspídium cristàtum X marginàle
Both the crested fern and Clinton's fern appear to hybridize with the marginal shield fern with the result that the upper part of the frond is like marginale and the lower like cristàtum, including the veining and texture.
This form was discovered by Raynal Dodge, verified by Margaret Slosson and described by Geo. E. Davenport, who had a small colony under cultivation in his fern garden at Medford, Mass., and to him the writer and other friends are indebted for specimens.
Found occasionally throughout New England and New Jersey. Other supposed hybrids have been found between the marginal shield and the spinulose fern and its variety intermèdium, and with Goldie's fern; also between the crested fern, including Clinton's variety and each of the others mentioned; and, in fact, between almost all pairs of species of the wood ferns, although we do not think they have been positively verified. Still other species of ferns are known to hybridize more or less, as we saw in the case of Scott's spleenwort.
[Illustration: Crested Marginal Fern. A Hybrid. Aspidium Cristatum X marginale (Fernery of Geo. E. Davenport)]
[Illustration: Aspidium cristatum X marginale One of the very best for cultivation]
(5) BOOTT'S SHIELD FERN
Aspidium Boottii. THELÝPTERIS BOOTTII
Dryopteris Boottii. Nephrodium Boottii
Fronds one to three feet high, oblong-lanceolate, bipinnate, the upper pinnæ lanceolate, the lower triangular with spinulose teeth. Sori in rows each side of the midvein, one to each tooth and often scattering on the lower pinules. Indusium large, minutely glandular, variable.
This fern has been thought to be a hybrid between the crested and spinulose ferns, but is now regarded as distinct. Like the crested fern its fertile fronds wither in autumn, while its sterile blades remain green throughout the winter. It differs from it, however, by being twice pinnate below, and from the typical spinulose fern by its glandular indusium; but from the intermediate variety it is more difficult to separate it, as that also has indusiate glands. The collector needs to study authentic specimens and have in mind the type, with its rather long, narrow blade as an aid to the verbal description, and even then he will often find it an interesting puzzle. Shaded swamps throughout our area.
[Illustration: Aspidium Boottii]
(6) SPINULOSE SHIELD FERN
Aspidium spinulòsum. THELÝPTERIS SPINULÒSA
Dryopteris spinulòsa. Nephrodium spinulòsum
Stipes with a few pale brown deciduous scales. Fronds one to two and one-half feet long, ovate-lanceolate, twice pinnate. Pinnæ oblique to the rachis, the lower ones broadly triangular, the upper ones elongated. Pinnules on the inferior side of the pinnæ often elongated, especially the lower pair, the pinnule nearest the rachis being usually the longest, at least in the lowest pinnæ. Pinnules variously cut into spinulose-toothed segments. Indusium smooth, without marginal glands.
The common European type, but in this country far less common than its varieties. They all prefer rich, damp woods, and because of their graceful outline and spiny-toothed lobes are very attractive. They can be transplanted without great difficulty, and the fern garden depends upon them for its most effective lacework.
Var. intermèdium has the scales of the stipe brown with darker center. Fronds ovate-oblong, often tripinnate. Pinnæ spreading, oblong-lanceolate. Pinnules pinnately cleft, the oblong lobes spinulose-toothed at the apex. Margin of the indusium denticulate and beset with minute, stalked glands. In woods nearly everywhere--our most common form. Millions of fronds of this variety are gathered in our northern woods, placed in cold storage and sent to florists to be used in decorations.[A] As long as the roots are not disturbed the crop is renewed from year to year, and no great harm seems to result. Canada to Kentucky and westward.
[Footnote A: Horticulture reports that twenty-eight million fern leaves have been shipped from Bennington, Vt., in a single season; and that nearly $100,000 were paid out in wages.]
[Illustration: Spinulose Shield Fern. Aspidium spinulosum (Maine, 1877, Herbarium of Geo. E. Davenport)]
| [Illustration: Aspidium spinulosum, var. intermedium] | |
| [Illustration: Aspidium spinulosum, var. AMERICANUM] |
A tripinnate form of this variety discovered at Concord, Mass., by Henry Purdie, has been named var. CONCORDIÀNUM. It has small, elliptical, denticulate pinnules and a glandular-pubescent indusium.
Var. AMERICÀNUM (=dilatàtum, syn.). Fronds broader, ovate or triangular-ovate in outline. A more highly developed form of the typical plant, the lower pinnæ being often very broad, and the fronds tripinnate. Inferior pinnules on the lower pair of pinnæ conspicuously elongated. A variety preferring upland woods; northern New England, Greenland to the mountains of North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and northward.
[THE BLADDER FERNS. Cystópteris]
"Mark ye the ferns that clothe these dripping rocks,
Their hair-like stalks, though trembling 'neath the shock
Of falling spraydrops, rooted firmly there."
The bladder ferns are a dainty, rock-loving family partial to a limestone soil. (The Greek name cystópteris means bladder fern, so called in allusion to the hood-shaped indusium.)
(1) THE BULBLET BLADDER FERN
Cystópteris bulbífera. Fìlix bulbífera
Fronds lanceolate, elongated, one to three feet long, twice pinnate. Pinnæ lanceolate-oblong, pointed, horizontal, the lowest pair longest. Rachis and pinnæ often bearing bulblets beneath. Pinnules toothed or deeply lobed. Indusium short, truncate on the free side. Stipe short.
[Illustration: Bulblet Bladder Fern. Cystopteris bulbifera (Willoughby, Vt., 1904, G.H.T.)]
[Illustration: Bulblet Bladder Fern. Cystopteris bulbifera]
One of the most graceful and attractive of our native ferns; an object of beauty, whether standing alone or massed with other growths. It is very easily cultivated and one of the best for draping. "We may drape our homes by the yard," says Woolson, "with the most graceful and filmy of our common ferns, the bladder fern." This fern and the maidenhair were introduced into Europe in 1628 by John Tradescant, the first from America.
It delights in shaded ravines and dripping hillsides in limestone districts. While producing spores freely it seems to propagate its species mainly by bulblets, which, falling into a moist soil, at once send out a pair of growing roots, while a tiny frond starts to uncoil from the heart of the bulb. Mt. Toby, Mass., Willoughby Mountain, Vt., calcareous regions in Maine, and west of the Connecticut River, Newfoundland to Manitoba, Wisconsin and Iowa; south to northern Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas.
(2) THE COMMON BLADDER FERN
Cystopteris frágilis. Filix frágilis
Stipe long and brittle. Fronds oblong-lanceolate, five to twelve inches long, twice pinnate, the pinnæ often pinnatifid or cut-toothed, ovate-lanceolate, decurrent on the winged rachis. Indusium appearing acute at the free end. Very variable in the cutting of the pinnules.
The fragile bladder fern, as it is often called, and which the name frágilis suggests, is the earliest to appear in the spring, and the first to disappear, as by the end of July it has discharged its spores and withered away. Often, however, a new crop springs up by the last of August, as if Nature were renewing her youth. In outline the fragile bladder fern suggests the blunt-lobed Woodsia, but in the latter the pinnæ and pinnules are usually broader and blunter, and its indusium splits into jagged lobes. Rather common in damp, shady places where rocks abound. In one form or another, found nearly throughout the world though only on mountains in the tropics.
[Illustration: Fragile Bladder Fern, Fruited Portion]
[Illustration: Fragile Bladder Fern. Cystopteris fragilis (Wakefield, Mass.)]