I have treated the subject of ferns at some length in the chapter on fern pools and will only allude briefly to our species here.

Cheiroglossa Palmata, Hand Fern

A rare fern which grows in the axils of the leaves of the cabbage palmettos. I have not been successful in transplanting it but it might be grown from spores. It has V-shaped fronds cut into deep, blunt lobes.

Osmunda Spectabilis And O. Cinnamomea

Osmunda Spectabilis And O. Cinnamomea are grand ferns which grow in low ground and are well worthy of cultivation.

Acrostichum Aureum And A. Lomarioides

Acrostichum Aureum And A. Lomarioides are the largest and most robust ferns found in the United States. They grow in brackish marshes or in fresh water swamps not far from the sea. The former is the smaller of the two. It has a few spurs on the stipes and the blades of the fronds are broader than those of A. lomarioides.

Phlebodium Aureum

Phlebodium Aureum is a noble fern which grows almost invariably among the leaf stalks of the cabbage palmettos. Its large fronds are deeply cut; it has creeping, swollen rootstalks, and will grow readily if these are transplanted to other palmettos.

Phymatodes Swartzi

A delicate climbing fern found on the north end of Key Largo and in Bauer's hammock, lower Dade County. It has lanceolate fronds and creeps over rocks and trees.

Campyloneuron Phylliditis

A fine fern with thick, char-taceous fronds, often three feet long, growing on decaying logs in the southern half of the state.

Vittaria Lineata, Grass Fern

Vittaria Lineata, Grass Fern, grows usually on the trunks of cabbage palmettos, a lovely plant with linear, dark green fronds, which I have found rather difficult to transplant.

Adiantum Capillus-Veneris And A. Tenerum

Adiantum Capillus-Veneris And A. Tenerum are lovely and dainty ferns, the former inhabiting the northern and the latter the southern part of the state.

Asplenium Serratum

Asplenium Serratum is a fine fern resembling a Campyloneu-rum, but with broader fronds. They form a beautiful crown around the border of the plant. It grows in the southern part of the state, mostly on rotting logs, though it is sometimes found on the trunks of trees. There are several other species of Asplenium found in the state, some of which are exceedingly delicate and beautiful.

Dryopteris Ampla

This noble fern has a stout, erect root-stalk and an immense crown of finely divided, compound fronds. It grows in hammocks in lower Dade County and is a true tree fern, the only one known in the United States.

Tectaria Heracleifolia

Tectaria Heracleifolia is a fine fern with ample, triangular fronds, which grows in lower Dade County and is doing well in my hammock.

Polypodium Pectinatum

Polypodium Pectinatum is a lovely fern found as far south as Pumpkin Key, P. plumula is also beautiful and both occur sparingly in peninsular Florida.

Nephrolepis Exaltata, Sword Fern

Nephrolepis Exaltata, Sword Fern, is widely distributed throughout the tropics and is abundant in southern Florida in hammocks, both on the ground and in the tops of cabbage palmettos. N. biserrata is a stronger growing species found quite generally in hammocks in Dade County. It occasionally grows on reclining tree trunks in damp hammocks.

A large number of other native ferns are attractive and worthy of cultivation, though some of them are rare or local. All the species I have mentioned with the exception of Cheiroglossa may be grown in hammocks in any part of the state where they are hardy.