N»«3. THE ROYAL FERX. C. K. OGDEN THE FERNS OF THE ENGLISH LAKE COUNTRY: WITH A LIST OF VARIETIES. W. J. LINTON. LONDON : HAMILTON, ADAMS AND CO. WINDERMERE : J. GARNETT. 1865. QK LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CATJFC SANTA PREFACE. FOE the general scientific part of this book I am indebted to the Editor of Nature-printed Ferns — Mr. Thomas Moore — whose various works upon British Perns have exhausted nearly all that can be said upon the subject. On this ground my book could hardly be more than a mere abridgement and paraphrase of his writing. For new and original matter I have to thank Mr. F. Clowes, of Windermere, who very kindly fur- nished me with the lists of local varieties, at the same time according me so much help and supervision as may, I trust, be sufficient guarantee for correctness. My obligations ought also to be expressed to Mr. Barnes and other collectors, from whom, through Mr. Clowes, I obtained information for these lists. The General Description and the Chapter on Meanings of Names and Terms have been added not only to give a more universal interest to the book, but as almost necessary for the collector or student, since nearly all the genera of British Ferns (sixteen out of nineteen) are found in the Lake Country. The engravings are from nature, and as many have been given as are wanted to show the characters of genera and species, some 11. PREFACE. few only having been omitted as not distinguishable in figures on so small a scale. The Keinote Buckler Fern, introduced to the British Flora by Mr. Clowes, and first described in the Addenda to Mr. Moore's 8vo. edition of Nature-printed British Ferns, 1862, has, I believe, been engraved only once before now. So much of Preface seemed right to explain the nature of the work and to render fitting acknowledgements and thanks. I have only farther to say that I shall be obliged to any one who will favour me by either pointing out possible errors or giving me information as to new varieties or habitats. And I ought to add that Fern-collectors may obtain good specimens from Mr. Qrier, nurseryman, Arnbleside, or Mr. Wood, fern- seller, Bowness. W. J. LINTON. BBANTWOOD, CONISTON, SjiPi.. 1865. CONTENTS. General Description . . .1 Table of British Ferns . . . . . 8 List of Lake Ferns . .12 The Common Polypody . . . . . 13 The Mountain Polypody, or Beech Fern . . .17 The Three-branched Polypody, or Oak Fern . . . 20 The Limestone Polypody . . . . .23 The Rock Brake, or Parsley Fern . . . . 25 The Alpine Shield Fern, or Holly Fern . . .27 The Common Prickly Shield Fern . . . . 29 The Soft Prickly Shield Fern . . . .31 The Female Buckler Fern, or Marsh Fern . . . 35 The Mountain Buckler Fern, or Heath Fern . , 37 The Common Buckler Fern, or Male Fern . 40 The Remote Buckler Fern . . . .44 The Rigid Buckler Fern 48 The Narrow Prickly-toothed (Crested) Buckler Fern . 51 The Broad Prickly -toothed Buckler Fern . . . 55 The Hay-scented, or Concave Buckler Fern . . 59 The Lady Fern . . . . . . 61 The Black Maiden-hair Spleenwort . . .65 The Sea Spleenwort . . . . . . 68 The Common Maiden-hair Spleenwort . . .70 The Green Spleenwort . . . 72 The Rue-leaved Spleenwort, or Wall Rue . . .74 The Alternate-leaved Spleenwort . . 76 The Forked Spleenwort ..... 78 The Common Hart's Tongue . . . 81 The Common Scale Fern . . . . .87 The Hard Fern 90 The Brake, or Bracken . . . . .93 The Brittle Bladder Fern . . . 98 The Oblong Woodsia . . . . .101 The Tunhridge Film Fern . . . . 103 The One-sided (or Wilson's) Film Fern . . .105 The Royal, or Flowering Fern . . . 107 The Moouwort . . ... . .112 The Common Adder's Tongue . . . . . 116 Meanings of Names and Terms . . . .119 FERNS OF THE ENGLISH LAKE COUNTRY. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. IN the broad primary division of the great Vegetable Kingdom into FLOWERING and FLOWEELESS Plants FERNS are placed at the head of the second class. Possessing a distinct stem and leaves (the latter usually named fronds, to distinguish them from the leaves of other plants) , they are without flowers, ordinarily so called, and consequently cannot produce seeds in the ordinary flower-manner. They have also a special structure: for while the Flowering Plants are either EXOGENS — plants whose stems consist of pith, wood, and bark, growing in concentric circles, and whose leaves have veins branching like net-work, — or ENDO- — plants without distinction of pith or bark, 2 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY whose stems are merely confused pithy matter or woody fibrous thread-like bundles, and whose leaf-veins are parallel, — the Flowerless Plants, called ACROGENS, have their wood disposed in a zigzag manner, and their leaves are either without veins, or ivith veins of the most simple character, scarcely branching at all, or branching only in repeated forks. The greater outer distinction, however, is that of the absence of any ap- parent flowers, and the arrangement of the seed (or spores) in seed-vessels (or spore-cases) upon the leaves themselves. This is speaking of the Ferns only, for other Acrogens (called also Cryptogamic Plants), such as the Fungi, have, or seem to have, no leaves at all. These spore-cases are set in clusters called sori (in the singular sorus), looking like patches of brownish or greenish brown dust, round or oblong or in lines, upon the backs or margins of the fronds ; and as no flowering-plant bears such, the full-grown Fern is easily distinguishable. The spores — says Moore — " are minute, roundish, angular, or oblong vesicles, consisting of two outer layers, or coatings, enclosing a thickish granular fluid, and they are very numerous and arranged without order within the spore-cases. They are so small and dust-like, that when thinly scattered over a sheet of paper they are scarcely visible to the naked eye, though lying by thousands amongst the also minute emptied spore-cases. The colour, no less than the form of these spores, is variable ; they are usually pale brownish or yellowish, but they are sometimes green, and the tints of brown and yellow are much varied. These organs GENERAL DESCRIPTION 3 differ obviously from seeds, in that they consist merely of a homogeneous cellular mass. In true seeds the radicle (or young root) and the plumule (or young shoot) are present in the embryo, and are developed from de- terminate points ; but Fern spores, consisting merely of a small vesicle of cellular tissue — a vegetable cell,* grow indifferently from any part of their surface, the parent cell becoming divided into others, which are again multiplied and enlarged, until a small germinal scale, or primordial frond, is formed, and from this, in due time, the proper fronds are produced. The surface of the spores is sometimes smooth, sometimes tuber- culate, or even echinate" (prickly like a hedge-hog). From this almost invisible dust spring the multi- tudes of Ferns that crown the summer with their various plumes. Each atom of dust becomes a green speck, then a scale in which root and stem and leaves are yet but one confused and undeveloped mass, then a bud. then a young frond pushing its crozier-like form or its tender spikelet through the earth, then a full- grown magnificent plume like the Royal Fern — twelve feet high by the Irish Lakes, or a dainty coronal of feathers like the common Male Fern so abundant in our own English Mountain District. The proper roots of Ferns are fibrous, proceeding from the under side of the stem when the stem is pros- trate or creeping, but from all sides indifferently when it grows erect. When sufficiently numerous they form entangled masses. The fibres are mostly rigid * Hence the name of Cryptogamic, — from crypt, or cell. B 2 4 FEENS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY and wiry, often in youth more or less covered with fine soft hairs. The stem is sometimes called a caudex, sometimes a rhizome. The caudex is the root-stock, not the root, but a true stem, either uprightly-growing or drooping, the upright stem of some foreign ferns sometimes growing to the height of fifty feet or more, like a forest tree. The rhizome is the creeping stem, or that part of the stem extending on or under the ground, extending very far indeed in some ferns, farthest in the Common Bracken. When not under ground, these creeping stems are generally clothed with hairs or scales, some- times becoming quite shaggy. The rhizome varies con- siderably in size, from that of the Common Polypody, which is as thick as one's little finger, to that of the Film Ferns, as fine as thread. The fronds consist of two parts, — the leafy portion, and the stipes, which is the part of the stalk above the caudex or rhizome. The farther continuation of the stalk, forming in the leafy part a midrib, or midvein, which becomes branched when the frond is divided (as in the Oak Fern), is called the rachis (rachides in the plural). The stipes is generally more or less furnished with brownish membranous scales, sometimes only a few at the base, sometimes extending along the rachis. When the frond is divided quite down to the rachis, or midrib, it is said to be pinnate, and each of the leaf- like divisions is called a pinna (Latin for a feather). When these pinnae are again divided in the same man- ner the frond becomes bi-pinnate, or if thrice divided tri-pinnate. When the division is nearly but not quite GENERAL DESCRIPTION 5 down to the rib or midrib the pinnule (or small pinna), the pinna, or the frond, is called pinnatifid. The TRUE FERNS are developed in a peculiar man- ner, coming up in a crozier-like form, having the rachis rolled in from the point to the base. In the more com- pound ferns the frond-divisions are each again rolled in after the same fashion. This is called being circinate. All the British species are circinate (and therefore True Ferns) except two — the Adder's Tongue and the Moonwort, in both of which the fronds are what is called plicate, or folded straight, like the folding of a lady's fan. The order in which the veins, or ribs, of the fronds are disposed is called the venation ; and deserves atten- tion as affording one of the means of distinguishing the groups. It is from some determinate part of the veins that the spore-cases proceed. This part is called the receptacle. In some few native kinds the receptacle is projected beyond the margin of the frond, and the spore-cases are collected round its free extremity. More commonly, however, the veins stop within the margin, and the spore-cases grow in round or elongated clusters, situated sometimes at their ends, sometimes at their sides, and protruded through the skin of the lower surface of the fronds. The seeds (it has already been said) are called spores, tho seed-vessels spore-eases, the clusters of spore-cases sori. These sori, generally placed on the back or mar- gins of the fronds, are in the great majority of British species surrounded or girt by an elastic ring or band, — sometimes vertical and burst by an irregular trans- (5 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY verse fissure when the spores, having reached maturity, need to he dispersed, — sometimes horizontal or ohlique, instead of vertical. In the earlier stages of their growth the sori are also covered with a thin transpa- rent membrane, called an indusium. As the sori grow, the indusia get broken and thrust hack, sometimes flung off'. To some species there is no perceptible indusium. Its presence or absence therefore affords yet other means of help toward correcter classification. What classification itself is, how far from being exact to the wonderfully arranged variety of nature, however necessary it is to assist the memory and the understanding of the botanist, may be seen from the interpenetration and confusion of characteristics even in the Table of British Ferns which follows here, and may be gathered also from a few remarks by Dr. Lind- ley qualifying an attempt to precisely describe only the three great primary orders of Exogens, Endogens, and Acrogens. Having spoken of the principal differences between the three classes as to be briefly expressed thus : — EXOGENS, — wood growing concentrically — leaves with reticulated veins — flowers with their parts ar- ranged in fours or fives — embryo, or germ, dicotyledonous (or two-leafed), — ENDOGENS, — wood confused — leaves with parallel veins — flowers with their parts in threes — germ mono- cotyledonous (or one-leafed), — ACROGENS, — wood sinuous — leaves forlc-veined or altogether unbranchcd — no flowers — and no germ, — he adds : — GENERAL DESCBIPTION 7 " In applying these differences to practice, it is necessary to attend to the following rules: — " The classes are not absolutely distinguished from each other by any one character, but by the combination of their characters. For this reason a plant may have one of the characters of a class to which it nevertheless does not belong, because its other characters are at variance with that class. Thus some species of Kanun- culus have the flowers with their parts in threes ; but they do not on that account belong to Endogens, because their wood is concentric, their leaves netted, and their embryo dicotyledonous. Arum inaculatum has reticulated leaves ; but it is not an Exogen, because its wood is confused, and its embryo monocotyledonous ; its flowers are neither in fours or fives nor threes, all the parts being in a state of peculiarly diminished struc- ture. The genus Potamogeton (a water plant, one of the Naiads) has the flowers in fours ; yet it does not belong to Exogens, because its leaves have parallel veins, and its embryo is monocotyledonous." No better \vords could have been written, whether to stimulate the learner to care and thoroughness in research or to rebuke the dogmatism of pedantic system-builders and teach that modesty and liberal allowance of dissent which should characterize the student of Nature and the worshiper of Truth. TABLE OE BRITISH FEENS. FEKNS — in Latin FILICES — are flowerless plants, bearing seed-vessels (spore-cases) on their fronds. "All Ferns" says Moore, — "are referrible to one of three groups : Ophioglossaeete — Polypodiacece — Marattiacece. Of these the Ophioglossaceae and Marattiaceae are but small groups, while the Polypodiacea: include the greater portion of all known Ferns. These three groups may each be regarded as a distinct order of plants, forming together the Filices, or Ferns." The Marattiacese are not found in the British Isles. We have therefore only to do with the two natural orders — POLYPODIACEA! or True Ferns and OPHIOGLOSSACE.S: or Adder's Tongue Ferns. POLYPODIACEJE are Ferns whose young fronds are rolled up in a circinate form, and whose spore-cases arc girt with an elastic ring. The presence of this ring, in some form or other, nearly or completely sur- rounding the spore-case, is the distinguishing pecu- liarity of the True Ferns. Polypodiacese are divided into those whose spore-cases are without valves and those which are two-valved. In the first division are two tribes or groups : — Polypodinece, without TABLE OF BKITISH FERNS 9 valves, bursting by an irregular and transverse cleft, the elastic ring vertical and nearly complete ; and TricJiomaninecB, without valves ; and bursting irregu- larly, but surrounded by urn-shaped involucres, the ring horizontal or oblique, complete. The second division has only one tribe, or group : — Osmtrndinece, spore-cases two-valved, opening vertically or at the top, the ring merely rudimentary. OPHIOGLOSSACEJE are Ferns whose young fronds are folded up straight, and whose spore-cases have no ring. They are two-valved like the Osmundineae. POLYPODIACE^]. 1. — Polypodinese ; 2. — Trichomanineae ; 3. — Osmun- dinese. POL YPODINE^]— fructification dorsal, that is, the spore-cases borne on the back of the frond. Com- prising the sub-groups Polypodiece, Qymnogrammece, Aspidiece, Aspleniece, Lomariece or Blechnece, Pter- idece, Adiantecs, Cystopteridece, Peranemeae, POLYPODIES — Sori (or clusters of spore-cases) round, and with no special indusium (or covering) : compris- ing two genera — Polypodium, Attosorus. * GTMNOGBAMME^: — Sori linear, no indusium : one only genus — Gymnogramma. * Of GYMNOGEAMMEJE — genus Gymnogramma — there is only one British species, the Small -leafed Gymnogram — &• leptophylla, lately found in Jersey, hardly therefore a British fern at all. Of ADIANTE.S: again its one British genus, Adiantum, has only one species, the Common Maiden-Hair Fern — A. Capillws Veneris, not found in the Lake District. Neither is the one British species of the genus Trichomanes, the Bristle Fern— T. radicans. 10 FEBNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY — Sori round or roundish, springing from the backs of the veins, having a special indusium : two genera — Polysticlium, Lastrea. ASPLENIE^E — Sori oblong, or elongated, springing from the sides of the veins, having a special indusium : four genera — Athyrium, Asplenium, Scolopendrium, Cetarach. LOMARIEJE — Sori forming longitudinal lines between the midrib and margins of the leaflets, or divisions, of the fronds, with a special indusium : one genus — Blechnum. PTERIDE.E — Sori borne upon the frond-margins, which are changed, continuously or interruptedly, into special indusia : one genus — Pteris. * ADIANTEJE — Sori in patches on the reflexed lobes of the frond-margins, which form indusia : one genus — Adiantum. CYSTOPTERLDE^: — Sori with special oval indusia affixed behind and bent hood-like over them : one genus — Cystopteris. PERANEME^; — Sori roundish and springing from the backs of the veins, with special involucriform or semi-involucriform indusia : one genus — Woodsia. TRICHOMANINE^E— fructification marginal, that is, having the spore-cases on the edges of the frond; sori produced around the ends of veins projecting from the frond-margins, and surrounded by urn-shaped mem- branes, expansions of the frond : two geneva — * Tricho- Hymenoplitjllum. * * See note at page 9. TABLE OF BEITISH FEBNS. 11 OSMHNDINEJ3 — fructification marginal-paniculate, that is, having the spore-cases on the edges of distinct stalks, or in irregular dense branching clusters, terminat- ing the fronds : one genus — Osmunda. OPHIOGLOSSACE.E. Fructification paniculate, in irregularly branching clusters, spicate, or sessile (sitting close to the stem without any sensible stalk) in two ranks on a simple spike, terminating a separate branch, of the frond : two genera — Botrychium, Opliioglossum. CIBCINATE LIST OP LAKE EEENS. (16 Genera — 35 Species.) POLYPODIUM : — (1) P. vulgare, (2) P. Phegopteris, (3) P. Dryopteris, (4) ealcareum. ALLOSOEUS : — A. crispus. POLYSTICHTTM : — (1) P. Lonchitis, (2) P. aculeatum, (3) P. angulare. LASTBEA : — (1) L. Thelypteris, (2) L. montana, (3) L. Filix-mas, (4) L. remota, (5) L. rigida, (6) L. cristata — var. spinulosa, (7) L. dilatata, (8) L. aemula. ATHTEIUM : — (1) A. Filix-foemina. ASPLENIUM: — (1) A. Adiantum-nigrum, (2) A. ma- rinum, (3) A. Trichomanes, (4) A. viride, (5) A. Ruta-muraria, (6) A. germanicum, (7) A. septentrionale. SCOLOPENDBIUM : — S. vulgare. CETEEACH : — C. officinarum. BLECHNUM : — B. spicant. PTEEIS : — P. aquilina. CTSTOPTEEIS : — C. fragilis. WOODSIA : — W. ilvensis. HTMENOPHTLLUM : — (1) H. Tunbridgense, (2) II unilaterale. OSMTTITDA : — 0. regalis. BOXETCHIUM : — B. lunaria. OPHIOGLOSSUM: — 0. vulgatum. THE POLYPODIES. THE COMMON POLYPODY. Polypodivm vulgare. — The name of Polypodium, meaning many-footed, is given to this genus, on account of the many branchings of its rhizome (or creeping stem) . The common Poly- pody is an evergreen (the fronds, even in severe frosts, 14 FERNS OP THE LAKE COUNTRY lasting till new ones are produced), growing luxuriantly on tree trunks, moist rocks and walls, and mossy banks, easily distinguished by its large round patches of orange or tawny-brown spore-cases, no other of our native ferns having its fructification at all similar in appearance. The rhizome of the Common Polypody is often as thick as a man's little finger, covered with light brown chaff-like scales, tapering to a point, sometimes droop- ing so as to leave the upper surface smooth and greenish. From this upper surface spring *the fronds, and from the lower side chiefly the densely-matted fibrous roots by which it clings for support. The stipes (or stalk) is naked, sometimes nearly as long as the leafy portion, the whole frond measuring from two to eighteen inches or more. The general outline is lance-shaped, very deeply pinnatifid, the lobes or segments oblong, generally round but sometimes bluntly pointed at the end, and occasionally notched along the margin. Each lobe has a slightly wavy mid-vein, or rib, branching alternately, each branch having four or five alternate branchlets, the lowest of which on the side next the point of the frond (rarely any other) produces a sorus at its club- shaped head. The fructification is usually confined to the upper part, and is generally ripe by the end of Sep- tember. The Common Polypody differs essentially from all the other British species associated with it, in having its fronds articulated with the rhizome, — that is at- tached in such a manner that they fall off at the ap- proach of decay. Its texture, too, is stouter and firmer than that of other native species. The rhizome is per- LIST OP LAKE FERNS 15 rennial. It is one of the commonest ferns, found everywhere, on the coast line, and (in the Scottish Highlands) at the height of 2,100 feet, very abundant and handsome in the Lake District, abundant also throughout Europe, and the north of Africa, found also in Caffraria, in northern Asia from the Ural Mountains to Japan, and widely dispersed in North America. Its medicinal reputation is as old as Pliny, who says that the root, dried and powdered and snuffed up the nose, will destroy polypus. It is supposed to be the "rheum -purging Polypody" of Shakespere; and in some country places they still use a decoction of the fronds as a remedy for colds and hooping-cough, employing for the purpose the ripe fertile fronds, which, called Golden Locks and Golden Maidenhair, are gathered in the autumn and hung up to dry like other herbs. The fronds contain a large quantity of carbonate of potass. It is easily cultivated, requiring only a light porous soil and that the rhizome should be kept on the surface, with a constant supply of moisture, good drainage, and moderate shade, YAEIETIES. lifidum, — Burneside Hall, J. M. Barnes. acuto-bifidum, — Stainton, J. M. Barnes. aurilum, — not rare. (Having next the rachis in the upper margin, a distinct lobule, like a small ear.) crenatum, — not rare. foliosum, — Silverdale, J. M. Barnes. ~multiforme, — Whitbarrow, J. M. B. ; Windermere, F. Clowes. (A most variable fern — no two fronds being alike.) 16 FEE3TS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY pulcherrimum, — Whitbarrow, J. Acldison. (Like semilacerutn, but more beautiflal.) serratum, — in several places. submarffinatum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. marginatum, — Windermere, F. Clowes ; Arnside, J. Crossfield. truncatum, — Crosthwaite, F. Clowes; Levens, J. M. Barnes. variegatum, — Witherslack, J. M. Barnes. multijidum, — Staveley, Martindale, Whitbarrow, F. Clowes. semilacerum, — Whitbarrow, J. M. Barnes, F. Clowes; Ulver- stone, J. Crossfield. semilacerum robustvm, — Wbitbarrow, J. M. Barnes. hastifolium, — Witherslack, M. Read. sinuato-auritum, — Whitbarrow, J. If. Barnea. WMtakeri, — near Kendal, M. "Whitaker. (A very uniformly crenate form.) TAB. BIFIDUM MOUNTAIN POLYPODY, OR BEECH FERN. Polypodium Phegopteris.— The Beech Fern is one of the tenderer ferns : produced from the perennial rhi- zome about May, and dying off in the autumn or at the first approach of frost. It grows abundantly on the slate in moist moun- tainous places and in the shade of damp woods, from the coast level to (in the Western Highlands of Scotland) an elevation of over 3000 feet. The stem is slender, creeps very extensively, and is slightly scaly, 18 FEBNS OF THE LAKE COUNTBY producing black fibrous roots. From it spring deli- cate hairy pale-green fronds, to the height, when full- grown, of from six to twelve inches. The stipes is fleshy and very brittle, frequently longer, sometimes much longer, than the leafy part of the frond, having near its base a few small and almost colourless scales. The fronds are triangular, extending to a long narrow point; in the lower part pinnate, — but with this di- vision seldom carried beyond the two lowest pairs of branches, those of the upper parts of the fronds being pinnatifid (connected at the base). The pinnae (or leaflets) have an acutely lance-shaped outline and are deeply pinnatifid, usually standing in pairs, oppo- site to each other, the lowest pair drooping toward the root and set on at a short distance from the rest. The united bases of the pairs of the other pinnae — when they happen to stand exactly opposite to each other — exhibit more or less distinctly a cruciform figure, by which, regard being had also to the general triangular outline and sub-pinnate division, this species may be known from the other Polypodies. The venation con- sists of a slender flexuous midvein (or rib), from which proceed alternate or sometimes opposite veins extend- ing to the margins of the lobes or lobules, — either simple or once forked at about half of their length. The veins when simple, or the anterior venules when divided, bear a sorus at a short distance from the edge of the lobule. This almost marginal fructification extends nearly over the whole frond, the sori being small and circular, arranged in series, and often becom- ing confluent in lines. When the fructification is but THE BEECH FEBN 19 partially developed only one or two of the lowermost veins are fertile, in which case the marginal series of sori is not very manifest. The spore-cases are small, numerous, and of a pale brown hue ; the spores ovate and smooth. The fronds in this species become lateral and distant from each other on the underground stem, in consequence of its rapid elongation; and they are adherent, that is to say, the stipes is not furnished with a natural point of spontaneous separation. For cultivation in pots or cases it requires good current moisture, and grows well on the damp and shady sides of garden rock-work. HABITATS. — Scawfell, Wastdale, Borrowdale, En- nerdale, Keswick, Tindal Fell, Newbiggin Woods, Stockghyll Force, Ambleside, Grasmere, Casterton Fell, Wallington, Coniston, &c. VARIETIES. interruptum, — Witherslack, J. M. Barnes. muUifidum, — Burton, J. Jones. C2 SMOOTH THEEE-BEANCHED POLYPODY OB OAK FEBN. Polypodiwn Dryopteris.* — LINNAEUS. This, the smallest of the Polypodies, is also one of the most delicate of all British Ferns : very easily recog- nizable by its smooth fronds, of a bright lively green, divided into three branches, — the last characteristic even more obvious in the young fronds, which are rolled up in little balls at the ends of their three slender stalklets. Its height is generally not more than six inches, often less, but it sometimes grows to twelve or fourteen. It is fragile, produced about April, and in succession throughout the summer, soon withered by heat or drought, and at once destroyed by frost. The fronds rise from a slender creeping stem, which often forms densely matted roots. The stipes is usually much longer than the leafy part, thin, brittle, and dark coloured. The general outline is five-sided, owing to the division of the fronds into three triangular branches. One of the peculiarities of the Oak Fern is the deflection of the rachis (or midrib) at the point where the branches take their rise ; and another (of less botan- * Also Polystichum Dryoptcris, Lastrea Dryopteris, &c. THE OAK FERN 21 ical importance, but very helpful in distinguishing it from its near ally, the Lime stone-Polypody) is its per- fect smoothness, a constant distinction, most easily seen on the stipes and rachis, but equally occurring over the whole plant. The fronds are divided so that each branch is pinnate at the base, pinnatifid toward the point ; the pinnae are also pinnate at their bases, then pinnatifid, and at their points acute and nearly entire ; the pinnules and ultimate lobes are oblong and obtuse, with a rather wavy midvein, from which the venules branch alternately, extending to the margin, — in those of moderate size simple with a sorus at each extremity, in the larger branched with the sorus on the lower branch. The fructification varies much, according to habitat and season, being sometimes very much crowded and sometimes very sparse. The spore- cases are small, round- ish obovate (inversely egg-shaped), and at- tached by a slender stalk ; — the spores ovate (egg-shaped), oblong, or roundish, with a granular sur- face. Like the Beech Fern, the Dryopteris is found from the coast-level to a great elevation. It is seen c 3 22 I'EENS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY sometimes on the lime-stone with the Lime-stone Polypody, but is rather to be classed as a slate fern, liking a rocky district, with running water, and the not stagnant moisture of woods, needing both shade and shelter. It is easily cultiveable in a mixture of fibre, peat, leaf-mould, and sand, either in the house or on artificial rock- work. HABITATS. — Lodore, Borrowdale, Honister Crags, Scale Force, Gillsland, Wastdale, Dalegarth, Stock- ghyll, Grlenridding, Hutton Roof, Casterton, Coniston, Furness Fells, &c. THE LIME-STONE POLYPODY. Polypodium caleareum.* — SMITH. The Lime-stone Polypody differs from the Oak Fern in its stouter, erecter, and more rigid habit, and in the mealy-looking' glandulosity of its surface ; yet still more in that the division of its fronds is pinnate rather than into three distinct branches. The fronds are also of a duller and deeper green, and without the marked deflection of the rachis. And instead of the branches being rolled up into three balls, the young pinnse curl in on their rachides and the entire frond upon its rachis, so that the frond is of the ordinary bipinnate structure. * Also P. Robertianum, P. Dryopteris, Lastrea calcarea, Lastrea Robertianum, Phegopteris calcarea, &c. 24 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTEY Its fronds, including the stipes, vary from six to eight- teen inches in height ; their form is triangular with a tendency to the pentagonal appearance of the Oak Fern, because of the larger size of the two lower pinnae. These lower pinnae are pinnate, with pinnatifid pinnules, the upper pinnae also pinnate, with the lower pinnules again pinnate and the upper pinnatifid. The fructifica- tion is scattered over the whole dorsal surface of the frond ; the sori are small and round, consisting of nu- merous crowded spore-cases, entirely without indusia, arranged in linear sub-marginal series along each side of the lobules, or in series between the midrib and margin when the lobules are but slightly developed, — often more or less confluent. Spore-cases pale brown, roundish obovate, small, and numerous. Spores ovate or oblong, somewhat granular. The Lime-stone Polypody, as its name infers, is found usually on exposed rocky limestone tracks : grow- ing there very abundantly. In cultivation, however, a lime-stone soil is not essential to its well-being. Like the generality of ferns, it requires good drainage ; but bears the sun more than most others. It grows almost throughout Europe, in Canada, and the United States of America ; and has been gathered by Dr. Hooker and Dr. Thomson on the Himalaya Mountains at the ele- vation of 6,000 feet. HABITATS. — Scale Force (J. Bobson), Whitbarrovv, Newbiggin Woods, Gilt Quarries, Baron Heath, Arn- side Knott, Hutton Roof Crags, Farleton Knott, Caskill Kirk, &c. Only one variety : variatile, — Whitbarrow, J. M. Barnes and F. Clowes. THE HOCK BRAKES. THE MOUNTAIN PAESLEY TEEN. Allosorus crispus.— BEBNHARDI. Osmunda, or Pteris crispa. — Of the Eock Brakes there is but one British species — the Mountain Parsley Fern, known at once by its like- ness to tufts of parsley, and distinctly differing from other of our native ferns in the marked division of its sterile and fertile fronds,— the first of which have these segments broad, flat, and leaf-like, while the second have them involute, or rolled in at the margin, cover- ing the sori instead of an indusium. The fronds of the Mountain Parsley Fern are annual, coming up in May or June, and dying down in the autumn, from four to twelve inches high (including the stipes), of a lively 26 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTEY green, triangular or ovately triangular in outline. The barren fronds are generally as long as the stipes, bi or tri-pinnate, and smooth. The segments or leaflets into which they are cut are more or less wedge-shaped and notched or cleft at their ends. The fertile fronds have the leaflets of an oval or oblong or linear form. The venation of the barren fronds consists of a slender vein extending along each pinnule, casting off another into each of its lobes, this again alternately branching, one branch being directed towards every marginal point. In the fertile fronds a midvein enters each ultimate di- vision and passes sinuously to its point, throwing out nearly to the margin alternate veins, usually simple but sometimes forked, bearing a sorus near their ends. The fructification usually occupies the whole system. The son small, roundish, at first distinct though contiguous, ultimately becoming laterally confluent and forming a continuous line. Spore-cases small, elliptic obovate, stalked. Spores smooth, roundish, oblong or bluntly triangular. The Mountain Parsley Fern is peculiarly a mountain plant, delighting in the shades and corners of boulders, and to be among loose slate-stones, and at the feet of the unmortared walls that wind about the fells and mountains. It is well-fitted therefore for garden rock- eries ; but is apt to die off in winter if allowed to be too damp. HABITATS. — Skiddaw, Keswick, Whinlatter, (W. Christy), Borrowdale, Ennerdale, Scawfell, Helvellyn, Blencathra, Kirkstone Pass, Ambleside, Coniston, Gras- mere, &c., &c. THE SHIELD (AND BUCKLER) EERNS. THE ALPINE SHIELD FEKN, on HOLLY FEEN. Polystichum Lonchitis* — BOTH. POLYSTICHUM is an extensive genus of the group of Aspidiese ; and con- sists for the most part of harsh spiny evergreen ferns, scattered from the torrid to the frigid zone, — but represented in this country by only three species : — Poly- stichwti Lonchitis, Polystichum aculeatiim, and Polystichum angu- lare. These species, however, are veiy variable, and so closely con- nected by intermediate [forms that it is difficult sometimes to distin- guish their exact limits. The Alpine Shield^Fern is one of the rarer ferns, taking its other name of Holly Fern from its hard and prickly appearance. It is an evergreen, (with a * The Polypodium Lonchitis of Linmeus. 28 FERNS OP THE LAKE COUKTET scaly tufted stem from the crown of which the young fronds are produced in spring, to remain fresh and vigourous until the spring following, arriving at matu- rity in autumn and flourishing through the winter. It is a true rock fern, growing to a height of from six to nine inches, but higher and more luxuriantly in damp and slightly elevated situations. The fronds are of a deep green, pale beneath, of a rigid leathery texture, erect or drooping according to the conditions of their growth ; once pinnate, and in their general outline narrowly lance-shaped, or lanceolate. The pinnae are short, crowded, and shaped something between a sickle and a crescent, the upper side of the base having an ear-like projection, called an auricle, while the lower side is as if cut away. The margin is set with spinous teeth. The venation is very indistinct, the veins twice- branched, the branches extending to the margins with- out joining with others. The sori form a line on each side the mid-rib, parallel with it and half way between it and the margin, generally becoming confluent in age, and covered by a circular membranous scale attached by a short central stalk. Spore-cases deep brown. The name Polystichum is from two Greek words signi- fying many and order, given on account of the number and regularity of the lines of sori. It is difficult of cultivation, needing pure mountain air, and therefore seldom thrives under artificial treatment. HABITATS. — Helvellyn (Isaac Huddart and F. Clowes), Fairfield (James Huddart), Deepdale (M. Hanlcey), Ullswater (Rev. W, H. Hawker], Farleton Knott («/". Jones). THE COMMON PEICKLY SHIELD FERN. Polystichum aculeatum.* — ROTH. The Common Prickly Shield Fern is one of the larger and hardier ferns, preferring, however, a loamy soil and the partial shade of woods or hedge-banks, where it grows to the height of from a foot to two feet or more, with a short stipes densely enveloped in rust- coloured membranous pointed scales. The fronds, from four to seven inches across, are, like the Alpine Shield Fern, rigid and leathery in texture, of a shining dark green above, paler beneath, erect and spreading, or occasionally drooping, growing up in a circle in April or May, from a stout tufted stem, or crown. The general typical form is broadly lanceolate ; but the variety LOBATUH is very narrowly lanceolate ; bi-pin- nate, with alternate pinna3, these pinnse being again more or less divided into a series of pinnules, either decurrent — that is insensibly merging in the sub- stance of the rachis which supports them, or tapering to a wedge-shaped base and attached to the rachis by the point. The pinnules are of a long crescent shape, with the upper base extended into a small auricle, or enlarged lobe, and the lower base sloped away, — the apex going off to an acute point, and the margin notched with spiny teeth. Venation, fructifi- cation, and indusitun, similar to P. LoncJiitis. * Poli/podium aculeatum, — Linnaeus. Also Aspidlum aculeatum. 30 FEttNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY The variety LOBATUM, considered a distinct species by some botanists, differs chiefly in the narrower outline of the frond (already noticed), and in the pinnules being much more decidedly decurrent, or running to- gether, at the base. Every possible variation in the relative portions of the pinnules is to be met with, from the typical bi-pinnate form of Poiystickum aculeatum to a simply pinnate form of the species, which from its resemblance to P. Lonchitis has been called loncliiti- dioides. This latter, owing its origin only to some special circumstances of its growth, cannot be con- sidered as a permanent variety ; but the intermediate variation — lobatum, which is the most common of these abnormal ferns, is at least sufficiently different to be considered a variety. The Common Prickly Shield Fern is one of the most easily cultivated of all our larger and hardier species, while the lobatum, being smaller, is well adapted for pots. With good drainage and moderate shade, they thrive admirably. HABITATS. — Irton Woods (Rolson) — Ara Force (H. Fordham) — Ambleside and Eydal. VAEIETIES. grandilobwn, — Mardalc, J. M. Barnes. multifidum, — Levcr\s, J. Wood; Whitesidc Fell, J. M. Unrnos ; Silvcrdale, J. Crossfield. THE SOFT PRICKLY SHIELD FERN.* PolysticJium angulare. — PEESI. This specimen is not easily distinguished from P. aculeatum, though certainly distinct. The two may, however, be generally known from each other by the following differences : — 1 — P. angulare is less stout, less erect, and altogether less rigid in texture, normally lax and more herbaceous, while equally large or larger. 2 — jP. aculeatum has its pinnules either confluent or decurrent (in which case there is no diffi- culty in distinguishing it), or when the pinnules are distinct, as in the most perfect plants, they are wedge- shaped at the base, the anterior side being truncate, and the posterior obliquely incised in straight lines, the two lines describing an acute angle, by the apex of which they are attached to the rachis ; while in P. angulare the truncated anterior base is more curved in outline and the two lines of the base describe a right angle or an obtuse angle, at the apex of which is a dis- tinct slender stalk, by which they are attached. 3 — P. aculeatum has its sori attached at a point along the middle part of the venule, the apex of which is carried out to the margin of the pinnule, the sori thus being placed nearer to the point of forking or branching than to the apex of the venule; while in P. angu- * Or Angular-lobed. Polystichum aculeatum, Aspidium angu- lare, A. aculeatum, Polypodium angulare, &c. 32 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTBY fare the fertile venule stops about midway across the pinnule and the sorus is generally placed at or almost close to the apex. The basal pinnules and the portion rather below the middle of the frond should be taken for examination. The upper parts of the fronds alone, in these Polystichums, are useless for the purpose of identification. COMMON AND PRICKLY SHIELD FERNS. The Soft Prickly Shield Fern is one of our most graceful ferns, strong-growing and tufted-stemmed sometimes forming great masses, the fronds lanceolate and rising to the height of from two to five feet, lasting through ordinary winters and in sheltered places re- taining their verdure until the new fronds are produced, the old fronds only gradually dying off as the new ones become developed, in or about May. The stipes, varying from a third to a fourth of the length of the THE SOFT PBICKLY SHIELD FERN JJ3 whole frond, is very shaggy, with reddish chaff-like scales continuing though decreasing in size throughout the upper portions of the frond. The fronds are bipin- nate, with numerous tapering distinct pinnae, having their pinnules flat, and somewhat crescent-shaped, from the prominent am'icle at the anterior base, often blunt- ish at the apex but sometimes acute, always with spinulose marginal serratures, and sometimes in a few of the lower pinnules with deep lobes so that the pin- nules become pinnatifid. The pinnules taper to an obtuse or right-angled base, and are attached, as before said, by a slender stalk, which does not form a line with either margin. The pinnules have branched free veins ; and the sori are generally ranged in a row on each side of the midrib and covered by a peltate (fixed to the stalk by the centre) scale or indusium. Not only one of the most beautiful, this is also one of the most remarkably varied of our Ferns. Evergreen, and able to readily accommodate itself to the changes of artificial culture, it is specially fitted for the out-door or in-door fernery; growing readily in pots (with sufficient room) in the garden or shrubbery, in free sandy loam, or on shady rockwork. It is easily increased by division whenever lateral crowns are pro- duced. It is rare in the North of England, or of Europe, though found in Sweden and Norway ; but is more plentiful in the South of England, and very abundant in Central and Southern Europe ; in Asia also, from Georgia to India and Ceylon ; in Abyssinia and on the African coast of the Mediterranean ; and in North and South America, in New England and in D 34 FERNS OP THE LAKE COUNTRY Mexico and Chili. It is found not infrequently in the Lake District, generally in warm sheltered ghylls. VAEIETIES. liserratnm, — WMtbarrow, J. M. Barnes; Beetham, J. Crossfield. acutum dissectwm, — Whitbarrow, F. Clowes. proliferum, — Humphrey Head, A. Mason. tripinnatum, — Arnside, J. Crossfield. VAB. PROL1FERUN THE FEMALE BUCKLE R FERN, OE MAESH FEEN. Last rea Thelypteris.* — PEESI-. The Lastreas (not Lastrseas as often written) take their name from M. deLastre. They are to he known from Polysticlium (both belonging to the Aspidiese) by the outline of the indusium, which is kidney-shaped, or roundish with a notch in the side, the attachment to the frond being at the notched part. There are no less than eight species of this genus found in Great Britain (and in the Lake District), and the group in- cludes some of the largest, the commonest, and the most elegant of our ferns. The name of Marsh Fern (sometimes Marsh Buckler Fern) comes of course from the place of growth, peaty bogs or marshy land. The rhizome creeps extensively, sparingly branched, producing fronds at intervals, slender, smooth and blackish brown, having a few pale brown scales at the growing point, and numerous fibres. The stipes is as long as or longer than the leafy portion in the fertile frond, rather shorter and slighter in the barren, the whole frond growing to the height of from six inches to more than three feet, the fertile fronds the taller. *The Polypodium Thelypteris of Linnaeus, also Aspidium The- lypteris, Polystichum Thelypteris, Athyrium Thelypteris, &c. 36 FEKNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY. The fronds, produced about May and perishing in Autumn, are delicate in texture, pale green, lanceolate, and pinnate ; the pinnae mostly opposite, a short dis- tance apart, and pinnatifidly divided into numerous crowded entire rounded lobes, the lobes of the fertile frond appearing narrower and more pointed on account of the bending under of their margins. The venation of the lobes consists of a distinct somewhat wavy mid- vein, from which alternate venules branch or fork out, each branch bearing a sorus half way between the midvein and the margin. The sori often become con- fluent and are partly concealed by the bending back of the margin. The indusium is small, thin, shapeless, and soon thrown off. The Marsh Fern is to be known from the other Buckler Ferns by its long, comparatively slender rhizome, which is unlike that of any other native species. It ought not therefore to be confounded, as it sometimes is, with L. Oreopteris which has a short thick tufted caudex, merely decumbent in habit. It differs farther in having its fronds of their full width almost to the very base, and supported by a long bare stipes, while L. Oreopteris has diminishing pinnae carried down almost to the base of the stipes ; and in its fronds being almost free from glands, while those of L. Oreopteris are very conspicuously glandular and very fragrant. It is still less like other species. It is readily cultivable, wanting only a moist peaty situation, a damp garden border or a boggy pool, where its ram- bling stems may have room to spread. If set in pots they should be large and shallow. MOUNTAIN BUCKLER FERN, SWEET MOUNTAIN FERN, OR HEATH FERN. Lastrea Oreopteris.* — PRESL. The Sweet Mountain Fern is known at once by its balsamic scent, the fragrance of which is given out strongly from numerous minute resinous glands on the lower surface when the frond is drawn through the hand. The fronds are noticeable also for their coronal appear- .. *Lastrea montana (Moore), Polystichurn Oreopteris (deCandolle), Aspidium Oreopteris, A. odoriferutn, Polypodium moiitanum, P. fragrans, P. Thelypteris, Phegopteris Oreopteris, &c. 08 38 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY ance, set on the stem like the feathers of a shuttlecock and growing in graceful tufts to two or three feet high. They are annual, springing up in May and dying off in Autumn ; bright green or yellowish, erect, lance- shaped in general outline, and pinnate. The stipes is unusually short, the leafy part being continued nearly to the ground, and the lower pinnae becoming so short that the frond tapers downward as much as toward the point. The pinnae are generally opposite, narrow, tapering and pinnatifid, and bear the sori almost close to the margins, in most instances very abundantly. The fronds differ, as was said, from L. Thclypteris in in the shortness of the lower pinnte, and again in the margins being flat and not turned back upon the sori. Each lobe has a distinct and slightly wavy midvein, alternately branched, the branches simple or divided, with the sori near their extremities. The indusia are small and soon perish or fall away, sometimes seem to be altogether wanting ; but the plant is too closely allied to other species of the genus to allow of its separation on this account. It grows in damp woody places, especially luxuriating by the sides of shady becks and waterfalls ; but is much more pro- fusely met with on heathy mountain sides. It is the common fern of many parts of the Scottish Highlands, growing sometimes at an elevation of 3,000 feet ; abounds in the English Lake Country, and in Wales ; and is more or less plentiful in waste districts through- out England. Though so common it seems not easy of cultivation, needing perhaps the pure air and ready drainage of its native mountains. In smoky London THE MOUNTAIN BUCKLER FERN 39 the plants will not long retain their vigour. It grows abundantly throughout the district. VARIETIES. caudata, — Windermere, F. Clowes. cristata, — Windermere, J. Huddart interrupta, — Windermere, J. Huddart ; Levens, Crossfield. breviloba, — Mardale, J. M. Barnes. curvata, — Farleton Kuott, J. M. Barnes, J. Jones. subcristata, — Mardale, J. M. Barnes. truncata, — Potter Fell, J. M. Barnes ; Farleton Knott, J. Jones VAR. CRISTATA COMMON BUCKLER FERN, OR MALE FICHN. Lastrea Filix-mas.* — PKESL. The Male Fern is so called from its robust appearance in contrast with the more delicate though similar Lady Fern (Filix-foemina). It is an annual except in sheltered spots, where the old fronds will continue green until the new come out. One of the commonest of our Ferns, it is yet one of the most beautiful, especially on account of its coronal growth, like a circle of erect but gracefully waving feathers springing from one stem, the fronds * Polypodium Filix-mas (Linnaeus), Aspidium Filix-mas, &c. THE COMMON BUCKLER l ; comparatively small, and generally broadest at the base, always covered with minute glands, giving off a pleasant balsamic fragrance when bruised, to be smelt also in the sunshine from the untouched plants. The outline of the pinnules, bluntly oblong with shallow lobes (differing in this from the other native species of the genus), is most nearly approached by some forms of Filix-mas incisa, and the serratures also, as in that, are not at all spinulose or bearded, but short and merely acute (it is, however, distinguishable from that by its size, its outline, its glandular surface, and its glandular-fringed indusium). It can hardly be mis- taken for any other of the Lastreas, nearly all the rest of them having spinulose serratures. THE RIGID BUCKLER FERN 49 The stipes is densely scaly. The venation is similar to that of Filix-mas, the pinnules having a flexuous midvein, with alternate venules again pinnately branched. The sori are borne on the lowest anterior branch of each venule, that is, on the lowest veinlet on the side next the apex of the pinnule, and are covered by a kidney-shaped indusium which does not fall away. The Eigid Buckler Fern is almost entirely confined to a few limestone craggy tracts within a small area of the contiguous parts of Westmorland, Lancashire, and Yorkshire. The Eev. GK Finder writes:—"! met with Lastrea rigida in great profusion along the whole of the great scar limestone district, at intervals be- tween Arnside Knott (where it is comparatively scarce) and Ingleborough, being most abundant on Hutton Roof Crags and Farleton Knott, where it grows in the deep fissures of the natural platform, and occasionally high in the clefts of the rocks ; it is generally much shattered by the winds, or cropped by the sheep, which seem fond of it. With regard to the shape of the frond, I may mention that among some hundreds of specimens I found but one or two which had the fronds oblong-lanceolate, all being more or less triangular, and not having the lower pair of pinnse shorter than those in the upper and middle parts of the fronds. The fronds of young plants are remarkably triangular. The two forms of fronds no doubt depend upon the situation, whether sheltered or otherwise, and on other causes ; still I imagine the triangular to be the true Form of the plant." Its elevation above the sea ap- pears to range between 200 and 1,500 feet. In 1 50 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY cultivating it, it should be borne in mind that it is more impatient than other kinds of stagnant moisture, and that it is better for the caudex to be a little above the soil, to provide a better fall for the decumbent fronds. HABITATS. — Arnside Knott, Hutton Roof Crags, Farleton Knott, Silverdale, Whitbarrow. potyclados, — Farleton Knott, J. M. Barnes. interrupt, — Arnside, J. Crossfield. THE CRESTED BUCKLER FEEN. Lastrea cristata,* — PEESL. Lastrea cristata, L. uliginosa, and L. spinulosa, constitute a group distinguishable by habit and other characters from the allied dilatata group, with which the more highly -developed form spinulosa is sometimes associated. "In our 'Handbook of British Ferns (2nd ed.)," says Moore, "this group was treated as consisting of three forms of one not very variable species ; and notwithstanding that many Fern authori- ties do not appear to adopt this view, we have no doubt whatever that the plants possess a close natural affinity, and have characters which separate them from the forms of Lastrea dilatata, however similar to the latter, in some cases, may be the degree and mode of division in the fronds — points on which botanists are at times too prone to rely. The close affinity of the three forms now alluded to is evidenced by marks far more important than those to be derived from such characters as the outline or cutting of the fronds, namely, by the creeping caudex, by the erect narrow fronds, by the sparse and pallid broad appressed scales of the stipes, and by the entire indusia, in all which * Polypodium cristatum (Linnceus). E 2 52 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY respects they perfectly agree. On the other hand, it is in these points that they differ from the dilatata group. In the folio edition of this work, we were led, in deference to the more commonly received opinion, to treat of spinulosa separately ; but after some years' further observation, we revert to our former view, and place it here under cristata"* To this it may be well to add the special distinctions which characterize the whole group of what were once called Crested Shield Ferns — L. cristata, uliginosa, spinulosa, dilatata, and cemula, although L. cristata is only known in the Lake Country by its variety spinu- losa, — • the true Crested Buckler Fern and var. uligi- nosa occurring only in more southern counties. Lastrea cristata grows with very erect, narrow, ob- long fronds, whose deltoid pinnae are not quite divided down to the midrib, the lobes being attached by the whole width of their base, and oblong, with a rounded apex. The stipes is sparingly furnished with broad, obtuse, membranous, whole-coloured scales ; and the caudex is creeping. Lastrea uliginosa has two or three sorts of fronds. One set, the earlier barren ones, resembles those of cristata, the fertile being bipinnate at the bases of the pinnae ; the fronds narrow-oblong, the lobes tapering to a point. The scales of the stipes are broad, blunt, and whole-coloured, and the caudex is creeping. This connects cristata with spinulosa. Lastrea spinulosa grows erect ; has narrow, lance- shaped, bipinnate fronds, rather more deeply divided * Nature-Printed Tirilish Ferns, octavo edition, 1863. NARROW PRICKLY-TOOTHED BUCKLER FERN 53 than the foregoing. The scales of the stipes are blunt and whole-coloured, and the caudex creeps. Lastrea dilatata spreads more, and has broader or ovate lance-shaped fronds. The stipes is clothed with lance-shaped scales, darker-coloured in the centre than at the margins. The caudex is erect. Lastrea amula is spreading, evergreen, and has fronds smaller than those of dilatata, triangular, bi- pinnate, the lobes having their edges curved back so as to present a hollow upper surface. The scales are narrow, pointed, and jagged ; and the caudex is erect. The Narrow Prickly-Toothed Buckler Fern — L. SPINULOSA (sometimes spinosa) — has a stout stem, or caudex, either decumbent or slowly creeping horizon- tally, with the fronds growing erect from its apex ; the fronds branched, sometimes tufted, slightly scaly, formed of the enlarged and enduring bases of the de- cayed fronds, surrounding a woody axis, the scales resembling those of the stipes. The fronds are from a foot to three or four feet high, bipinnate, the pinnse obliquely tapering, the inferior pinnules being larger than the superior. This is most obvious at the base of the frond, where the pinnse are broader than they are toward the apex. The lower pinnules on the basal pinnse are oblong, narrowing upwards, the margins deeply cut, the lobes being serrated, and the teeth somewhat spinulose ; those toward the apex of each pinna, as well as the basal ones of the pinnse nearer the apex of the frond, become gradually less and less compound, so that, although the margins are still fur- nished with spinulose teeth, they gradually lose the B 3 54 FERNS Of THE LAKE COUNTKY deep lobes which are found on the lowest pinnse. In all the more compound Perns there is a similar differ- ence of form according to the disposition of the pin- nules, and in all such cases it is usual only to describe the most complete — that is, those at the base of a few of the lowermost pinnse. The venation in the less divided pinnules consists of a midvein giving off branched venules, the sori borne on the lower anterior venules proceeding from these, about midway between the vein and the margin, thus forming an even double row on each pinnule. The same arrangement occurs on the lobes when the pinnule is more divided. The indusia are kidney-shaped, with the margin entire. L. spinulosa is common over the whole of England, generally in moist shady places, ranging from the sea- level to an elevation of 600 feet. In Scotland, Wales, and Ireland it is rare. In the Lake Country it is common in bogs and damp woods throughout the district. THE BROAD PRICKLY-TOOTHED BUCKLER FERN. Lastrea dilatata. — PEESL. The Broad Prickly-toothed Buckler is one of the most compound and handsome, as well as one of the most common, of our native Ferns, growing in broad arched fronds, from a large tufted stem, to, when most luxuriant, even the height of five feet, always more or less drooping or curved. It is a species very diffi- cult to understand, on account of its many varieties, — some of which pass almost into L. spinulosa on the one side, and others into L. cemula on the other. The distinguishing characteristics, however, of L. dilatata in the group of Crested Shield Ferns, of which it forms a very large proportion, are its lance-shaped dark- 56 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY centred scales and its gland-fringed indusia. The fol- lowing description applies to the more usual or typical form of dilatata. Fronds ovate, lance-shaped in general outline, on a stipes of moderate length much thickened at the base and densely clothed with entire lance-shaped pointed scales very dark brown in their centres but nearly transparent at their margins ; bipinnate, with elongate- triangular, or tapering, pinnae, placed nearly opposite, and more or less obliquely, from the larger develop- ment of the lower side. Pinnae pinnate, pinnules near their base often so deeply divided as to be again almost pinnate, the rest pinnatifid or in the upper parts merely deeply serrated, but the margins, whether deeply or shallowly lobed, set with teeth ending in short spinous points. Venation similar to the more compound parts of the allied species. Sori in great plenty, ranged in double lines across the larger lobes of the pinnae or along the less divided parts, and covered by kidney- shaped scales or indusia fringed round their margins with projecting glands. The typical form of L, dilatata grows nearly all over the United Kingdom, from the coast-level to an elevation of 3,000 feet. It prefers shady situations, moist woods and glens, thickets and hedgerows. It is widely dispersed through the northern hemisphere, and in the Hookerian Herbarium is a specimen labelled " from New Zealand." It is common everywhere throughout the Lake District. L. dumetorum is a distinct variety of dilatata. Its type may be taken from one found by Miss M. Beever, BROAD PEICKLY-TOOTHED BUCKLER FEEN 57 dwarfish, with broad-ovate or elongate-triangular and sometimes deltoid fronds, remarkable for their glandular surface, and for the large abundant sori produced freely on plants of a very immature age. Some of its modifications have been referred to var. collina, from which, however, they differ in their abundant glands and fimbriated or jagged scales. Miss Beever's plant was found on the fells of Silverthwaite, West- morland, and the same form has been gathered by Mr. Clowes near Hawes Water, and by the Eev. Gr. Finder near Elter Water. L. collina is another distinct and permanent variety, a remarkably neat and elegant plant, growing erectly, the frond having sometimes an ovate outline alternately elongated at the apex, sometimes more elongated, ob- long-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, dark green, a foot to two feet high, smooth or sparingly glandular, bi- pinnate. The stipes varies from one-half to one-third of the frond, green above, tinged with dark purply- brown at the base, with entire lanceolate dark-brown scales, conspicuously darker in the centre. The scales narrow, with a long subnate point, at the base of the stipes, where they are' most numerous, broader and shorter higher up ; the rachis almost without. The pinnse, especially the lower, distant and spreading, the lowest pair unequally deltoid, the next more elongate and less unequal, the rest narrower, parallel-sided, rounding slightly near the end to an acutish point, not acuminate. Pinnules convex, obtusely oblong-ovate, the basal narrowed to a broadish stalk-like attachment, the rest sessile and more or less decurrent ; the larger 58 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY pinnules deeply pinnatifid, with blunt oblong lobes, sparingly toothed, the teeth coarse acuminately aris- tate (or bearded), mostly at the apex. Sori mostly arranged in two lines along the pinnules, as in the smaller forms of the species, and covered by gland- fringed indusia. This variety was first brought into notice by the Eev. Gr. Finder, found by Elter Water, in Langdale, and by Mr. Ecclestone at Torver, near Conis- ton. This last is rather larger and more divided, with concave pinme and strongly convex pinnules ; it is also somewhat glandular. L. alpina is remarkable for being more delicate and membranaceous than other forms of the species ; the fronds normally oblong, or straightsided, with the point tapered off as in the typical spinulosa, but in some specimens even broadly ovate, almost or quite tripinnate below, bipinnate upwards. Found by Mr. Clowes at Hawes Water. OTHER VARIETIES. contracta, — Mardale, J. M. Barnes. interrupta, — Witherslack, J.M.Barnes; Windermere, F.Clowes. irregularis, — Witherslack, J. M. Barnes. stenophylla, — Witherslack, J. M. Barnes. glandulosa, — Winderraere, F. Clowes j Levens, J. Crossfield. tenera, — Windermere, F. Clowes. alpina, — High Street, F. Clowes. dumetorum, — Coniston, Miss Beever ; Mardale, F. Clowes. collina, — Coniston, Miss Beever. grandidens, — Lindal, J. Crossfield. Howardii, — Levens, M. Stabler. THE HAY-SCENTED BUCKLER FERN, TRIANGULAR PRICKLY-TOOTHED, OR CONCAVE. Lastrea cemula. — BBACKKNRIDGE. The Hay-scented Fern is a plant of from a foot to two feet in height, growing in a circle of triangular arched or drooping fronds with a crisped appearance, from the turning back of the margins of all the seg- ments. Its fragrance is like that of new hay, like hay, too, more powerful as it dries, and lasting for a long time. Its stipes is of about the same length as the leafy portion of the frond, clothed with jagged pale brown scales. The fronds are bipinnate, the lowest pair of pinnse being always longer and larger than the rest, and the pinnules on the inferior side of the pinnae always larger than those on the superior. The pin- nules are oblong-ovate, the lowest often again divided into a series of oblong lobes, mostly decurrent, but sometimes slightly stalked, the margin cut into short spinous-pointed teeth. The veins of the pinnules alternately branch from a sinuous mid vein, and divide again into two or three alternate venules, the lowest anterior venule bearing a sorus, the exact ramification of the veins depending on the degree in which the pinnules or lobes are divided. The son are spread over the whole surface, in two tolerably even lines 60 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY along each pinnule or lobe. Indusia small and kidney- shaped, with uneven margins fringed by small round stalkless glands. The whole frond is covered with similar glands. By these stalkless, or sessile, glands, as well as by the fewer and narrower scales of the stipes, L. aemula is distinguished from L. dilatata — whose glands are stalked. In ordinary cases, the tri- angular outline and hollow crisped surface of the fronds are sufficient to distinguish the Concave Buck- ler Fern, which is also more decidedly evergreen, and has this further peculiarity, that the fronds decay from above downwards — not like the Broad Prickly-toothed Fern, upwards — from the base. Its range of elevation does not appear to exceed 600 feet. It prefers shady and rocky localities, and is easily cultivated. HABITATS. — St. Bees' Head (J. Huddart), Brough- ton (J. M. Barnes), Coniston (Miss Beever), Winder- mere (F. Clowes), THE SPLEENWORTS. THE LADY FERN. Athyrium Filix-famina.* — EOTH. The genus Atliyrium holds a place between the Aspidice (or Shield Ferns) and the Asplenice (or Spleen worts). Its generally elongated sori mark it, however, as belonging rather to the latter group, though there is a sufficient approach to the roundish kidney shape of Lastrea to account for its having been also attributed to the former. It is, nevertheless, not * Polypodiura Filix-foemina (Linnaeus), Aspidium Filix-foemina, Asplenium Filix-fojmina, Cystopteris Filix-fojmina, &c. 62 PERNS OP THE LAKE COUNTRY so like to Lastrea as to be mistaken for it, and is dis- tinguishable also from the other Aspleniums by its annual fronds and its herbaceous texture. The Lady Fern, so called because of the peculiar delicacy of its fronds contrasted with the masculine robustness of the Male Fern, grows like that in plume- circlets or coronals from the caudex, which in winter, whether close to the ground or a few inches above it, bears a tuft of incipient fronds, each rolled up separ- ately and the mass nestling in a bed of chaff-like scales. In May or June they are developed, twenty or more being usually produced. In the summer a few more generally arise in the centre, the whole dying off in the autumn. The form of the fronds is lanceolate, more or less broad, the stipes scaly at the base and about a third of the length of the frond. The fronds are bipinnate, the pinnae always lanceolate, more or less drawn out at the point, and always again pinnate, though sometimes with the bases of the pinnules con- nected by a narrow leafy wing, but not so much so as to render them merely pinnatifid. The pinnules, how- ever, are more or less lobed or pinnatifid, the lobes being sharply toothed in a varying manner. The venation, owing to the delicate texture of the frond, is very distinct, consisting in each pinnule of a wavy midvein, with alternate and again alternate venules, on the anterior side of which, at some distance from the margin, is an oblong sorus. In the larger and more divided pinnules the venation is more compound, and more than one sorus is borne on each primary vein, which thus becomes a midvein with branches on a THE LADY FERN 63 smaller scale. The sori are slightly curved, the basal very much so, being horse-shoe shaped ; the indusia of the same form. This horse-shoe shape is made by the lateral line of spore cases crossing the vein and then returning, and sometimes the indusium is circular all but a small notch, so somewhat resembling the fructifi- cation of Lastrea. One side of the indusium is fixed lengthwise to the side of the vein which forms the receptacle, while the anterior one (that toward the midvein of the pinnule) becomes free, and is split into a fringe of hair-like segments. The Lady Fern is common all over England and Ireland, less so in Wales and Scotland (in the High- lands at an altitude of 3,000 feet), but found in all our Northern, "Western, and Channel Islands ; it is found also in one or other of its forms from Lapland to Crete, from the Ural mountains to Kamtchatka, from the Mediterranean to India, from Abyssinia to Algeria, from Canada to British Columbia, and in the United States and South America. It is perhaps the most prolific in varieties of all our British species, the varieties being very marked, singular, and permanent. It is common everywhere in the Lake Country. VABIETIES. Barnesii, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. Irachypterum, — Whiufell, J. M. Barnes. defectum, — -Tebay, J. M. Barnes. eroswn, — Brigsteer, J. M. Barnes ; Windermere, F. Clowes. exiguum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. fimbriatum, — Farleton Knott, J. M. Barnes. 64 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY folioso-multifidum, — Old Hutton, A. B. Taylor. grandissimu/m, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. limbo-spermum, — Tebay, J. M. Barnes. multicuspis, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. parvicapitatum, — Witherslack, J. M. Barnes. plumosum Barnesii, — Hilnthorpe, J. M. Barnes. rhaticum-multifidum, — Burneside, A. B, Taylor. subcruciforme, — Whitbarrow, J. M. Barnes. subdiffitatum, — Burneside, Martindale, A. B. Taylor. uncum, — Arnside, J. M. Barnes. laciniatwm, — Newby Bridge, Wollaston. marimtm, — Windermere, J. Wood. oxydens, — Windermere, C. Monkman. curium, — Windermere, J. Wood; Levens, J. M. Barnes. ramulosum, — Windermere, F. Clowes. subdepauperatwn, — Windermere, F. Clowes. flexuosum, — Silverdale, J. Crossfield j Windermere, J. Huddart. latifolium, — Keswick, Miss Wright ; Arnside, J. Crossfield. Monlcmani, — Troutbeck, C. Monkman. strigosum, — Burton, J. Jones. exile, — Levens, J. M. Barnes j Burton, J. Jones. potydactylum, — Dent, A. Mason ; Windermere, F. Clowes. crispatum, — Arnside, J. Crossfield. laciniatum-dissectvm, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. BLACK MAIDEN-HAIR SPLEENWORT. Aspleniitm Adiantum-nigrum. — LINN.ETJ8. The true Spleenworts (so called from some old-time supposed virtue in curing diseases of the spleen) are small evergreens, known from all other of our native Perns, except CeteracJi, by the long narrow single sori lying in the direction of the veins which traverse the fronds, — Ceterach being distinguished from them by having the backs of its fronds clothed with brown scales, under which the sori are hidden. From their F 66 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTKY next neighbours, the Athyriums, they are known by the latter having hippocrepiform (or horse-shoe shaped) sori and the free margins of the indusia fringed, while in the Aspleniums the sori are not curved, and the mar- gins of the indusia are but slightly jagged, if not quite entire. The Spleenworts, too, are evergreen ; while the Lady Fern is deciduous. There are nine British species of ASPLENIUM — fontanum, lanceolatum, Adian- tutn-nigrum, marinwn, Trichomanes, viride, Euta- muraria, germanicum, and septentrionale. Of these, A. fontanum and A. lanceolatum do not belong to the Lake District, though there is a tradition of the former having inhabited Wythburn (found there by Hudson, about 1775) Tintil exterminated by the " greed of col- lectors." Let the race take heed ! The Black Maiden-hair Spleenwort is an evergreen, growing in tufts, and varying in height from three or four inches to eighteen or more, including the stipes, which is often as long as or longer than the leafy portion, except in stunted specimens. The stipes is of a shining dark purple. The fronds are either erect or drooping, according to situation, of a thick leathery texture, triangular, more or less elongated toward the point, bipinnate, sometimes tripinnate ; the pinnae pin- nate, triangular-ovate and elongated at the point, the lower pair longer than the next above them ; the pin- nules, especially on the larger pinnas, again pinnate, the alternate pinnules deeply lobed and the margins sharply serrated. The veins are numerous, each pin- nule having its distinct midvein, branching into simple or farther-branching veins, on which the sori are pro. BLACK MAIDEN-HAIR SPLEENWOET 67 duced near the junction with the midvein, — that is to say, near the centre of every lobe or pinnule. All the ultimate divisions of the fronds, as well as all the larger lobes, have midveins with these simple or branched venules. When young, the sori are distinct and of the elongated narrow form common to the genus, but, growing older, they spread till they often become confluent and cover the entire under-surface of the frond. The indusium is narrow, its margin free and entire ; but it is soon lost, being pushed away by the growing sori. This species is very variable : in dry and exposed places small and obtuse, in more sheltered drawn out and elongated. These extreme states are ranked as varieties. Some have been found also with the fronds variegated with white. It seems to be nearly as common as the Athyriums, though not .growing to so great an elevation, for it is found nearly everywhere, from Scandinavia to the Cape of Good Hope, in the Sandwich Islands, in Afghanistan, in Java, and in St. Helena. It thrives moderately well in cultivation if planted in a sandy soil and well drained ; and is easily manageable as a pot-plant, but requires a pure atmosphere. It is common throughout the Lake Country, either on the slate or limestone, often preferring old walls. VARIETIES. intermedium, — Heversham, J. M. Barnes. depauperatwm, — Winder in ere, P. Clowes. acuti-dentatum, — Witherslack, J. Crossfield. F2 THE SEA SPLEENWORT. Asplenium marinum. — LINN.ETJS. A sea-side Fern, as its name denotes, but occasion- ally found inland ; a tufted evergreen species, erect or decumbent, the fronds growing usually six or eight inches long, linear or linear lanceolate, of the deepest glossy green, and of a leathery texture, with a stipes shorter than the frond, smooth, channeled in front, chestnut-coloured or purply-brown. The fronds are simply pinnate, with stalked pinna?, connected by a narrow wing extending along the rachia ; obtusely THE SEA SPLEENWORT. C9 ovate or oblong, unequal at the base, the anterior base being much developed, while the posterior appears cut away, with the margin serrated or crenated. The venation is tolerably distinct : each pinna has a mid- vein, giving off veins alternately on either side, branch- ing again into a series of venules. The sori, lying obliquely on the anterior side of each venule, form two rows on each side of the centre ; oblong or linear, with persistent indusia opening along the anterior margin as the spores ripen. The chief variation of the Sea Spleenwort consists in the elongation of its parts, the pinnae sometimes tapering to a narrow point, sometimes also being auricled at the base and deeply lobed. It keeps very close to the sea-level. In cultivation it requires warmth, and grows best in sandy peat-soil, in the interstices of stones or rock-work. The Sea Spleenwort is most abundant on the west coast of Europe, extending, however, eastward in the Mediterranean. It is found also on the African coast, in the Western Isles, and, according to Sir W. Hooker in St. Helena. This peculiar distribution has been sup- posed to indicate that it took place prior to the great disruption of the chalk and the vast deposit of allurial mattar along the eastern coast of England. HABITATS. — Whitehaven, St. Bees' Head, Head of Morecambe Bay, Sea-cave near Silverdale, Piel Castle, Hey sham. trrt.0 COMMON MAIDEN-HAIR SPLEENWORT. Asplenium Trichomanes. — LiNN^TJS. The Common Maiden-hair Spleenwort is but a di- minutive plant, yet it is one of the most elegant of the hardy evergreens, noticeable for the contrast between its purply-black stipes (and rachis) and bright green pinnse, and for th« regularity with which the latter are disposed. Its numerous small slender fronds, generally not more than from three to six inches long, though sometimes double that, grow in tufts in rock crannies, and delight in the crevices of old walls. Its fronds are simply pinnate, the pinnae small and numerous, equal-sized, roundishly-oblong, attached to the rachis by a stalk-like projection of their posterior base, the margins entire or crenated (with convex or round teeth). The pinnse are jointed to the rachis, and when old are readily displaced, leaving the black naked rachis among the other fronds. A distinct midvein passes through each pinna, branching on each side into COMMON MAIDEN-HAIR SPLEENWORT 71 veins and venules, the anterior bearing the linear sori just within the margin of the pinnae. The sori, when young, have a thin indusium, with a rather round- toothed free margin, but when older become confluent, and cover the whole frond. This also is a very uni- versal Fern, found not only in the Old and New f World, but also in the newer world of Australia. It \ once had a medicinal reputation, and, according to » Eay, was usefully employed in affections of the chest. It is also sometimes referred to in old medical books 'as the plant from which the syrup called Capillaire is ) produced. Turner, in his Herball, published in 1568 calls it "English Mayden's Heare," and says: — "the juice stayeth the heare that falleth of, and if they be fallen off, it restoreth them agayne." It grows best in cultivation, in sandy loam with leaf-mould, and does not require so much shade as other ferns. HABITATS. — Ambleside, Keswick, Borrowdale, and Calder Bridge. The most beautiful of its VARIETIES is the incisum, with pinnso deeply pinnatifid with linear notched seg- ments. It has been found in Borrowdale by Miss Wright, and in Lindale-in-Cartmel by Mr. A. Mason. OTHER VARIETIES. depauperatum, — Kendal Fell, J. M. Barnes ; Whitbarrow, F. Clowes; Arnside, J. Crossfield. Ufurcum, — Windermere, F. Clowes ; Arnside, J. Crossfield. multifidum, — Windermere, F. Clowes ; Keswick, Miss Wright ; Ulverston, Mrs. Hodson. ra/mosum, — Arnside, J. Crossfield. rotundato-multifidum, — Witherslack, J. M. Barnes. THE GREEN SPLEENWOKT. Asplenium viride.* — HUDSON. The Green Spleenwort has so close a resemblance to the Common Maiden-hair as to be often mistaken for it by hasty observers. It is distinguished by its green compressed rachis (that of A. Trichomanes being dark brown or black), by its persistent pinnae (deciduous in A.. Trichomanes), by the more central situation of its sori, which are placed rather below than above the vein-fork, and by being always of a much paler green and of a more delicate herbaceous appearance. It is an evergreen tufted species, with bright pale green fronds, narrow, ' linear, simply pinnate, from two to eight inches losg, supported by a short stipes, dark at the very base, but else green, the rachis all green. The pinna? are small, generally roundish-ovate, slightly taper toward the base, and attached to the rachis by the narrowed stalk-like part, the mai'gin being deeply crenated. The venation is distinct ; the midvein sends off alternately a series of venules, either simple or forked, which have the sori on their anterior side. The sori are oblong, covered at first by membranous indusia, which are soon pushed aside ; the free margin is jagged or crenate. * Aspleninm Trichomanes ramosuin (Linnteus), Asplenium in- termedium (Prest), THE GEEEN SPLEENWORT 73 The Green Spleenwort is found in most moist, rocky, mountainous districts of Great Britain ; it oc- curs also, though less frequently, in Ireland, and throughout Europe. It is to be cultivated in pots in a close damp frame ; or on moist shady rock-work, if covered with a bell-glass. If exposed, it is apt to suffer from occasional excessive wet, which often does not properly drain away ; and also from the dry hot air of summer. The glass protects it from both these casualties, and provided it is not kept too close it will then thrive well. The proper bell-glasses for these half-hardy Ferns have a small opening in the crown, which may be closed or not at pleasure, but which is generally best left open. In pots, the plants should have a gritty, porous soil. HABITATS. — Ambleside, Patterdale, Kendal Fell (W. Christy), Hutton Eoof, Farleton, Arnside (Rev. G. Finder), Casterton Fell, Mazebeck Scar (R. _B. Bowman), Borrowdale, Ashness Grhyll, Barrow Force, Grillsland, Brandy Grhyll on Carrock Fell, Whitbarrow, &c. VARIETIES. mitltifidum, — Farleton Knott, J. Jones j Scout Scar, J. Cross- field, J. Wood. subbipinnatum, — Whitbarrow, J. Huddart. varians, — Kendal Fell, J. M. Barnes. THE RUE-LEAVED SPLEENWORT, OR WALL RUE. Asplenium Suta-muraria. — Lnrcratrs. This is a very diminutive Fern, growing, as its name implies, upon old walls, and very common on the lime- stone rocks, like the Rue in general appearance ; some- times not above an inch high, seldom in the most favourable situations reaching to the height of six inches. Its fronds are numerous, of bloom-covered (glaucous) green, usually triangular in outline, bip in- nate, and with a stipes about half the entire length of the plant. The pinnse are alternate, with rhomboidal, or roundish-ovate, or obovate pinnules, the base wedge- shaped, tapering into a more or less distinct petiole, the apex rounded or truncate, or sometimes acutely prolonged, always toothed with small or nearly equal teeth. The more luxuriant fronds become almost tri-pinnate, the pinnules deeply pinnatifid, and the lobes formed like the ordinary pin- nules. When the plants are quite young, the fronds are simple and roundish kidney-shaped. At a later stage they are occasionally only once pinnate, with pinnatifid pinnae. The upper margins of the pinnules are irreg- THE RUE-LEAVED SPLEENWOET 75 ularly-toothed. The venation consists of a series of veins repeatedly forked from the base, so that there is no distinct midvein. ; the number of the venules corresponds with the number of marginal teeth. Several sori are produced near the centre of the pinna, covered by indusia opening inwardly with a jagged or irregularly-sinuated margin. The plant is ever- green and easy of cultivation. It is so common that there is no occasion to give any special habitats. It extends to about 600 feet above the sea-line. In its normal conditions A. Huta-muraria is easily recognizable : the characters afforded by its triangular (deltoid) outline, bipinnate or tripinnate division, and distinct wedge-shaped pinnules, together with the smallness of the fronds, sufficiently distinguishing it from the other Aspleniums. There are, however, cer- tain of its forms which are not, at first sight, so easily separated from A. germanicum, being narrow on the fronds or pinnules, and sometimes scarcely more than pinnate. These forms are best distinguished by the round-toothed (crenulate) indusia, and by the fine even toothing of the anterior margin, — the indusium in A. germanicum being entire, and the apex of its pinnules being less deeply and unequally notched. VARIETIES. cristatum, — Farleton Knott, Wollaston. unilaterale, — Troutbeck, Miss Wright ; Kendal Fell, J. M. Barnes. cuneatum, — Sizergh, J. Crossfield. ramosum, — Silverdale, J. Crossfield. THE ALTERNATE-LEAVED SPLEENWORT. Aspleniwn germanicum. — WEIS. The Alternate-leaved Spleenwort stands between the Wall Rue and the Forked Spleenwort, sometimes, in- deed, marked as a dubious species, but decided by Moore to be perfectly distinct. It is one of the rarest of our native Ferns, rare also in Northern and Central Europe. In other parts of the world it is not known. It is so rare here in Great Britain that Moore records only one single variety. Its altitudinal range is from 300 to 600 feet above the sea. The Alternate Spleenwort grows in tufts, the fronds from three to six inches high, sub-evergreen (the fronds more or less persistent), narrow linear in general out- line, pinnate, divided into distinct, alternate, wedge- shaped pinnae, one or two of the lowest having gene- rally a pair of very deeply-divided lobes, the upper more and more slightly lobed, all having their upper ends toothed or notched. The venation is very in- distinct, on account both of the narrowness of the parts of so small fronds and of their opacity. There is no midvein, but one of the venules extends to each of the teeth, each vein entering from the base becoming twice or thrice branched as it reaches the broader parts .up- wards, six or eight veins generally lying near together THE ALTERNATE-LEAVED SPLEENWORT in a narrow fan-like manner in each of the larger pinnse, the smaller hav- ing proportionally fewer. Two or three linear sori are produced on a pinna, covered by membranous in- dusia, the free margin of which is entire, or slightly sinuous, but not jagged. The sori at length become confluent. It is very difficult of cultivation. For the cultivation of A. germani- cum, Moore (our chief authority) recommends that it should be potted in sandy peat-soil, well drained by a mixture of rubbly matter (indeed, good drainage seems indispensable to almost all of the Fern kind) ; and that it should* be kept under a bell-glass in a shaded frame or greenhouse. The plants are very liable to die in winter, the best safeguard from which is not to allow any water to lodge about the crowns, nor to keep the bell-glass too closely or too constantly over them. HABITATS. — Borrowdale (Miss WrigU and H. E. Smith), and near Scawfell (Eev. H. W. Haivker in an excursion with J. Huddart and F. Clowes. THE FORKED SPLEENWORT. Asplenium septentrionale. — HULL. This is another of the small and rare Ferns, though more widely distributed than A. germanicu/m, and growing to an elevation of 3,000 feet, tufted some- times in large masses and grassy looking, differing from A. germanicum (which some botanists consider a variety of it) by its fronds being either simple with mere lobes, or forked with two distinct branches, each like* its own smaller fronds, and never being regularly pinnate as A. germanicum is. It is also narrower in its parts, with a thicker texture, and less leafy. The fronds are from two to six inches long, slender, and of a dull green ; the stipes is rather long and dark purple at the base ; the leafy part of the frond, hardly to be called leafy, is narrow elongated lance-shaped, split near the end into two or sometimes three alternate divisions, or in the smaller fronds into as many teeth, each of the divisions of the frond having its margin cut into two or more sharp-pointed teeth, the points of the larger teeth very frequently split again. The forked fronds are indefinite in form and apparently one-sided, one division being smaller than the other, and looking like a side branch with nothing to balance THE FORKED SPLEENWORT 79 it on the other side of the rachis. The lobes are some- times so much separated as to look like distinct pinnse. There is no midrib or vein, the rachis answering the purpose if the frond is not lobed, or else becoming forked so as to send up one vein to each of the teeth. Three or four long linear sori are crowed into this small space, so that when the ripening sori burst the indusia, they become confluent over the whole under- surface. This confluence of the sori over the whole under-surface has led some writers to consider this plant an Acrostichum. Others, from the sori being face to face in consequence of their growing on each side of the vein and almost close, have thought it a Scolopendrium, the mark of which is to have the sori. confluent in pairs face to face. It has therefore been sometimes called Acrostichum septentrionale and Scolo- pendrium septentrionale. If the plant, however, be examined when young, it will be found to be a true Asplenivm. The Forked Spleenwort does not appear to be found in Ireland ; but, though rare, has a wide range in Great Britain, from Devonshire to the Orkneys. It grows abundantly in some of the mountainous tracts of Central Europe, and extends from Eussia and Scan- dinavia to Italy and Spain. In Asia it inhabits the mountain ranges of the Ural and the Altai, and is found from Northern India to the Caucasus. It occurs also in New Mexico. It prefers fissures of rocks, or between the stones of loose walls. As in the case of the allied species (Moore again, in the octavo edition of his Nature-printed British Ferns), 80 FEENS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY many persons fail to cultivate this Fern with success ; probably from the use of fine soil in too large masses. Naturally this is a rupestral (rock-growing) plant, and this condition should be imitated by its being planted among masses of porous sand-stone in the interstices of which, and only in the interstices, a little sandy soil should be placed. It would no doubt also be an ad- vantage to plant somewhat horizontally instead of too vertically and to have the upper stones large enough to shade the crowns of the plants from the sun. Many Ferns do not need so much shade as is given in a col- lection to the tenderer sorts ; and this partial shadow- ing would be more congenial to some of the wall or rock species than a more general exclusion of the sun. HABITATS. — Scawfell, by Wastwater, Honister Crags, Borrowdale, Newlands, Keswick, Helvellyn, Patter- dale, Eed Screes (Ambleside), Crummock Water. THE COMMON HART'S TONGUE FERN. Scolopendrium vulgare.* — SMITH Scolopendrium forms a sub-group of the Aspleniece, in which the sori, instead of being simple and distinct, are brought together in opposite pairs, so that what appears to be a line of spore-cases forming a sorus is in fact a double line forming a double or twin sorus. The name Scolopendrium is from Scolopendra, a centi- pede, from some supposed resemblance between the * Asplenium Scolopendrium (lAnnaus), Blechnum linguifolium, 82 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY feet of the centipede and the lines of fructification of the Fern. Its English name comes from the likeness of the whole frond to the shape of a Hart's tongue, differing altogether from the generality of its feathery fellows, in being only one long shining bright green leaf, partially erect when dwarf, but drooping in its larger development, growing in groups or tufts, on rocks, damp masonry, and moist banks, from four inches to upwards of two feet long, hanging down in- deed like great tongues lolling over the grey walls or grassy banks. The dwarf fronds are thick and of a leathery texture, the larger thinner and less rigid ; their outline is what is called strap-shaped, that is nai'row oblong lanceolate much elongated ; they taper toward a point at the apex, and become narrower downwards, cordate (rounded like the thick end of the heart in cards) at the base ; the margin is entire, or very slightly wavy ; and the stipes is shaggy and about half the length of the leaf. The venation consists of a strong midvein or midrib, extending the whole length of the frond, from which run forked veins, their branches parallel and proceeding direct toward the margin, terminating just within it in a club-shaped apex. The veins are usually forked twice, but are not constant to any exact num- ber of divisions. The sori, which are oblong patches of unequal length, lying in the direction of the veins at short intervals along the upper two-thirds of the frond, are composed each of two lines of fructification united at their sides, each of these lines, however, consisting of a complete sorus, so that the two united COMMON HART'S-TONGUE FERN 83 are properly called a twin sorus. This twin sorus is always produced between two fascicles of veins : that is, the lowermost venule produced by one vein and the uppermost of another below become each a receptacle upon which one of the two contiguous lines of spore- cases is produced. Their indusia are attached on the upper and lower sides of the venules, the other edges overlapping, so that the free margin is outside the fas- cicle of venules to which it belongs. When very young, the separation where they overlap is not ap- parent, but becomes so as they advance toward matu- rity ; till at last they open down the centre, one in- dusium turning up and the other down, the two lines of spore-cases becoming confluent and confused. This is the normal condition of Scolopendriwm ; but the genus is one of the most remarkably prolific in varieties, and in remarkable varieties, among all known Ferns, the greater part of these, though not un- frequently altogether monstrous, permanent and re- taining their peculiarities in cultivation. Several forms very distinct in themselves, and distinct also from the parent, have been produced from the spores by artificial treatment, indicating how probably the same process is going on in a state of nature, more slowly perhaps and imperceptibly, but as certainly, giving rise to new forms, some transient, but some to be perpetuated. The fructification of Scolopendriu/ni is, of course, as being one of the Polypodiacece, normally dorsal ; but in some of its varieties there is a very curious deviation from the law : the sori are produced on the upper as well as the lower surface, and sometimes abundantly G2 84 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY so. This occasionally happens from the elongation of the normally-placed sorus of the underside, which ex- tends to the margin and returns on the upper side when the sori are placed opposite the marginal crena- tures. But it also frequently happens that the sori are produced on the upper side distinctly within the margin, and where there are no corresponding sori beneath. Those varieties which have the margins toothed (crenated) or lobed seem most liable to assume this suprasoriferous (bearing-the-sori-on-the-upper-sur- face) condition. The Hart's Tongue seems to be pretty generally distributed throughout England, Scotland (more sparingly), Ireland and the Channel Islands, and through most countries in the northern temperate zone. It is not a sea Fern, but prefers the coast neighbourhood in more northern latitudes, ranging to an elevation of some 500 or 600 feet. With all its varieties, it is hardly to be considered a common Fern. It may be easily cultivated, and no Fernery should be without some few at least of its endless changes. Medicinal virtues have been attributed to it; among others, that of being good for burns and scalds. It is abundant in the limestone districts, and found also here and there upon the slate. VARIETIES. t limarginatum, — Ulverston, Mr. Uadwin ; Beetliam, J. Cross- field; Whitbarrow, J. M. Barnes. contractum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. crispum-sori/erum, — Whitbarrow, A. B. Taylor. COMMON HART'S-TONdUE FEEN 85 crista, galli, — Levens, J. M. Barnes; Whitbarrow, F. Clowes; Arnside, J. M. Barnes. cristatum, — Whitbarrow, J. M. Barnes ; Beetham, J. Crossfield. cymbiformce, — Whitbarrow, J. M. Barnes, G. Stable. fissum, — Brigsteer, J. M. Barnes; Silverdale, J. Crossfield. glomeratum, — Storth, Miss Nicholson. iMcisum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. intermnricatum, — Milnthorpe, J. M. Barnes. laciniatum, — Whitbarrow, J. M. Barnes. latiniato-marginatum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. lineare, — Whitbarrow, J. M. Barnes. marginatum, — Whitbarrow and elsewhere, F. Clowes, J. M. Barnes, J. Crossfield. muricatum, — Farleton Knott, J. Jones. polycwpis-transver&um, — Brigsteer, J. M. Barnes. undosum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes ; Beetham, J. Cross- field. polymorphum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. projectum, — Milnthorpe, J. M. Barnes ; Arnside, J. Crossfield. reniformet — Levens, J. M. Barnes. rimosum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. rugoso-marginatum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. sagittato-crispum, — Milnthorpe, Miss Wilson. nudisontm, — Milnthorpe, J. M. Barnes. supralineatum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes. supralineato-fimbriatum, — Levens, J. M. Barnes ; near Ulverston, Mrs. Hodgson. undulowm, — Levens, Garnett. variegatum, — Arnside, J. Crossfield. imperfectum, — Whitbarrow, Wollaston. ramosum, — Grange, Dawthwaite. varidbile, — Hevershani, J. M. Barnes; near Ulverston, Mrs. Hodgson. sculptwratum, — Farleton Knott, J. Jones ; Ulverston, Miss A. Hodgson. macrosorum, — Wharton, Miss A. Hodgson ; Arnside, J. Crossfield. G3 86 FERNS OF TIIE LAKE COUNTRY crispatitm, — Furnees Abbey, Mrs. Hodgson. exsertum, — Grange, Miss A. Hodgson. pocelliferum, — Farletoii Knott. cornutum, — Silverdale, J. Crossfield., crispum, — Ulverston, J. Crossfield. digitatum, — Cark, J. Crossfield. divaricatum, — Arnside, J. Crossfield. limbospermum, — Beetham Fell, J. Crossfield. potyschides, — Arnside, J. Crossfield; Holmes, J. M. Barnes. cornwto-abruptum, — J. Crossfield. aLbescens, — Arnside, J. Crossfield. THE COMMON SCALE FERN, OR SCALY SPLEENWOET. Asplenium Ceterach.* — LINN.EUS. Ceteracli, the botanical name of this genus (of which there is only one British species), is said to be a cor- ruption of CTietherak, the name given to it by Arabian or Persian medical writers. Its old English designa- tion of Milt-wast is said also to be a corruption : the Milt being the Spleen, and wast said to be from waste, because of some story of its destroying the spleen, — • but more probably, as Bailey puts it in his good old dictionary, "Milt-wast, wort, Herbs" (making toast the synonym of wort, a herb), Milt-wast is simply Spleen- wort, and no corruption at all. It was also called Finger Feme, "because," says Turner in his Herbal (1551), "it is no longer than a manne's finger," and Scale Feme, " be- cause it is all full of scales in the inner syde. " The Scaly Milt-wast or Spleen- wort, growing generally about the size of " a manne's finger, " sometimes not * Ceterach officinarum (Willdenow), Scolopendrium Ceteracli, Gymnogramma Ceterach, Blechnum squainosurn, &c. 88 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY so large, but sometimes even six or eight inches long, is a tufted evergreen, living on the limestone, and lodging, when away from its native rocks, on any old walls or ruins. The stipes is short and scaly ; the fronds are commonly pinnatifid, sometimes pinnate, divided rather more deeply. The upper surface is a deep opaque green ; the under is densely crowded with closely-packed and overlapping scales, whose rusty brownness, as they project beyond the margin, seen yet more fully in the exposed under-surface of the young partially-developed fronds, contrasts with the deep green of the upper surface. The pinnae or lobes are ovate, either entire or lobed in the margin. The venation is indistinct, on account of the opacity of the thick and fleshy fronds. Indeed, it is only to be made out by examining young fronds, removing the scaly- covering, and the outer skin of the frond itself. It is then seen that the principal vein, entering at the lower corner, proceeds sinuously toward the upper side of the apex, branching alternately, and branching again, the venules becoming more or less joined near the margin. The sori are borne irregularly along the sides of the venules, most of them directed toward the apex of the pinna. At first they are quite hidden by the scales, but ultimately the spore-cases protrude between them, though, being nearly of the same colour, never very obviously. In old times this plant had a great medicinal reputa- tion. Gerard writes of it : — " There be empiricks or blinde practitioners of this age who teach that with this herbe not only the hardness and swelling of the COMMON SCALE FERN 89 spleene, but all infirmities of the liver, may be effectu- ally and in a very short time removed But this is to be reckoned amongst the old wives' fables, and that also which Dioscorides telleth of, touch- ing the gathering of spleenewort in the night, and other most vaine things which are found here and there scattered in old books." There may be yet some grain of truth in even old wives' fables ; and CeteracJi, though its Arabic name be lost, is still retained in Italy in the list of officinal plants. On the Welsh coast they use it as a bait in fishing for rock-cod. It does not appa- rently extend further north than Scotland, but is spread over the centre and south of Europe, North and " South Africa," through Central Asia, and, it is said, in Brazil. It grows freely in the garden — in lime- rubbish, requiring to be kept rather dry. HABITATS. — Arnside Knott (Miss Beever), Miln- thorpe, Scout's Scar (Kendal), Ambleside (Miss S. Seever), Grosforth (Robsori), Keswick, Sand with, St. Bees, Yew Crags and Ara Beck (Ullswater), Whit- barrow, &c. ramosum, — Arnside, J. Crossfield. crenatum, — In several places. THE COMMON HARD FERN. Slechnum Spicant.* — HOTH. BlecTinum (a Latinized form of the Greek Blechnori) is only a Fern — any kind ; but Spicant, erect and spike-like, as an ear of corn, well expresses the peculiar appearance of this plant, with its erect fertile frond standing above the less erected barren fronds around it. The Hard Fern, too, is a no less expressive title, for the plant is hard, rigid and hardy too. It is one of the few English Ferns producing distinct-looking kinds of fronds — fertile and barren. The barren grow in tufts, very gracefully and droopingly disposed, from six to twelve inches high ; and in the centre of them, always higher, and sometimes twice their height, rises the hard upright fertile frond. The barren fronds are attached to the caudex by a very short scaly stipes, the stipes of the fertile frond also scaly ; the scales long- pointed and sparse, are half the length of the whole frond, and of a dark brown. Both kinds are narrow lanceolate, the barren being only deeply pinnatifid, while the fertile are pinnate ; the segments in both are long and narrow, like the teeth of a comb. The vena- * Osmunda Spicant (Linnaus), Asplenium Spicant, Lomaria Spicant, Blcchnum borcnle, &c. COMMON HARD FEfiN 91 tion of the barren fronds is dis- tinct, a stout midrib or vein pro- ducing lateral veins once or twice forked, the venules extending pa- rallel toward the margin, and ter- minating in a "small club-shaped head. The venation of the fertile frond, not so distinct on account of the contraction of the parts, differs in having a longitudinal venule on each side the midvein, forming the receptacle to which the spore-cases are attached. The spore-cases are arranged in two linear sori, one on each side of the midvein, distinct while young, but often becoming confluent and covering all the under-surface. The indusia, when mature, burst toward the midrib, and become split, here and there, at points opposite some of the venules. The Hard Fern is an evergreen, not large, but strong and very distinct - looking ; growing in heaths and rough stony places, in woods and shady bottoms, pre- ferring moisture, but careless of situation, and growing in Cum- berland at an elevation of 3,000 feet, in Scotland a thousand feet 92 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY above that. From Lapland to the Cape of Good Hope, from Japan to the Azores, from Chili to Brazil, it grows everywhere, and is one of our most common Ferns, yet a very elegant plant, not by any means to be despised because it is hardy and easy of cultivation. Coniston, Ambleside, and Ullswater are named as spe- cial places of its inhabiting in this Lake Country. VARIETIES. anomalum, — Witherslack, J. M. Barnes ; in Eskdale, Isaac Huddart and P. Clowes. condensum, — Witherslack, J. M. Barnes. heteroptyllum, — Kentmere, J. M. Barnes. linecvre, — Witherslack, J. M. Barnes. longidactyhim, — Brigsteer, A. B. Taylor. polydactylon, — Sleddale Fell, J. M. Barnes. projectum, — Borrowdale, J. M. Barnes ; Kirkby Moor, J. Cross- field. stnctum, — Coniston, Miss Beever ; Long Sleddale, J. M. Barnes ; Windennere, P. Clowes and J. Crossfield. multijidum, — Windermere, P. Clowes. deniigerum, — Windermere, F. Clowes ; Black Combe, J. M. Barnes. cristatvm, — Windermere, Isaac Huddart. vellum, — Burton, J. Jones. BBAKB, OE BEACKEN. Pteris aquilina. — LINN.ETTS. Pteris is the Greek pteros, a feather, applied of old to some kind of Pern, and well applied here, — Pteris aquilina, the eagle feather, being doubly applicable to the magnificent, however common, Bracken. Bracken is Saxon ; it is the Female Fern of old writers before Linnaeus, — not to be confounded with TTielypteris, the Feminine Fern, nor with Filix-foemina, the Lady 94s PERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY Fern. Fern itself is old Saxon also. The Bracken grows everywhere, except on chalk -(possibly not getting depth there), and is the commonest of all our Ferns. Over sandy wastes, on hedge banks, in warm moist lanes and woods, it grows abundantly, overtopping the rankest flowers, climbing among the bushes, half sup- ported by them, to a height of from a couple of feet to sometimes eight or ten. The caudex, thick and black- ish, is usually creeping, creeping just beneath the sur- face more extensively than that of any other Fern ; but in some cases growing straight downwards to a great depth, Mr. Newman stating that he has found it even fifteen feet below the ground. The fronds appear so soon as the frosts are over, coming up in little curls like shepherds' crooks, or croziers ; sometimes like little grey-green downy hooks stuck into the grass, the upper part of the stipes not yet having burst the sur- face. The young stipes is downy and soft, growing angular and hard in age, spindle-shaped at the base. The fronds, erroneously said sometimes to be three- branched, are truly bipinnate, or tripinnate when very luxuriant, the pinnae standing opposite in pairs, each pair in succession becoming fully developed while the main rachis is extending upward and the next pair is beginning to unfold. It is only when the plant is very poor that the fronds appear three-branched, the development of the lower pair of branches not leaving the plant energy enough to carry up its rachis and produce the other pairs of pinna? which it would nor- mally possess. The true habit of the plant is still more clearly shown when it attains its fullest luxuriance, the BRAKE, OR BRACKEN 95 full-grown fronds then consisting merely of a series of pairs of branches from bottom to top. The unrolling of the young fronds is very curious, and well worthy of watchful notice. The bipinnate branches, or pinnae, are in general ovate slightly elongated, their pinnae (the secondary pinnae) narrowly lanceolate. These last are placed rather closely together, and again divided into a series of pinnules, which are either undivided and attached to the rachis by their stalkless base with a line of spore-cases along each margin, or become larger and then more elongated and deeply pinnatifid with the lines of spore-cases on the margins of the lobes. The apexes of the primary and secondary pinnae and the pinnatifid pinnules become less and less divided, until at last they end in a single lobe more or less elongate. The venation is very various, depending on these differences of development. Each pinnule has a dis- tinct midvein, producing alternate lateral veins, which become twice forked and extend to the margin, where they meet a longitudinal marginal vein, which forms the receptacle. The indusium consists of a bleached membranous, fringed expansion of the upper skin of the fronds, which turns back so as to cover the spore- cases ; but there is here another membrane lying under the spore-cases, no doubt a similar expansion of the skin of the under-surface. The fronds are annual, but owing to their rigid texture do not easily die off altogether, only losing their summer verdure, standing often through the winter, or until bowed bv the weight of snow, in all their summer glory of form, and 90 FEENS OF THE LAKE COUNTEY as gloriously beautiful in their varieties of brown as they were in their living greenness. The Bracken grows everywhere : not only through- out our own islands, but in all parts of the world, from Lapland (at about 67 degrees north) to the Cape of Good Hope. It rises above the coast-level in the Scottish Islands to an elevation of 2,000 feet. It is useful for very many purposes. In our north country the dried fronds make capital litter for cattle ; they are also an excellent elastic material for packing and storing fruit in, a fine covering to preserve plants from frost, and make good thatch, employing the stems also. They are not bad fuel, though light and quick-burning ; and, cut green, are good manure for land, one-third of their bulk, according to Sprengel, consisting of mineral substances, potash, silica, lime, soda, chlorine, mag- nesia, oxide of iron, phosphoric acid, &c. The dry herbage is said to be rich in nitrogen. They are espe- cially good for manui'ing potatoes. Good also for feed- ing pigs, who are fond of the "roots" (the underground caudices), which are succulent and starchy, and who have no objection to a jelly made by boiling the young and tender fronds. Mr. Lees suggests that the same, not made into jelly, but boiled as greens, would not be bad eaten with the pig instead of by him ; and Dr. Clarke recommends them when very young, tender, and blanched, as a substitute for asparagus. The New Zealanders eat the " roots " of a variety of the Bracken, P. esculenta, pounded between stones and roasted ; in Siberia these same stems are used in brewing a kind of beer, one-third fern-root to two-thirds malt ; and the BRAKE, OR BRACKEN 97 Kev. M. J. Berkeley speaks of bread made from it, " better to my taste, and probably not less nutritious, than Cassava bread." These root-stems are also, on account of the quantity of tannin and astringent matter contained in them (which, by the way, would rather interfere with the asparagus flavour), much used abroad in preparing chamois and kid leathers. The alkalic properties of the fronds make them useful too in soap. Farther, the Bracken is not without a medicinal reputation : it is still retained in the Materia Medico, as a remedy for worms, and a bed of the green plant is looked upon by country folk as " the sovereign- est thing on earth " for rickets in children. Common as the plant is there do not seem to be many varieties. VARIETIES. crispa, — Araside, J. M. Barnes. multifida, — Levens, J. M. Barnes ; Windermere, P. Clowes. variegata, — Windermere, P. Clowes. THE BEITTLE BLADDER FERN. Cystopteris fragilis* — BEENHAEDI. The Bladder Ferns (kystos is Greek for bladder) are so called because the indusium, even in age inflated or bulged out like a hood, has when young the look of a flask or bladder. The plant differs in this from the flatness (the sori in both being round) of the Poly- stichums and Lastreas with which it was formerly * Polypodium fragile (Linnaeus), Aspidium fragile, Athyrium fragile, Asplenium fragillimum. BRITTLE BLADDER FERN 99 ranked, under the general name of Aspidice. There are three British species of Bladder Ferns : the Brittle or Fragile — Cystoperis fragilis, the Alpine — C. regia, and the Mountain — G. montana • but only the first is really authenticated as belonging to the Lake Country, no claim being made for O. montana, and the likelihood of C. regia depending only on the following paragraph in Moore's last edition : — " We have not seen a native mountain specimen of C. regia unless it be one from Saddleback (Blencathra), in Cumberland, gathered many years since by Mr. S. F. Gray." There appears indeed to be only one authenticated habitat of the plant in England : that at Low Leyton, in Essex. The Brittle Bladder Fern is of a very delicate and grassy appearance, the root-stems spreading under favourable circumstances into large patches of nume- rous crowns, each of which throws up a tuft of several fronds, from six inches to sometimes a foot in height. The stipes, erect, and rather more than a third of the length of the frond, is brittle, dark, shining, with a few small scales at the base. The fronds are lanceolate, bipinnate ; the pinnae lanceolate ; the pinnules ovate- acute, cut more or less deeply on the margin, the lobes furnished with a few pointed teeth. In some vigour- ous plants the pinnules are so very deeply cut as to become pinnatifid, almost pinnate, the lobes themselves then resembling the smaller pinnules nearer the apex of the pinnae and frond. The venation, from the deli- cacy of the frond, is very readily seen. In the ordi- narily-sized pinnules there is a somewhat twisty mid- vein, giving off a side branch or vein to each of the H2 100 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY lobes into which the margin is cut, these veins again branching into two or more venules according to the size of the lobe, and each branch generally bearing a sorus at about midway of its length. The sori are thus generally numerous and rather irregularly placed, often becoming confluent and covering the whole under-surface ; but their number, and confluence, vary- ing much, depending upon the various circumstances of growth. The sori are nearly circular ; the flask or bladder shaped (like a hood over them) indusia become in age torn or split at the point into narrow segments, turned back, jagged and fringe-like, the whole being pushed off by the ripening spores. HABITATS. — Borrowdale (Miss Wright and G. B. Wollaston), Whitbarrow (Wollastori), Egremont (Eol- sori), Ullswater (Wollaston), Arnside Knott (H. D. Oeldart), Fairfield, Kendal, Windermere (Clowes), Kentmere (Clowes), &c. angiistata, — Whitbarrow, F. Clowes ; Arnside, J. Crossfield ; Sizergh, J. M. Barnes. dentata, — Kentmere, F. Clowes ; Arnside, J. Crossfield ; Kendal Fell, J. M. Barnes. interrupta, — Windermere, J. Huddart. THE OBLONG WOODSIA. Woodsia ilvensis.* — R. BEOWN. The genus Woodsia (so called from Mr. Joseph Woods) is the British representative of the group Peranemeae. Of the two British species, the Oblong Woodsia and the Blunt-leaved or alpina, only the first is found in the Lake Country. Even that is very rare. It was first discovered in 1846, in a small quantity, on one of the Westmorland mountains, by Mr. Hud- dart, who afterwards found some hundred plants near Scawfell, in Cumberland. The next year other sta- tions were found in West- morland by Mr. Huddart, both alone and in company with Mr. Clowes. In some of these places were only a few plants, but in one a great many and very fine. The Oblong Woodsia is especially a mountain Fern, an annual, dying down to the ground in winter and coming up again in spring. Its caudex is short, erect * Acrostichum ilvense (Linnaus), Polypodium ilvensc, Aspidium rufidulnm, Lastrea rufidula, &c. Eonuunr 102 FERNS OP THE LAKE COUNTRY or decumbent, furnished with a few scales on the crown, forming tufts, which in favourable circumstances grow into masses rather large in comparison with the diminutive nature of the plant. The stipes is scaly and articulated, or jointed, at a short distance from the base, so that in age the upper part with the fronds falls away, the lower part still adhering to the caudex. The fronds are seldom more than four inches high, offcener less ; their form is lanceolate, varying in breadth, pinnate, the pinnse usually set on nearly or quite opposite in pairs, obtusely oblong, with the mar- gin deeply lobed or pinnatifid. They are of a thick dull-looking texture, and are more or less clothed on both surfaces, but especially on the veins beneath, with minute bristle-like scales and shining jointed hairs, among which the sori lie almost concealed. The vena- tion of the segments of the pinnse consists of a rather indistinct midvein, from which the smaller veins, simple or branched, extend to the margin near which the sori are produced. The indusia are peculiar in that they are not placed as covers to the sori, but attached under them. When very young, indeed, they enclose them ; but later they split from above into narrow scale-like segments, not easily distinguished without a glass from the frond-hairs among which they lie. In the full- grown state the sori lie in tufts of hair-like scales formed of the torn margins of the indusium, the latter being attached to the frond at the point beneath the capsules. No other native Ferns possess a structure at all approaching to this. THE EILM EEIINS. THE TUNBRIDGE FILM FEEN. Hymenoptyllum Tunbridgense. — SMITH. The Film Ferns — Hymenophyllum, so called from the two Greek words hymen — a, film or membrane, and phyllon — a leaf, belong to the same group (TRI- CHOMANINE^;) as the Bristle Ferns — Trichoinanes. They are all small moss-like plants, the smallest of our native Ferns, distinguished from other (foregoing) Ferns by having their fructification on the margins of the fronds, and from each other by the form and nature of the involucres which surround the fructification. These involucres are deep urn-shaped pits, in which are contained the spore-cases, clustered around hair-like or bristly receptacles, which bristles are indeed the ends of the frond-veins projecting into the urns. In TTy- menopliyllum these bristles are always shorter than the urn ; while in Trichomanes (a British genus also, but not found in the Lake Country) they project more, so that the fronds become bristly when very full of spores. Hence the name of Bristle Fern. They are known also by the farther difference that the involucres of 101 FEENS OP THE LAKE COUNTRY Trichomanes are entire, and those of Hymenopliyllum split lengthwise into two valves. The Tunbridge Film Fern (named from its being first found near Tunbridge, in Kent) grows in matted tufts upon rocks in moist warm places, usually carpet- ing the damp surfaces of the rocks themselves, but sometimes choosing the mossy ground, or living moss- like on the trunks of trees — the black wiry rhizomes or creeping caudices interlacing themselves among their neighbour plants. The fronds are very short, from an inch to three or at most six inches long, membranous and half-transparent, almost erect, and of a dull dead- locking brownish-green even when at their freshest ; lanceolate or slightly ovate, pinnate, with pinnse pin- natifid or bipinnatifid, and having their branches mostly on the upper side, though sometimes alternately on each side of the pinna. The fronds are virtually a branched series of rigid veins, winged throughout, ex- cept on the lower part of the short stipes, by a narrow membranous leafy margin. The sori are produced around the axis of a vein, which, as before said, is con- tinued beyond the frond-margins, and enclosed in an urn-shaped indusium, involucre, or cover, consisting of two almost perfectly round (orbicular) compressed valves, spinosely serrate on the upper margin. It will grow well in pots in equal parts of peat and silver sand, scarcely caring for any other mould, but requires a glass, and constant but not stagnant moisture. HABITATS. — Coniston, Buzzard Hough Crag near Wrynose (JRay), Hawl Ghyll near Wastwater (Hobson), Ennerdale («7. Dickinson). ONE-SIDED (OR WILSON'S) FILM FERN. Hymenopfyllum unilaterale. — WILIDENOW. In Hymenopliyllum unilaterale the pinnae are what is called decurrent in the upper part — that is to say, they are prolonged beyond their points of insertion, as if running downwards, so that the fronds appear to be one-sided, or unilateral. The name of One-Sided might therefore be employed to designate it just as well as if not better than the cognomen of its dis- coverer. Like H. Tunbridgense, it grows from nume- rous slender thready stems, into dense tufts, from which spring a crowded mass of half-drooping brown, green, or olive-coloured, semi-transparent fronds, averaging from three to four inches in height. The fronds are lanceolate and pinnate, the rachis is usually somewhat curved, the piling are one-sided, convex 106 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY above, and all turned one way, as already described, the outlines of the pinnae wedge-shaped, digitately pinnatifid (like the fingers of a hand notched almost to the bone). The extreme or ultimate lobes are linear-obtuse with a spinulose-serrated margin. The fronds when luxuriant have a tendency to become branched. The veins are twice-branched, branching alternately from the rachis, forking again so as to ex- tend a venule to each segment ; and after leaving the midrib are furnished with a narrow membranous leafy whig or border (which the rib itself has not). The sori are collected round the free ends of the veins and contained in the urn-shaped covers or involucres, which differ from those of H. Tunbridgense in being more or less obviously stalked instead of sessile, and in having their valves entire instead of serrated at the upper margin. Mr. Clowes notices also a farther difference between the species : that the fronds of H. Tunbridgense are annual, " never grow more than one year;" while those of H. unilaterale are perennial, lasting for several years and annually renewing their growth, bearing spores year after year. HABITATS. — Patterdale, Ambleside (J. BowcrbanTc), Stock Ghyll Force (Miss Beever), Dungeon Ghyll, Scaw Fell (Black Eocks and Great End), Bowfell, Ennerdale (Dr. Dickinson), Scale Force (H. C. Wat- son), Honister Crag (Rev. G. finder), Gratesgarth Dale, Borrowdale, Lodore (Miss Wright*), Keswick, near Hawkshead (Miss S. Cowburri), Coniston Old Man (Miss Beever), Silverdale (Miss Beever), Dale- garth (Robsori), High Stile (Finder). EOYAL, OE FLOWERING FEEN. Osmunda regalis. — LINNAEUS. "At Loch Tyne dwelt the waterman, old Osmund. Fairest among maidens was the daughter of Osmund the waterman. Her light-brown hair and glowing cheek told of her Saxon origin, and her light steps bounded over the green turf like a young fawn in his native glades. Often, in the stillness of a summer's even, did the mother and her fair-haired child sit beside the lake, to watch the dripping and the flashing of the father's oars as he skimmed right merrily towards them over the deep-blue waters. Sounds, as of hasty steps, were heard one day, and presently a company of fugitives told with breathless haste that the cruel Danes were making way towards the ferry. Osmund heard them with fear. Suddenly the shouts of furious men came remotely on the ear. The fugitives rushed on. Osmund stood for a moment ; then snatching up his oars he rowed his trembling wife and fair child to a small island covered with the great Osmund Eoyal, and helping them to land, bade them to lie down beneath the tall Ferns. Scarcely had the ferryman returned to 108 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY his cottage, when a company of Danes rushed in ; but they hurt him not, for they knew that he could do them service. During the day and night did Osmund row backwards and forwards across the river (or the lake ?), ferrying troops of those fierce men. When the last company was put on shore, Osmund, kneeling be- side the river's bank, returned heartfelt thanks to Heaven for the preservation of his wife and child. Often in after-years did Osmund speak of that day's peril ; and his fair child, grown up to womanhood, called the tall Fern by her father's name." So says the heart-thrilling legend, touching, in its conclusion, even to the scientific botanist, accounting for the name of the stateliest of our Ferns. There is another sup- position, however, that the name is derived from os and mimd, Saxon words for home and strength or peace, though what house-strength or house-peace has to do with the Flowering Fern it is difficult to say. Why not even a third guess, hardly likely to be farther off than the others, that it has something to do with Osmonds — in old Saxon iron ore, for is it not found in the iron countries, in Durham and in South Wales, and in our own iron district of Cumberland, if not nearer than Egremont or Sea Scale, yet that is nearer than Loch Tyne and the river of the ferryman ? Whatever the origin, however, of the name given it by Linnaeus, the Koyal Osmund is indeed the grandest of. our Ferns, under all circumstances a handsome plant, but espe- cially beautiful when, in very luxuriant growth, its fronds, loaded at their tips by the fertile panicles, are bent down gaacefully until they almost reach the sur- ROYAL, OR FLOWERING PERN 109 face of the water by the side of which they prefer to grow. From these panicles, springing like clusters of flowers from the ends of the fronds, comes its name of Flowering Fern. The fronds of the Flowering Fern grow to an aver- age height of three or four feet, sometimes even to the royal stature of eight, ten, or twelve, and six feet or more across. The caudex is tufted, in very old and vigourous plants forming a trunk a foot or more above the ground, from the crown of which, whether it is close to the ground or elevated, grow the fronds. When young, these fronds have generally a reddish stipes, with a bloomy surface, the bloom being lost at a later period. They are annual, perishing before the coming of winter, smooth and of a bright yellow green, paler beneath, lanceolate in general outline when mature, bipinnate, the pinnae lanceolate or ovate- lanceolate, with pinnules oblong-ovate, somewhat au- ricled at the base, especially on the posterior side, bluntish at the apex, and finely serrated along the margin. Some of the fronds are entirely barren, while others have several of the upper pinnse transformed into terminal fertile panicles. Each short spike-like branch of the panicles (or flower-clusters) represents one of the pinnules, the spore-cases being collected on it in little knots, more or less evident, these knots (or nodules) corresponding to the fascicles of the veins. This is very plainly seen in partially-transformed pin- nules. The venation, as seen in the barren fronds, consists of a stout midvein giving oif nearly opposite veins, which are forked once near their base, the venules 110 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY being parallel, slightly curved, and once or twice forked before reaching the margin, where they are lost. In the fertile parts of the frond only the midrib of the pinnules is fully developed, and the spore-cases are attached to a small portion of the veins, which becomes developed just to serve as a receptacle. The spore- cases are of a reddish-brown, nearly globe-shaped, shortly stalked, reticulated, and two-valved, the valves opening vertically. The Flowering Fern grows naturally in wet, springy, or boggy places, not much above the sea-level in Eng- land, and sometimes on the sea-shore hardly above high-water mark. It is common throughout Europe ; is found in Asia, in Mingrelia, and in India ; in North and South Africa, in the Azores, and in Madagascar ; and in North and South America, in Canada and New- foundland, the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. It is of easy culture, needing only moisture and a peaty soil in any sheltered situation. The caudex is said to possess tonic and styptic properties ; according to Gerard, the "root" boiled or stamped, and taken with some kind of liquor, is " thought to be good for those that are wounded, dry-beaten, and bruized." In Cum- berland and Westmorland, and that adjoining part of Lancashire which should be Westmorland also, it is known as the " bog-onion," and held in esteem as an external application for bruizes, sprains, &c. The cau- dices are beaten, covered with cold spring water, and allowed to macerate all night ; the thick starchy fluid thus formed being used to bathe the parts affected. HABITATS. — Windermere (T. G. Kylands), Lough- EOYAL, OR FLOWERING FERN 111 rigg and Skelwith, Colwith (R. Fordhani), Ullock Moss by Keswick, Whitbarrow, Scale Hill, Egremont, Sea Scale and Gosforth (Rolsori), Irton, Millom, Brantwood by Coniston, Yewdale under Coniston Crags. THE COMMON MOONWOET. Botrychium Lunaria* — SWARTZ. The Common Moonwort (a Botrychium, of the order OPHIO- GLOSSACEjE, distinguished from all the Polypodiaceae or True Ferns, by their young fronds being not circinate, but folded straightly, though at the same time resem- bling the Osmundinese in having no elastic ring and in being two- valved) is one step farther in the course of natural variety, for, as through Polypodiaceae and Tri- chomaninese there is one regular progression and change of method of fructification from the spore- cases without indusium to the spore-cases with indusium, from the simplest forms of indusia to the flask or bladder shapes, from the spore-cases on the backs to the spore-cases on the margins, and the spore- cases (as in Osmunda) on the ends of fronds transformed into seeming stalks, so the Ophioglossaceae show yet * Osmunda Lunaria (Linneeus), Ophioglossum pcnnatum, &c. THE COMMON MOONWOET 113 one more change, the change into the appearance of a distinct flower-stalk being yet more marked, so much so as to be not at first sight distinguishable from the stalk of a veritable flowering plant. Of the OPHIOGLOSSACE.E there are two British genera — Botrychium or Moonwort, and Ophioglossum or Adder's Tongue, readily known from each other by their external features. Both genera have two-branched fronds, one branch looking like the leaf and the other like the flower ; but they differ obviously in this, that Botry- chium has its branches branched again, while those of Ophioglossum are simple and undivided. The roots and caudex (or root-stem) of Botrychiwn differ essentially, says Mr. Newman, from those of the "True" Ferns. "The roots are stout, succulent, and brittle. The caudex is about the same size as the roots, perhaps rather stouter ; it descends perpendicu- larly, and the roots issue from it at right angles. Be- fore the plant has felt the influence of spring, the frond exists in a quiescent state, but perfectly formed. It then appears like a simple stem, scarcely an inch in length, and perfectly erect. On a closer inspection the component parts of the future frond will be clearly perceived ; the stipes is swollen, and rather stouter than the upper part, the two branches of which face each other, the fertile branch of the frond being clasped by the barren or leafy part ; and the fructifica- tion being thus entirely concealed, the uppermost pin- nse are incurved, as if to give still farther protection to the fruit. The whole is invested and completely en- closed in scale-like alternate sheaths, doubtless the 114 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY decaying stalks of many previous years. As the spring advances, the frond rapidly increases in size, until in April it makes its appearance above ground, and in May or June attains its perfect development."* Mr. Newman also found the frond of the ensuing year in every respect perfectly formed — indeed, exactly in the state in which it is found in the early spring before development ; while the frond for the next following year, though less perfectly formed, also had the fruit- ful and leafy portions distinct from each other. These observations being made in May, while the plant was still growing, the fronds of three successive years were distinguishable at the same time. The name botrychium is from the Greek lotrys — a cluster, because of the likeness of the branched clusters of spore-cases to the form of a bunch or cluster of grapes. The English name of Moonwort is given on account of the lunate (or crescent-like) form of the pinnae in the British species. The Common Moonwort prefers dry, open, and ele- vated pastures and waste lands, and likes to skirt them under the shade of hedge-rows. It may easily be passed over, half hidden as it is among the herbage, for its height only varies from some two or three inches to six or eight ; but once seen there is no mis- taking the double row of fan-shaped pinnae which form its sterile branch. The lower half of the plant consists of a smooth, erect, cylindrical, hollow stipes, whose base is clothed by the brown membranous sheath which had covered it while in bud. Above are the two * Newman, History of British Ferns, third edition. THE COMMON MOONWORT 115 separate branches of the frond, — one branch spreading, leafy, oblong, pinnate, with its crescent-shaped or fan- shaped pinnae filled with a radiating series of twice or thrice-forked veins, one vein extending into each of the rounded teeth or lobes into which the margin is divided, — the other branch erect, fertile, compoundly branched, that is first divided into branches like the pinnae, then again into further branches, on which, distinct, but clustered, the grape-like stalkless spore-cases are pro- duced. The spore-cases are two-valved, and open transversely when ripe. The valves are concave. Oc- casionally, but very rarely, there are two branches : and a variety has the pinnae pinnatifid. The Moonwort is widely but sparsely scattered over the British Isles ; and is found also in all quarters of the globe, including Tasmania and the Australian Alps in Victoria. It ranges from the sea-line to 3,000 feet above it. It has not generally been very success- fully cultivated ; but it seems may be, if taken up with a sufficiently large sod, and carefully kept cool and equally moistened. Even in the natural state it is unable to bear much drought. HABIT ATS. — -Res wick, near Aspatria (Rev. J. Dodd), Braystones, Muncaster Fells, Furness Fells above Coniston Water. i2 THE COMMON ADDER'S TONGUE. Ophioglossum vulgatum. — LnraraTJS. The genus Ophioglossum (Adder's Tongue, from the Greek opJiios — a serpent or adder, and glossa — a tongue) is the type of the order Ophioglossacese, men- tioned before as differing from the True Ferns in having ringless spore-cases and their spring fronds straightly folded. It differs from Botrychium in having the branches of its two fronds quite simple or undivided, instead of being pinnate and bipinnate as that is. It differs yet more markedly in that its fertile branches are not merely the branched panicles of Botry- chium, but distinct spikes in which the spore-cases are distichous (ar- ranged in two rows opposite to each other), like the florets of many grapes. Yet a third re- markable difference is noteworthy — - that while in Botrychium, as already seen, the next year's fronds are found within the bases of the growing stems, in Ophioglossum a bud is developed by the side of this year's frond. There are two British species of Ophioglossum — the Common Adder's Tongue — O. cidgatum. THE COMMON ADDER'S TONGUE 117 and the Dwarf— O. lMsitanicum,i\ie last only recently found in Guernsey. The Common Adder's Tongue is widely dispersed, and abundant where it occurs. The only locality given for it in the Lake Country is in the meadows by St. Bees. It is scattered over the whole of Europe and Asia, North America, and Mexico, and found in some of its varieties at the Cape of Good Hope, in J^"ew Zealand, and Australia. The Common Adder's Tongue is small and stemless, the stem only represented by the central crown of its few coarse brittle roots. The young fronds, from six to twelve inches high, are produced in May and perish by the end of the summer. The stipes is variable in length, smooth, round, hollow, and succulent. The upper part is divided into branches — one branch leafy, entire, smooth, obtusely egg-shaped and slightly variable in form, traversed by irregular-angled veins, forming elongated meshes within which are smaller veinlets, — the other branch erect, contracted for about half its length, forming a linear slightly tapering spike, in the substance of which, upon each of its two opposite sides, a line of crowded spore-cases is imbedded. The spore- cases are therefore considered to be produced on the margin of a contracted frond. When ripe, the margin splits at intervals corresponding with the centre of each spore-case, so that the spike then resembles a double row of gaping spherical cavities. The leaves, pounded in a mortar, are said to yield "a most excellent greene oyle, or rather a balsame for greene wounds, comparable to oile of St. John's- Wort, if it do not farre surpasse it." The plant prefers loamy i3 118 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY pastures and meadow land, where its abundance, dis- liked by the cattle, by no means improves the grass. It is readily cultivable, but likes the shade of surround- ing herbage. A. TRICHOMANE?. var. incisum. MEANINGS OF NAMES AND TERMS. ALLOSORUS CEISPTTS — alias — Greek, differing ; sorus — Latin, from soros — Greek, a heap. crispiis — Latin, crisped, like parsley. ASPIDITTM — L. — from aspidion — G., a shield. AspLEtfnjM ADIANTTTM-NIGBUM — Aspleniwm — L. from asplenion — G., spleenwort. adiantum — L. from adiantos — G., dry ; and nigrum — L., black. — germanicum — L., alternate. — marinum — L., marine. — Euta — L., rue; mwaria — L., growing on walls. — septentrionale — L., northern (from the seven stars in the Great Bear). — Trichomanes — G., a hair or bristle ; and manos, soft, thin, porous, — or mania, excess. — mride — L., green. ATHTEITTII FILIX-FOSMINA — Aihyrium — L. from aihyros — G., open (from the opening of the indusium). Filix — L., a fern ; faemina — L., feminine. BLECHNTJM SPICANT — Blechnum — L., blechnon — G., a fern. spicant — L., spiked, growing to a point like a spike. BOTRYCHITJM LT7NAKIA — Botrychium — L., botrys — G., a bunch or cluster of grapes. 120 FERNS OF THE LAKE COUNTRY JJunaria — L., lunar, lunate (referring to the crescent-like shape of the pinna?). CETEEACH OFFICINAETJM — Ceterach, corruption of CTietTierak, Arabic or Persic (mean- ing not known). officinarum of officina — L., officinal (used in medicine). CYSTOPTEBIS FBAGILIS — Tcystos — &., a bladder ; pteris — G., a fern. fragilis — L., fragile, brittle. HYMENOPHYLITTM UNILATERALE — hymen — &., a membrane or film ; phyllon — (?., a leaf. unilaterale — L., one-sided. LASTEEA JSMITLA — Lastrea, the Latinized name of M. de Lastre. cemula — L., emulating, rivalling. — cristata — L., crested. — dilatata — L., dilated, spread out, broad. — Filix-mas — L.t filix, fern ; mas, male or mascu- line. — montana — L., mountain-growing. — remota — L., remote. — rigida — L., rigid. — spinulosa — L,, spinulous, prickly-toothed. — Thelypteris — Q-., thelys, feminine ; pteris, a fern. OPHIOGKLOSSTTM vtrLGATtrst — opTdos — G., a serpent or adder ; glossa — (?., a tongue. vulgatvm — L., common. OSMUNDA EEOALIS — Osmunda, derivation and meaning unknown. regalis — L., royal. POLYPODITTM CALCABEtJM — polys —