| GROUP V | FERTILE AND STERILE FRONDS LEAF-LIKE AND SIMILAR; |
its most distinguishing feature is its stalk, which, though brown below, becomes green above, while that of its little relative is dark and shining throughout. Its discovery on Mt. Mansfield, Vt., by Mr. Pringle gave it a place in the flora of the United States,
Fertile pinnæ as is shown in the following passage from Mr Pringle's address before the Vermont Botanical Club:
"On this first visit to Mt. Mansfield my work was restricted to the crest of the great mountain. About the cool and shaded cliffs in front of the Summit House were then first brought to my view Aspidium fragrans . . . and Asplenium viride, . . . for I was still on my fern hunt. The finding of the former added a species to the Vermont catalogue; the latter was an addition to the flora of the United States. Such little discoveries gave joy to the young collector."
31. SCOTT'S SPLEENWORT
Asplenium. ebenoides
Connecticut to the Mississippi and southward to Alabama, on limestone. Four to twelve inches long, with blackish and shining stalks.
Fronds.—Lanceolate, tapering to a long, narrow apex, generally pinnate below, pinnatifid above; fruit-dots straight or slightly curved; indusium narrow.
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