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P O L I P O D I U M Filix-femina.
S f . P l. 1552. Ray Syn. 1 2 1 . Flo. Scot. 673. Flo. Ang. 45S.
Ger. Em. 1 1 30. No. 3.
T A B . XXV.
F E M A L E F E R N .
P "|j '^HE roots arc large, hard, and woody, covered with brown tough
-L fcales, very fibrous, and taking firm hold in the ground. .
The firft leaves from one to four feet high ; the rib fmooth, furrowed
on the upper fide, round or gibbous on the under, gently waved near the
top for the infertion o f the fecond leaves, while young a few chaffy brown
fcales on the lower part ; the general outline of the leaf lancc-flraped, broad
in the middle, acutely pointed above.
Second leaves from fifteen to forty pairs, broadeft at the bafe, thence
gradually diminiflaing and terminating in a fine extended point ; pairs
placed more remote below, the firft three inches from the next, coming
nearer each other gradually upwards ; near the top the triple divifion
ceafes, the third leaves are loft in the fecond, and the fecond in lobes which
terminate the whole in a fine feathered point.
Third
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