FERNS

FRAGRANT SHIELD FERN. Aspidium fragrans. Small, fragrant, tapering, lance- shaped fronds once pinnate. 0n rocks northward, especially near waterfalls. Fruit-dots large. Stalk and rachis very chaffy. If this or any other small fern is in an inaccessible place, it may be examined through a field-glass. Odor resembles that of raspberries.

MOUNTAIN HOLLY FERN. Polystichum Ionchitis. Same family as Christmas Fern. Rocky (calcareous) woods, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and from Niagara Falls to Lake Superior, northward. Easily cultivated in rock gardens. The shiny dark green and thorny pinnae resemble miniature holly leaves. The fruit-dots are borne on the upper pinnae of the fronds, which are not contracted as are the fertile fronds of the Christmas Fern.

3 9