e
meets them.

Those growing in warm, sunny places where the fruit-dots when mature
incline to cover the whole back of the frond are called "sun forms." These
are varieties TYPICUM and ELATIUS, both with the pinnae obliquely ascending
(including variety _angustum_ of D.C. Eaton), but the latter has broader
fronds with the pinnules of the sterile fronds oblong-lanceolate, somewhat
acute and strongly toothed or pinnatifid.

[Illustration: Varieties of Lady Fern Left to right--1st and 2nd, Var.
_typicum; 3d, elatius; 4th, rubellum; 5th, uncertain, perhaps confertum_]

Var. RUBELLUM has the sori distinct even when mature; its pinnules stand
at a wide angle from the rachis of the pinna and are strongly toothed
or pinnatifid with obtuse teeth. This variety favors regions with cool
summers, or dense shade in warmer regions. The term RUBELLUM alludes to
the reddish stems so often seen but this sign alone may not determine the
variety. It occurs throughout the range of the species, being a common
New England fern. Fernald remarks that this is also a common form of the
species in southern Nova Scotia.

Among other varieties named by Butters are CONFERTUM, having the pinnules
irregularly lobed and toothed; joined by a membranous wing, the lobes of
the pinnules broad and overlapping, giving the fern a compact appearance;
LACINIATUM with pinnules very irregular in size and shape, with many long,
acute teeth, which project in various directions. "An abnormal form which
looks as if it had been nibbled when young."

These varieties are represented in the Gray Herbarium.

(2) THE LOWLAND LADY FERN

ATHYRIUM ASPLENIOIDES

Rootstocks creeping, not densely covered with the persistent bases of the
fronds. Stipes about as long as the blade. Scales of the stipe very few,
seldom persistent, rarely over 3-16 of an inch long. Fronds narrowly
deltoid, lanceolate, widest near the base, the second pair of pinnae
commonly longest. Indusia ciliate, the cilia (hairs) ending in glands.
Spores dark, netted or wrinkled.

[Illustration: Lowland Lady Fern. ATHYRIUM ASPLENIOIDES (From the Gray
Herbarium)]

The following two forms are named by Butters:

F. TYPICUM. The usual form frequent in eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, and Missouri.

F. SUBTRIPINNATUM. An unusually large and rare form with triangular,
lanceolate, and pinnatifid pinnules, having blunt, oblong segments. Wet
situ