and westward to Arizona.

(2) HAIRY LIP FERN. _Cheilanthes lanosa, C. vestita_

[Illustration: Hairy Lip Fern]

Fronds twice pinnate, lanceolate with oblong, pinnatifid pinnules; seven
to fifteen inches tall, slender and rough with rusty, jointed hairs. Pinnae
triangular-ovate, usually distant, the ends of the rounded lobes reflexed
and forming separate involucres which are pushed back by the ripening
sporangia.

This species like the other lip ferns is fond of rocks, springing from
clefts and ledges. While hairy it is much less tomentose than the two
following species. Unlike most of the rock-loving ferns this species is not
partial to limestone, but grows on other rocks as well. It has been found
as far north as New Haven, Conn., also near New York, and in New Jersey,
Georgia, and westward to Wyoming and southward.

(3) WOOLLY LIP FERN. _Cheilanthes tomentosa_

Fronds eight to eighteen inches long, lanceolate-oblong, tripinnate. Pinnae
and pinnules ovate-oblong, densely woolly especially beneath, with slender,
whitish, obscurely jointed hairs. Of the ultimate segments the terminal
one is twice as long as the others. Pinnules distant, the reflexed, narrow
margin forming a continuous, membranous indusium. Stipe stout, dark brown,
densely woolly.

By donning its thick coat of wool this species is prepared to grow in
the most exposed situations of the arid southwest. It is said to be the
"rarest, tallest and handsomest of the lip ferns."

Mountains of Virginia and Kentucky to Georgia, and west to Missouri, Texas
and Arizona.

(4) SLENDER LIP FERN

_Cheilanthes Feei, C. lanuginosa_

Stipes densely tufted, slender, at first hairy, dark brown, shining. Fronds
three to eight inches long, ovate-lanceolate, with thickish, distinctly
articulated hairs, twice or thrice pinnate. Pinnae ovate, the lowest
deltoid. Pinnules divided into minute, densely crowded segments, the
herbaceous margin recurved and forming an almost continuous indusium.

[Illustration: Slender Lip Fern]

The slender lip fern, known also as Fee's fern, is much the smallest of the
lip ferns, averaging, Clute tells us, "but two inches high." This is only
one-third as tall as the woolly lip fern and need not be mistaken for it.
The fronds form tangled mats difficult to unravel. It grows on dry rocks
and cliffs--Illinois and Minnesota to British Columbia, and south to Texas,
New Mexico and Arizona.

[Illustration: Pinnae of Slender Lip Fern. _Cheil