SSIDLO OFFICINAL) From a German
print, giving details]

(3) GOLDIE'S FERN

_Aspidium Goldianum_. THELYPTERIS GOLDIANA
_Dryopteris Goldiana. Nephrodium Goldianum_

Fronds two to four feet high and often one foot broad, pinnate, broadly
ovate, especially the sterile ones. Pinnae 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 cristatum_. THELYPTERIS CRISTATA

_Dryopteris cristata. Nephrodium cristatum_

Fronds one to two feet long, linear-oblong or lanceolate, pinnate, acute.
Pinnae 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
pinnae have a way of turning their faces upward toward the apex of the frond
for more light. In moist land, Canada to Kentucky.

Var. _Clintonianum_. 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 westw