FERN DESCRIPTIONS
"Nature made a fern for pure leaves."—Thoreau
GROUP I
STERILE AND FERTILE FRONDS TOTALLY UNLIKE; FERTILE FRONDS NOT
LEAF-LIKE IN APPEARANCE
1. SENSITIVE FERN
Onoclea sensibilis
Newfoundland to Florida, in wet meadows.
Sterile fronds.—One or two inches to three feet high, broadly triangular, deeply cut into somewhat oblong, wavy-toothed divisions, the lower ones almost reaching the midrib, the upper ones less deeply cut; stalk long.
Fertile fronds.—Quite unlike the sterile fronds and shorter, erect, rigid, contracted; pinnules rolled up into dark-green, berry-like bodies which hold the spore-cases; appearing in June or July.
This is one of our commonest ferns, growing in masses along the roadside and in wet meadows. Perfectly formed sterile fronds are found of the tiniest dimensions. Again the plant holds its own among the largest and most effective ferns. From its creeping rootstock rise the scattered fronds which at times wear very light and delicate shades of green. There is nothing, however, specially fragile in the plant's appearance, and one is struck by the inappropriateness of its title. It is probable that this arose from its sensitiveness to early frosts.
Though one hesitates to differ from Dr. Eaton, who described the fertile fronds as "nearly black in color" and said that they were "not very common," and that a young botanist might "search in vain for them for a long time," my own experience has been that the fresh ones are very evidently green and neither scarce nor specially inconspicuous.
I have found these fertile fronds apparently full-grown in June, though usually they are assigned to a much later date. They remain standing, brown and dry, long after they have sown their spores, side by side with the fresh fronds of the following summer.
Detail a in Plate I represents the so-called var. obtusilobata. This is a form midway between the fruiting and the non-fruiting fronds. It may be looked for in situations where the fern has suffered some injury or deprivation.
2. OSTRICH FERN
Onoclea Struthiopteris
Nova Scotia to New Jersey, along streams and in moist woods. Growing in a crown, two to ten feet high.
Sterile fronds.—Broadly lance-shaped, once-pinnate; pinnæ divided into narrowly oblong segments which do not reach the midvein; stalk short, deeply channelled in front.
Fertile fronds.—Quite unlike the sterile fronds, growing in the centre of the crown formed by the sterile fronds, shorter, erect, rigid, with green, necklace-like pinnæ which hold the spore-cases; appearing in July.
I first found this plant at its best on the shore of the Hoosick River in Rensselaer County, N. Y. We had crossed a field dotted with fragrant heaps of hay and blazing in the midsummer sun, and had entered the cool shade of the trees which border the river, when suddenly I saw before me a group of ferns of tropical beauty and luxuriance. Great plume-like fronds of a rich green arched above my head. From the midst of the circle which they formed sprang the shorter, dark, rigid fruit-clusters. I was fairly startled by the unexpected beauty and regal bearing of the Ostrich Fern.
This magnificent plant luxuriates especially in the low, rich soil which is subject to an annual overflow from our northern rivers. Its vase-like masses of foliage somewhat suggest the Cinnamon Fern, but the fertile fronds of the Ostrich Fern mature in July, some weeks later than those of its rival. They are dark-green, while those of the Cinnamon Fern are golden-brown. Should there be no fruiting fronds upon the plant, the Ostrich Fern can be distinguished by the free veins with simple veinlets (Plate II, a) of its pinnæ, the veins of the Cinnamon Fern being free and its veinlets forking (Pl. III, a), and by the absence of the tuft of rusty wool at the base of the pinnæ on the under side of the frond.
The Ostrich Fern does so well under cultivation that there is danger lest it crowd out its less aggressive neighbors. It propagates chiefly by means of underground runners. Mr. Robinson describes a specimen which he had planted in his out-door fernery that crawled under a tight board fence and reappeared in the garden of his neighbor, who was greatly astonished and equally delighted so unexpectedly to become the owner of the superb plant.
OSTRICH FERN
a Portion of sterile frond
b Fertile frond
c Detail, showing free veins with simple veinlets
The Ostrich Fern, like its kinsman the Sensitive Fern, occasionally gives birth to fronds which are midway between its fruiting and its non-fruiting forms. This is specially liable to occur when some injury has befallen the plant.
3. CINNAMON FERN
Osmunda cinnamomea
Nova Scotia to Florida, in swampy places. Growing in a crown, one to five feet high.
Sterile fronds.—Broadly lance-shaped, once-pinnate; pinnæ cut into broadly oblong divisions that do not reach the midvein, each pinna with a tuft of rusty wool at its base beneath.
Fertile fronds.—Quite unlike the sterile fronds, growing in the centre of the crown formed by the sterile fronds and usually about the same height; erect, with cinnamon-colored spore-cases.
In the form of little croziers, protected from the cold by wrappings of rusty wool, the fertile fronds of the Cinnamon Fern appear everywhere in our swamps and wet woods during the month of May. These fertile fronds, first dark-green, later cinnamon-brown, are quickly followed and encircled by the sterile ones, which grow in a tall, graceful crown. The fertile fronds soon wither, and, during the summer, may be found either clinging to the stalks of the sterile fronds or lying on the ground.
CINNAMON FERN
a Showing tuft of wool at base of pinna, also free veins with forking veinlets
The Cinnamon Fern is often confused with the Ostrich Fern. When either plant is in fruit there is no excuse for this mistake, as the cinnamon-colored spore-cases of the former appear in May, while the dark-green fertile fronds of the latter do not ripen till July. When the fruiting fronds are absent the forked veinlets (Plate III, a) of the Cinnamon Fern contrast with the simple veinlets of the other plant (Plate II, a). Then, too, the pinnæ of the Cinnamon Fern bear tufts of rusty wool at the base beneath, the remnants of the woolly garments worn by the young fronds.
The plant is a superb one when seen at its best. Its tall sterile fronds curve gracefully outward, while the slender fruit-clusters erect themselves in the centre of the rich crown. In unfavorable conditions, when growing in dry meadows, for instance, like all the Osmundas, and indeed like most growing things, it is quite a different plant. Its green fronds become stiff and stunted, losing all their graceful curves, and its fruit-clusters huddle among them as if anxious to keep out of sight.
Var. frondosa is an occasional form in which some of the fruiting fronds have green, leaf-like pinnæ below. These abnormal fronds are most abundant on land which has been burned over.
The Cinnamon Fern is a member of the group of Osmundas, or "flowering ferns," as they are sometimes called, not of course because they really flower, but because their fruiting fronds are somewhat flower-like in appearance. There are three species of Osmunda: the Cinnamon Fern, O. cinnamomea; the Royal Fern, O. regalis; and the Interrupted Fern, O. Claytoniana. All three are beautiful and striking plants, producing their spores in May or June, and conspicuous by reason of their luxuriant growth and flower-like fruit clusters.
The Osmundas are easily cultivated, and group themselves effectively in shaded corners of the garden. They need plenty of water, and thrive best in a mixture of swamp-muck and fine loam.
4. CURLY GRASS
Schizæa pusilia
Pine barrens of New Jersey.
Sterile fronds.—Hardly an inch long, linear, slender, flattened, curly.
Fertile fronds.—Taller than the sterile fronds (three or four inches in height), slender, with from four to six pairs of fruit-bearing pinnæ in September.
Save in the herbarium I have never seen this very local little plant, which is found in certain parts of New Jersey. Gray assigns it to "low grounds, pine barrens," while Dr. Eaton attributes it to the "drier parts of sphagnous swamps among white cedars."
In my lack of personal knowledge of Schizæa, I venture to quote from that excellent little quarterly, the Fern Bulletin, the following passage from an article by Mr. C. F. Saunders on Schizæa pusilla at home:
"S. pusilla was first collected early in this century at Quaker Bridge, N. J., about thirty-five miles east of Philadelphia. The spot is a desolate-looking place in the wildest of the 'pine barrens,' where a branch of the Atsion River flows through marshy lowlands and cedar swamps. Here, amid sedge-grasses, mosses, Lycopodiums, Droseras, and wild cranberry vines, the little treasure has been collected; but, though I have hunted for it more than once, my eyes have never been sharp enough to detect its fronds in that locality. In October of last year, however, a friend guided me to another place in New Jersey where he knew it to be growing, and there we found it. It was a small open spot in the pine barrens, low and damp. In the white sand grew patches of low grasses, mosses, Lycopodium Carolinianum, L. inundatum, and Pyxidanthera barbulata, besides several smaller ericaceous plants and some larger shrubs, such as scrub-oaks, sumacs, etc. Close by was a little stream, and just beyond that a bog. Although we knew that the Schizæa grew within a few feet of the path in which we stood, it required the closest sort of a search, with eyes at the level of our knees, before a specimen was detected. The sterile fronds (curled like corkscrews) grew in little tufts, and were more readily visible than the fertile spikes, which were less numerous, and, together with the slender stipes, were of a brown color, hardly distinguishable from the capsules of the mosses, and the maturing stems of the grasses which grew all about. Lying flat on the earth, with face within a few inches of the ground, was found the most satisfactory plan of search. Down there all the individual plants looked bigger, and a sidelong glance brought the fertile clusters more prominently into view. When the sight got accustomed to the miniature jungle quite a number of specimens were found, but the fern could hardly be said to be plentiful, and all that we gathered were within a radius of a couple of yards. This seems, indeed, to be one of those plants whose whereabouts is oftenest revealed by what we are wont to term a 'happy accident,' as, for instance, when we are lying stretched on the ground resting, or as we stoop at lunch to crack an egg on the toe of our shoe. I know of one excellent collector who spent a whole day looking for it diligently in what he thought to be a likely spot, but without success, when finally, just before the time for return came, as he was half crouching on the ground, scarcely thinking now of Schizæa, its fronds suddenly flashed upon his sight, right at his feet. The sterile fronds of Schizæa pusilla are evergreen, so that the collector may, perhaps, most readily detect it in winter, selecting days for his search when the earth is pretty clear of snow. The surrounding vegetation being at that time dead, the little corkscrew-like fronds stand out more prominently."
GROUP II
FERTILE FRONDS PARTIALLY LEAF-LIKE, THE FERTILE PORTION UNLIKE THE
REST OF THE FROND
5. ROYAL FERN. FLOWERING FERN
Osmunda regalis
New Brunswick to Florida, in swampy places. Two to five feet high, occasionally taller.
Sterile fronds.—Twice-pinnate, pinnæ cut into oblong pinnules.
Fertile fronds.—Leaf-like below, sporangia forming bright-brown clusters at their summits.
Perhaps this Royal or Flowering Fern is the most beautiful member of a singularly beautiful group. When its smooth, pale-green sterile fronds, grown to their full height, form a graceful crown which encircles the fertile fronds, it is truly a regal-looking plant. These fertile fronds are leaf-like below, and are tipped above with their flower-like fruit-clusters.
Like its kinsmen, the Royal Fern appears in May in our wet woods and fields. The delicate little croziers uncurl with dainty grace, the plants which grow in the open among the yellow stars of the early crow-foot, and the white clusters of the spring cress being so tinged with red that they suffuse the meadows with warm color.
Though one of our tallest ferns, with us it never reaches the ten or eleven feet with which it is credited in Great Britain. The tallest plants I have found fall short of six feet. Occasionally we see large tracts of land covered with mature plants that lack a foot or more of the two feet given as the minimum height. This tendency to depauperization one notices especially in dry marshes near the sea.
To the Royal Fern the old herbalists attributed many valuable qualities. One old writer, who calls it the "Water Fern," says: "This hath all the virtues mentioned in other ferns, and is much more effective than they both for inward and outward griefs, and is accounted good for wounds, bruises, and the like."
The title "flowering fern" sometimes misleads those who are so unfamiliar with the habits of ferns as to imagine that they ever flower. That it really is descriptive was proved to me only a few weeks ago when I received a pressed specimen of a fertile frond accompanied by the request to inform the writer as to the name of the flower inclosed, which seemed to him to belong to the Sumach family.
The origin of the generic name Osmunda seems somewhat obscure. It is said to be derived from Osmunder, the Saxon Thor. In his Herbal Gerarde tells us that Osmunda regalis was formerly called "Osmund, the Waterman," in allusion, perhaps, to its liking for a home in the marshes. One legend claims that a certain Osmund, living at Loch Tyne, saved his wife and child from the inimical Danes by hiding them upon an island among masses of flowering ferns, and that in after years the child so shielded named the stately plants after her father.
The following lines from Wordsworth point to still another origin of the generic name:
Alike indulged to all, we paused, one now,
And now the other, to point out, perchance
To pluck, some flower, or water-weed, too fair
Either to be divided from the place
On which it grew, or to be left alone
To its own beauty. Many such there are,
Fair ferns and flowers, and chiefly that tall fern,
So stately, of the Queen Osmunda named:
Plant lovelier, in its own retired abode
On Grasmere's beach, than Naiad by the side
Of Grecian brook, or Lady of the Mere,
Sole-sitting by the shores of old romance."
The Royal Fern may be cultivated easily in deep mounds of rich soil shielded somewhat from the sun.
6. INTERRUPTED FERN
Osmunda Claytoniana
Newfoundland to North Carolina, in swampy places. Two to four feet high.
Sterile fronds.—Oblong-lanceolate, once-pinnate, pinnæ cut into oblong, obtuse divisions, without a tuft of wool at the base of each pinna.
Fertile fronds.—Taller than the sterile, leaf-like above and below, some of the middle pinnæ fruit-bearing.
The Interrupted Fern makes its appearance in the woods and meadows and along the roadsides in May. It fruits as it unfolds.
At first the fruiting pinnæ are almost black. Later they become golden-green, and after the spores are discharged they turn brown. They are noticeable all summer, and serve to identify the plant at once.
In the absence of the fertile fronds it is often difficult to distinguish between the Cinnamon Fern and the Interrupted Fern.
The sterile fronds of the Interrupted Fern are usually less erect, curving outward much more noticeably than those of the Cinnamon Fern. Then, too, its pinnæ are cut into segments that are more obtuse, and the whole effect of the frond is more stubby.
But the most distinguishing feature of all is the tuft of rusty wool which clings to the base of each pinna of the sterile fronds of the Cinnamon Fern. These tufts we do not find in the Interrupted Fern, though both plants come into the world warmly wrapped in wool.
The Interrupted Fern is a peculiarly graceful plant. Its fertile fronds, standing quite erect below but curving outward above the fruiting pinnæ, are set in a somewhat shallow vase formed by the sterile fronds, which fall away in every direction.
In the fall the fronds turn yellow, and at times are so brilliant that they flood the woods with golden light.
Like the other Osmundas, the Interrupted Fern is easily cultivated.
7. CLIMBING FERN. CREEPING FERN. HARTFORD FERN
Lygodium palmatum
Massachusetts and southward, in moist thickets and open woods. Stalks slender and twining.
Fronds.—Climbing and twining, one to three feet long, divided into lobed, rounded, heart-shaped, short-stalked segments; fruit-clusters, growing at the summit of the frond, ripening in September.
The Climbing Fern is still found occasionally in moist thickets and open woods from Massachusetts southward, but at one time it was picked so recklessly for decorative purposes that it was almost exterminated.
In 1869 the legislature of Connecticut passed for its protection a special law which was embodied in the revision of the statutes of 1875, "perhaps the only instance in statute law," Dr. Eaton remarks, "where a plant has received special legal protection solely on account of its beauty."
I have never seen the plant growing, but remember that when a child my home in New York was abundantly decorated with the pressed fronds which had been brought from Hartford for the purpose. Even in that lifeless condition their grace and beauty made a deep impression on my mind.
Mr. Saunders has described it as he found it growing in company with Schizæa, in the New Jersey pine barrens:
"Lygodium palmatum ... is one of the loveliest of American plants, with twining stem adorned with palmate leaflets, bearing small resemblance to the popular idea of a fern. It loves the shaded, mossy banks of the quiet streams whose cool, clear, amber waters, murmuring over beds of pure white sand, are so characteristic of the pine country. There the graceful fronds are to be found, sometimes clambering a yard high over the bushes and cat-briers; sometimes trailing down the bank until their tips touch the surface of the water.
"The Lygodium is reckoned among the rare plants of the region—though often growing in good-sized patches when found at all—and is getting rarer. Many of the localities which knew it once now know it no more, both because of the depredations of ruthless collectors, and, to some extent, probably, the ravages of fire. The plant is in its prime in early fall, but may be looked for up to the time of killing frosts."
8. ADDER'S TONGUE
Ophioglossum vulgatum
Canada to New Jersey and Kentucky, in moist meadows. Two inches to one foot high.
Sterile portion.—An ovate, fleshy leaf.
Fertile portion.—A simple spike, usually long-stalked.
The unprofessional fern collector is likely to agree with Gray in considering the Adder's Tongue "not common." Many botanists, however, believe the plant to be "overlooked rather than rare." In an article on O. vulgatum, which appeared some years ago in the Fern Bulletin, Mr. A. A. Eaton writes:
"Previous to 1895 Ophioglossum vulgatum was unknown to me, and was considered very rare, only two localities being known in Essex County, Mass. Early in the year a friend gave me two specimens. From these I got an idea of how the thing looked. On the 11th of last July, while collecting Habenaria lacera in a 'bound-out' mowing field, I was delighted to notice a spike of fruit in the grass. A search revealed about sixty, just right to collect, with many unfruitful specimens. A few days later, while raking in a similar locality, I found several, within a stone's throw of the house, demonstrating again the well-known fact that a thing once seen is easily discovered again. On the 23d of last August, while riding on my bicycle, I noticed a field that appeared to be the right locality, and an investigation showed an abundance of them. I subsequently found it in another place. This year, on May 28th, I found it in another locality just as it was coming up, and I have since found three others. I consider it abundant here, only appearing rare because growing hidden in fine grass in old mowing fields, after the red top and timothy have died out, and the finer species of Carex are coming in. A good index plant is the Habenaria quoted. I have never found it except when associated with this plant, on a cold, heavy soil. The leaf is usually hidden, or, if not, is easily passed by for Maianthemum or Pogonia."
In the "Grete Herbal" of Gerarde we read that "the leaves of Adder's Tongue stamped in a stone mortar, and boiled in oyle olive unto the consumption of the juice, and until the herbs be dried and parched and then strained, will yeelde most excellent greene oyle or rather a balsame for greene wounds comparable to oyle of St. John's-wort if it do not farre surpasse it."
It is said that "Adder's Spear Ointment," made from the fresh fronds of this plant is still used for wounds in English villages.
The Adder's Tongue was believed formerly to have poisonous qualities, which not only injured the cattle that fed upon it, but destroyed the grass in which it grew.
9. RATTLESNAKE FERN. VIRGINIA GRAPE FERN
Botrychium Virginianum
Nova Scotia to Florida, in rich woods. One or two feet high, at times much smaller, when it becomes B. gracile.
Sterile portion.—Usually broader than long, spreading, with three main divisions which are cut into many smaller segments, thin, set close to the stem about half way up.
Fertile portion.—Long-stalked, more than once-pinnate.
On our rambles through the woods we are more likely to encounter the Rattlesnake Fern than any other member of the Botrychium group. It fruits in early summer, but the withered fertile portion may be found upon the plant much later in the year. Its frequent companions are the Spinulose Shield Fern, the Christmas Fern, the Silvery Spleenwort, and the Maidenhair.
10. TERNATE GRAPE FERN
Botrychium ternatum or dissectum
Nova Scotia to Florida, in moist meadows. A few inches to more than a foot high.
Sterile portion.—Broadly triangular, the three main divisions cut again into many segments, on a separate stalk from near the base of the plant, fleshy.
Fertile portion.—Erect, usually considerably taller than non-fruiting segment, more than once-pinnate.
Of late some doubt has existed as to whether B. ternatum has been actually found in this country, although the standard Floras give no evidence of this uncertainty. Dr. Underwood is convinced that the true B. ternatum is found only in Japan and China, and that our species is really B. dissectum, a species, not a variety. He says that this species is very common in the vicinity of New York City, and thence southward and westward; that it is also found in various parts of New England; that it reaches its fullest development in moist, shady woods; that in mossy meadows of New England and Central New York the plant assumes a more contracted habit. He believes its segments are more apt to be divided in shady situations than in open, sunny ground.
The Ternate Grape Fern fruits in the fall.
11. LITTLE GRAPE FERN
Botrychium simplex
Canada to Maryland, in moist woods and in fields. Two to four inches high, rarely a little taller.
Sterile portion.—Somewhat oblong, more or less lobed, occasionally 3-7 divided, usually short-stalked from near the middle of the plant, thick and fleshy.
Fertile portion.—Either simple or once or twice-pinnate, taller than the sterile portion.
This little plant is sufficiently rare to rejoice the heart of the fern hunter who is so fortunate as to stumble upon it by chance or to trace it to its chosen haunts.
It is generally considered an inhabitant of moist woods and meadows, though Mr. Pringle describes it as "abundantly scattered over Vermont, its habitat usually poor soil, especially knolls of hill pastures," and Mr. Dodge assigns it to "dry fields." It fruits in May or June.
12. MOONWORT
Botrychium Lunaria
Newfoundland to Connecticut and Central New York, in dry pastures. Three inches to nearly one foot high. A very fleshy plant.
Sterile portion.—Oblong, cut into several fan-shaped fleshy divisions, growing close to the stem about the middle of the plant.
Fertile portion.—Branching, long-stalked, usually the same height as or taller than the sterile portion.
The Moonwort is another of our rare little plants. It grows usually in dry pastures, fruiting in July.
Formerly it was accredited with various magic powers. Gathered by moonlight, it was said to "do wonders." The English poet Drayton refers to the Moonwort as "Lunary":
With nine drops of the midnight dew
From Lunary distilling."
Gerarde mentions its use by alchemists, who called it Martagon. In the work of Coles, an early writer on plants, we read: "It is said, yea, and believed by many that Moonwort will open the locks wherewith dwelling-houses are made fast, if it be put into the keyhole; as also that it will loosen ... shoes from those horses' feet that go on the places where it grows."
It is to the Moonwort that Withers alludes in the following lines:
It in the pasture, only with a touch
Unshoes the new-shod steed."
13. MATRICARY GRAPE FERN
Botrychium matricariæfolium
Nova Scotia to New Jersey, in woods and wet meadows. Two inches to one foot high.
Sterile portion.—Once or twice divided, sometimes very fleshy, growing high up on the stem.
Fertile portion.—With several branched pinnæ.
This plant is found, often in the companionship of B. Virginianum, in woods and wet meadows, not farther south than New Jersey. It fruits in summer.
14. LANCE-LEAVED GRAPE FERN
Botrychium lanceolatum
Nova Scotia to New Jersey, in woods and meadows. Two to nine inches high.
Sterile portion.—Triangular, twice-pinnatifid, with somewhat lance-shaped segments, hardly fleshy, set close to the top of the common stalk.
Fertile portion.—Branching.
Like the Matricary Grape Fern, this plant is found in the woods and wet meadows from Nova Scotia to New Jersey. It fruits also in summer.
GROUP III
FERTILE FRONDS UNIFORMLY SOMEWHAT LEAF-LIKE IN APPEARANCE, YET
DIFFERING NOTICEABLY FROM STERILE FRONDS
15. SLENDER CLIFF BRAKE
Pellæa gracilis (P. Stelleri)
Labrador to Pennsylvania, usually on sheltered rocks, preferring limestone. Two to five inches long, with straw-colored or pale-brown stalks, slightly chaffy below.
Fronds.—Delicate, with few pinnæ; pinnæ, the lower ones once or twice parted into 3-5 divisions, those of the fertile frond oblong or linear-oblong, sparingly incised, of the sterile frond ovate or obovate, toothed or incised; sporangia bordering the pinnæ of the fertile frond, covered by a broad and usually continuous general indusium, formed by the reflexed margin of the pinnule.
The first time I found the Slender Cliff Brake was one July day in Central New York, under the kind guidance of an enthusiastic fern collector. A rather perilous climb along the sides of a thickly wooded glen brought us to a spot where our only security lay in clinging to the trees, which, like ourselves, had obtained doubtful standing-room. In a pocket in the limestone just above us I was shown a very brown and withered little plant which only the closest scrutiny in combination with a certain amount of foreknowledge could identify as the Slender Cliff Brake. The season had been a dry one and the plant had perished, I fancy, for lack of water, in spite of the stream which plunged from the top of the cliffs close by, almost near enough, it seemed to me, to moisten with its spray our hot cheeks.
Later in the season I found more promising though not altogether satisfactory specimens of this plant growing in other rocky crevices of the same deep glen, in the neighborhood of the Maidenhair Spleenwort, the Walking Leaf, and the Bulblet Bladder Fern.
My sister tells me that late in August on the cliffs which border the St. Lawrence River, refreshed by the myriad streams which leap or trickle down their sides, under the hanging roots of trees, close to clusters of quivering harebells and pale tufts of the Brittle Bladder Fern, the Slender Cliff Brake grows in profusion, its delicate fronds rippling over one another so closely that at times they give the effect of a long, luxuriant moss. On most occasions, in these soft beds of foliage, she found the fertile fronds, which are far more slender and unusual looking than the sterile, largely predominating, though at times a patch would be made up chiefly of the sterile fronds. These somewhat resemble the Brittle Bladder Fern in whose company they are seen so often.
16. PURPLE CLIFF BRAKE
Pellæa atropurpurea
Canada to Georgia and westward, usually on limestone cliffs; with wiry purplish stalks.
Fertile fronds.—Six to twenty inches high, leathery, bluish-green, pale underneath, once, or below twice, pinnate; pinnæ, upper ones long and narrow, lower ones usually with one to four pairs of broadly linear pinnules; sporangia bordering the pinnæ, bright brown at maturity; indusium formed by the reflexed margin of the frond.
Sterile fronds.—Usually much smaller than the fertile and less abundant; pinnæ oblong, entire, or slightly toothed.
The Purple Cliff Brake is one of the plants that rejoice in un-get-at-able and perilous situations. Although its range is wider than that of many ferns, this choice of inconvenient localities, joined to the fact that it is not a common plant, renders it likely that unless you pay it the compliment of a special expedition in its honor you will never add it to the list of your fern acquaintances.
But when all is said we are inestimably in debt to the plants so rare or so exclusive as to entice us out of our usual haunts into theirs. Not only do they draw us away from our books, out of our houses, but off the well-known road and the trodden path into unfamiliar woods which stand ready to reveal fresh treasures, across distant pastures where the fragrant wind blows away the memory of small anxieties, up into the hills from whose summits we get new views.
Although the Purple Cliff Brake grows, I believe within fifteen miles of my home in Albany, I never saw the plant until this summer some hundred miles nearer the centre of the State. During a morning call I chanced to mention that I was anxious to find two or three ferns which were said to grow in the neighborhood. My hostess told me that twenty-five years before, on some limestone cliffs about eight miles away, she had found two unknown ferns which had been classified and labelled by a botanical friend. Excusing herself she left me and soon returned with carefully pressed specimens of the Purple Cliff Brake and the little Rue Spleenwort, the two ferns I was most eager to find. Such moments as I experienced then of long-deferred but peculiar satisfaction go far toward making one an apostle of hobbies. My pleasure was increased by the kind offer to guide me to the spot which had yielded the specimens.
One morning soon after we were set down at the little railway station from which we purposed to walk to the already-mentioned cliffs. We were not without misgivings as we followed an indefinite path across some limestone quarries, for a plant may easily disappear from a given station in the course of twenty-five years. In a few moments the so-called path disappeared in a fringe of bushes which evidently marked the beginning of a precipitous descent. Cautiously clinging to whatever we could lay hold of, bushes, roots of trees or imbedded rocks, we climbed over the cliff's side, still following the semblance of a path. On our left a stream plunged nearly two hundred feet into the ravine below. For some distance the eye could follow its silver course, then it disappeared beneath the arching trees. On our right, many miles beyond, through the blue haze which hung over the distant valley, we could see the lake to which the stream was hurrying.
We could not surrender ourselves with comfort to the beauty of the outlook, as our surroundings were not such as to put us altogether at ease. Overhead hung great rocks, so cracked and seamed and shattered as to threaten a complete downfall, while beneath our feet the path which led along the face of the cliff crumbled away, so that it was difficult in places to obtain any foothold. Having passed the more perilous spots, however, we became accustomed to the situation and turned our attention to the unpromising wall of rock which rose beside us. From its crevices hung graceful festoons of Bulblet Bladder Fern, and apparently nothing but Bulblet Bladder Fern. But soon one of the party gave a cry and pointed in triumph to a bluish-green cluster of foliage which sprang from a shallow pocket overhead. Even though one had not seen the plant before, there was no mistaking the wiry purplish stalks, the leathery, pinnately parted, blue-green fronds, and, above all, the marginal rows of bright brown sporangia peculiar to the Purple Cliff Brake. Soon after we found several other plants, all of them decidedly scraggly in appearance, with but few green fronds and many leafless stalks. Occasionally a small sterile frond, with broader, more oblong pinnæ, could be seen, but these were in the minority. A number of very young plants, with little, heart-shaped leaves altogether unlike the mature fronds, were wedged in neighboring crannies.
As our eyes grew more accustomed to the contour and coloring of the cliffs, the success of the day was completed by the discovery of several specimens of the little Rue Spleenwort with tiny fronds flattened against the rock.
When next I saw the Purple Cliff Brake it seemed to me quite a different fern from the rather awkward plant, the mere sight of which I had welcomed so eagerly that any unfavorable criticism of its appearance seems ungrateful.