Similar Species: Many members of the Spleenworts (Asplenium genus) are very similar in gereral apperance but most exhibit clear differences in the indusia it being either opaque, greenish and/or having a smooth edge.

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The relatively small number of ferns as compared to flowering plants make possible this book that is both a technical manual and portable field guide. The illustrated key is excellent and the pen and ink drawings of most species covered are, detailed, accurate and beautiful. A bibliography by states and regions is provided.

This exhaustive work describes over 400 species, subspecies and varieties and includes color photos for most. The author is the Curator of Ferns at the Smithsonian Institution and A Murray Evans, Professor of Botany at the University of Tennessee took the excellent photographs traveling all over North America to accomplish the task. If you want to know the ferns this is a must have book.