CA
I ML 60-
Plate XV
£
POPULAR HISTORY
BRITISH FERNS
AND THE ALLIED PLANTS,
COMPRISING THE
CLUB-MOSSES, PEPPERWORTS, AND HORSETAILS.
BY
THOMAS MOORE, E.L.S., &c.,
CURATOR OF THE BOTANIC GARDEN OF THE SOCIETY OF APOTHECARIES, CHELSEA,
AND AUTHOR OF *A HANDBOOK OF BRITISH FERNS,' ETC., ETC.
LONDON :
REEVE AND BENHAM,
HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1851.
PRINTED BY REEVE AND NICHOLS,
HEATHCOCK COURT, STRAND.
TO
N. B. WABD, ESQ., P. L. S., &c.,
WHOSE INVENTION OF
CLOSE GLAZED CASES
HAS EXTENDED THE CULTIVATION OP FERNS TO THE PARLOUR,
THE WINDOW-SILL, AND THE CITY COURT-YARD,
AS WELL AS ENRICHED OUR GARDENS WITH THE FRUITS AND FLOWERS
OF OTHER LANDS,
(£!jte ^Little Walumt
IS, WITH MUCH RESPECT AND ESTEEM, DEDICATED,
BY HIS OBLIGED FRIEND,
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
IT has been presumed that we have been labouring for
beginners in the study of Ferns, and especially for the
young. Hence our aim has been to familiarize the sub-
ject as far as possible, without sacrificing that integrity
of detail which may render these pages acceptable even to
those who have made some progress in the study ; and with
this end in view, we have avoided all unnecessary techni-
calities, and confined ourselves rather to plain, and, as we
hope, easily understood descriptions of the plants. Those
dubious and debateable matters, which, perhaps, have the
most interest to the advanced student, have been for the
VI PEEFACE.
most part entirely avoided, as being calculated to perplex
rather than instruct those who are but acquiring the rudi-
ments of the subject.
Abstruse questions of identity or of specific distinctions
have also been regarded as foreign to the purposes of this
' History/ On these points we have been content to follow
the generally received opinions of Pteridologists. In one
or two instances, in which perhaps this course has been
departed from, the reason has been made sufficiently ob-
vious.
These explanations may serve to acquaint more advanced
students why so little of novelty has been prominently
introduced, and why several recently described plants have
been rather treated as varieties than as species. The
consideration of the specific distinctness of these plants
opens up questions involving much doubt and difficulty,
and leading different inquirers to widely different conclu-
PREFACE. Vll
sions. Of the difficulties of such questions the uninitiated
can have but a faint idea, neither could they be expected
to see clearly through them in any form in which they
could possibly be presented to them. It has, therefore,
been thought best to simplify the matter by regarding such
dubious species as varieties, ranging them with those ad-
mitted species in whose company, it appeared to us, they
would be most easily recognized. In doing this, however,
we record no opinions as to the questions really involved.
One novel species — a less dubious addition to our
British Ferns — has been announced while these pages have
been going through the press. This will be found de-
scribed in an Appendix.
One word. more. — If it so happens that any of those who
may be led by the perusal of these pages to study the Ferns
of Britain, should, in the course of their inquiries, meet
with difficulties or perplexities which we may be able to
Vlll PREFACE.
remove, it will afford us much gratification to do so. And
we should be glad to trouble any reader for information
as to the occurrence of any of the species in the counties
to which they are not assigned under the head of " Local
Distribution/''
Botanic Garden, Chelsea, London,
November, 1851.
LIST OF PLATES.
Fi«-
PLATE I.
1 Ceterach officinarum
2 Polypodium vulgare
PLATE II. -'
1 Polypodium Dryopteris
2 - - Phegopteris
PLATE III. "
1 Polypodium calcareum
2 Wooclsia ilvensis
PLATE IV.
1 Woodsia hyperborea
2 Polystichum Lonchitis .
PLATE V. -
1 Allosorus crispus
2 Polystichum angulare ..
Page.
100
152
148
150
146
181
179
160
64
158
PLATE VI. -/i6
lri&- Page.
1 Lastrea Thelypteris 136
2 cristata 116
PLATE VII. -131
1 Lastrea Oreopteris ....... 131
PLATE VIII. - f
I Lastrea Filix-mas, and var.
cristata 126
PLATE IX. - (^ ^
1 Lastrea rigida 132
2 dilatata 123
PLATE X. ~/^£
1 Cystopteris fragilis 106
2 alpina 104
LIST OF PLATES.
PLATE XI. - * 1
Fig. Page.
1 Atliyrium Pilix-foemina, and
var. multifidum ........ 87
PLATE XII. ^
1 Asplenium lanceolatum ... 74
2 - Adiantmn-nigrum ... 66
3 - septentrionale ...... 79
PLATE XIII. -^
1 Asplenium Euta-muraria, var. 78
2 - fontanurn ......... 69
3 - germanicum ....... 72
4 - virkle ............. 83
5 - Trichomanes ....... 80
PLATE XIV. - ) *>
1 Asplenium marinum ...... 76
2 Cystopteris montana ...... 109
PLATE XY. - ^]
1 Scolopendrium vulgare .... 169
2 Hymenopliyllum tunbridg-
ense ................. 113
3 Hymenopliyllum unilaterale . 114
PLATE XVI.
Fig.
1 Adiantum Capillus-Veneris .
2 Blechimm Spicant .......
PLATE XVII. ~'^
1 Pteris aquilina, var. integer-
rima ................. 1
2 Pilularia globulifera ...... 2
PLATE XVIII. - ' K
1 Trichomanes radicans ..... 1
2 Botrychium Lunaria ......
3 Ophioglossum Tulgatuni ... 1
PLATE XIX. '^^
1 Isoetes lacustris .
2 Osmunda regalis
J
PLATE XX. "u1^
1 Equisetum hyemale ...... 2
2 - Telmateia ......... $
3 - sylvaticum ......... 2
4 Lycopodium inundatum ... 1
5 - Selago . . ........ 1
6 - clavatum .......... ]
CONTENTS.
Page.
INTRODUCTION . 1
THE STRUCTURE OF FERNS 7
PROPAGATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND CULTURE . . 20
DISTRIBUTION AND TOPOGRAPHICAL ASPECT . . 29
THE USES OF FERNS 33
SELECTION AND PRESERVATION FOR THE HERBA-
RIUM 37
THE CLASSIFICATION OF FERNS ...... 41
TABLE OF THE GROUPS AND GENERA OF BRITISH
FERNS AND ALLIED PLANTS .... 34
TABLE OF THE SPECIES AND VARIETIES 49
Xll CONTENTS.
THE BRITISH PERNS
THE BRITISH CLUB-MOSSES
THE BRITISH PEPPERWORTS
THE BRITISH HORSETAILS
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE BRITISH FERNS, CLUB-
MOSSES, PEPPERWORTS, AND HORSETAILS
APPENDIX .
ADDITIONAL SYNONYMS
INDEX
POPULAR
HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
INTRODUCTION.
THERE are several causes which conduce to render the
native Perns of Great Britain an attractive object of study.
Of these we will mention the following : —
1. They are for the most part objects of exquisite ele-
gance, and this is apparent, whether they are superficially
examined as to their external appearance, or whether they
are investigated anatomically, with the view to discover
and analyse their minute structure.
2. They are not very numerous, nor very inaccessible,
and consequently their study opens a field which even
those who have not much leisure may hope to compass,
and for which the greater part, at least, of the materials
may be obtained without much difficulty.
"
2 HISTORY OF BRITISH FEENS.
3. They are plants for the most part very easily culti-
vated, and of all others perhaps the best adapted to parlour
or window culture ; and hence, besides the interest they may
excite in the collection and preservation of them in the
herbarium, and in the study of them in the dried state, there
is to be added the pleasure to be derived from their culti-
vation, and the opportunities thus afforded of studying and
admiring them in the living state.
Those who desire a thorough knowledge of the species
of Perns, should certainly, if possible, adopt the method of
study just indicated, as it reveals many curious and in-
teresting features which are not to be learned from the
investigations — though patiently and assiduously prose-
cuted — which are aided only by dried portions of the
plants. All the essential points necessary for the recogni-
tion of the species, may, nevertheless, be availably present
in well-selected herbarium specimens, so that those who
have not convenience for cultivating them, may yet store
up in their cabinets ample materials for their amusement
and instruction in detached and leisure hours.
There is something peculiarly fascinating in the graceful
outline and disposition of parts, which is so common among
the Perns as to have become associated in idea with this
INTRODUCTION. 3
portion of the vegetable creation. Gaudy colouring is
indeed absent, and they wear while in life and health
nothing beyond a livery of sober green, which can scarcely
be said to gain ornament from the brownish scales, with
which in some of our native species it is associated on the
living plant. In some exotic forms indeed, as for example
in the species of Gymnogramma, the lower surface is covered
more or less with a silvery or golden powder, which adds
considerably to their beauty; and in the wide range of
the " Ferns of all nations " there is considerable variety,
even of the tints of green, to be observed. The more sober-
tinted natives of our northern latitude can, however, boast
but of comparatively little such variety of hue. It is not,
therefore, in the colouring that their attractions rest ; nor
is it in their endurance, for a large proportion of the native
species lose all their beauty as soon as the frost reaches
them, and for nearly one-half of the year are dormant un-
less artificially sheltered. "We therefore conclude, that it
is the elegant forms and graceful habits of the majority of
the Ferns, native and exotic, which render them so gene-
rally pleasing, even to those who are slow to perceive beauty
apart from rich and gaudy colouring.
The number of the native species of Ferns may be taken
4 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
-at from forty to fifty, according as some of the more doubt-
ful forms are ranked as species or varieties. In a botanical
point of view the lowest estimate is probably the most cor-
rect, as the experience we have of some of the so-called
species leads to the notion that they are insensibly united
by intermediate forms. As, however, affecting their culti-
vation, or when the Terns are taken up as a "fancy/* the
higher number is too low ; for we hold that in all such
cases, if one plant is palpably different from another, it
forms a legitimate object for culture or for study as a dis-
tinct object, though the differences may be of such a cha-
racter as would lead the rigid botanist to brand it as not
" specifically distinct."
There is a good deal of pedantry abroad on this question
of the limits of the species of plants, with which, happily,
in this popular sketch of the British Perns, we shall have
no occasion to intermeddle.
The literature of the British Ferns is tolerably extensive,
viewed in connection with the comparative numerical insig-
nificance of the plants themselves, — a mere fraction of the
three thousand species of Ferns which are known to botanists,
and a mere fraction, also, of our indigenous vegetation.
Passing by the ancient writers, whose works are both
INTRODUCTION. 5
for the most part inaccessible, and not of much value to
the casual student, we shall enumerate the several English
publications of the present day, which are exclusively oc-
cupied in the description of the British Ferns and their
allies ; as we hope some at least of our readers may be so
far led on by the sketch we shall endeavour to offer in the
following pages, as to seek the further assistance to be
derived from the more varied sources indicated below. We
shall arrange them in the order of their original publication,
and mention the most recent editions : —
1. An Analysis of the British Ferns and their allies. By
G. W. Francis, F.L.S. Fourth Edition (same as the
Third, excepting the date on the title). 8vo, pp. 88,
with 9 plates, containing reduced figures of the spe-
cies described.
2. A History of British Ferns, and allied plants. By
Edward Newman, F.L.S., &c. Enlarged Edition of a
former work. 8vo, pp. 224, with beautiful woodcut
illustrations.
3. Florigraphia Britannica, Vol. IY. : The Ferns of Britain
and their allies. By Richard Deakin, M.D. 8vo,
pp. 136, with 31 plates and numerous woodcuts.
4. A Handbook of British Ferns. By Thomas Moore,
6 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
F.L.S., &c. IGmo, pp. 156, with plain woodcuts of
all the species and the principal varieties.
The most important enumerations of the British Ferns
elsewhere to 1>e met with, are those in the recent edition
(6th) of Sir W. J. Hooker's < British Mora/ by Dr. Walker
Arnott, and in Mr. Babiiigton's ' Manual of British Botany *
(3rd edit.), in both of which they are treated with deference
to modern views. Ample descriptions of them so far as
then known, are given in Sir J. E. Smith's e English Flora/
accompanied by the synonyms of the older writers.
Much has been achieved towards a thorough knowledge
of the English species, by the scrutiny to which the Ferns
at large have of late years been subjected, both in this
country and in Germany ; and we ought not to close this
paragraph without mentioning, of English botanists who
have contributed to this advance, the names of Brown,
Hooker, Wallich, Greville, J. Smith, and Heward, espe-
cially, as having most successfully dealt with a difficult
subject.
THE STRUCTURE OF FERNS.
BUT our young readers will be ready to ask, What is a Pern ?
This we will now endeavour to explain by means of a
familiar comparison,
It is presumed that every reader of this little book, even
the youngest, can recognize a flower, not indeed by the aid
of the somewhat technical intricacies to which the man of
science would resort, but by means of that intuitive per-
ception, which has grown up with the growing faculties and
acquired strength from the little experiences of childhood
and youth. We. will suppose, then, that all our readers are
familiar with natural productions such as the buttercup, the
poppy, the brier-rose, the daisy, the dandelion, and others
such as these, which are so profusely dispersed over the
meadows and corn-fields, and along the hedge-rows, and by
the way-sides : even the young ears of corn and the spikes
of meadow grasses must be well-remembered objects. Now,
these all afford examples of flowers, or of masses of flowers.
But then the plants from which the daisy heads and
8 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
dandelions were plucked to be made into floral chains, and
those which yielded the buttercups, the roses, and various
others for the rural bouquet, produced, besides their flowers —
those brilliantly coloured parts which the tiny fingers chiefly
desired to gather — other parts, mostly green, and in which
the same intuitive perception has learned to recognize the
leaves. These " organs/' as they are called — the leaves and
the flowers — are the two most conspicuous parts of the
majority of plants.
Popularly speaking, a Peru may be said to be a plant
which never bears flowers, but leaves only ; and these leaves
are greatly varied, and very elegant in form. But some one
will say, How can I tell a Pern, which never bears flowers, from
some other plant which does bear flowers, but from which
they are temporarily absent ? A little patience, and a little
attentive study, will overcome this seeming, and to the
beginner real, difficulty. You must search for what seems
to be a full-grown plant. Examine the under surface of its
leaves, and you will see brown dusty-looking patches, round
or elongated or in lines, scattered here and there, and
generally arranged with much regularity. These patches are
vast accumulations of the minute seeds — so minute as to be
fabulously invisible — from which young fern-plants would
be produced.
THE STRUCTURE OF FERNS. 9
Now, as the leaves of those plants which do bear flowers
do not bear these dusty patches, it is on their presence that
the novice must depend for the assurance that the plant he
has under examination is really a Fern. It must be confessed,
indeed, that this is a very imperfect definition, and one
which would fail to satisfy the more advanced student ; but
in truth, there is no other available guide-mark at the
starting point, nor until the eye has become familiarized
with the peculiar appearances by aid of which Perns may be
recognized at first sight. This first step — the ready re-
cognition of a Fern from other plants — will be greatly as-
sisted by Mr. Fitch's characteristic figures which accompany
and ornament these pages. More detailed particulars of
the peculiarities of Ferns we must now proceed to offer.
Ferns, as we have already stated, are flowerless plants.
They are furnished with roots, by which they obtain nou-
rishment from the soil ; with stems, by which their con-
spicuous parts are borne up and supported; and with
leaves, to which their elegance is due, these leaves bearing
on some part of their surface, but usually on the lower face,
the seeds by which the plants may be propagated. These
are their external parts, and are called organs.
The proper roots of Ferns are entirely fibrous, and they
10 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
proceed from the under side of the stem, when the latter
assumes the prostrate or creeping mode of growth ; but
when it grows erect, they are produced towards its lower
end on all sides indifferently, from among the bases of the
decayed leaves or fronds. Fibrous roots are so called from
their consisting of little thread-like parts, which, as they
extend by growth at their points, insinuate themselves
between the particles of earth to which they have access,
and this in process of time becomes filled with their rami-
fications. They often form entangled masses, but are not
always sufficiently numerous for this. The fibres of Perns
are mostly of a somewhat rigid or wiry texture ; and in the
younger portions are often more or less covered with fine
soft hairs, which become lost with age. It is by means of
these organs chiefly, that Perns, and all the more highly de-
veloped plants, are nourished.
The stem of a Pern, which is sometimes called a rhizome,
sometimes a caudex — names given to particular modifications
of the stems of plants — forms either an upright stock, which
in our native species seldom elevates itself above the sur-
face of the ground, but in certain exotic ferns reaches from
thirty to fifty feet or more in height, and gives a tree-like
character to the species ; or it extends horizontally either on
THE STRUCTURE OF PERNS. 11
or beneath the surface of the soil, and forms what is called
a creeping stem. These creeping stems are generally
clothed with hairs or scales, and sometimes to such an
extent as to become quite shaggy ; they vary greatly in size,
some being as thick as one's wrist, and others, as in our
native Hymenopliyllums, as fine as threads.
The common Polypody has the thickest stem of any
of the creeping British species : in this it is about as thick
as one's thumb ; but that of the common Bracken, or Pleris,
creeps the most extensively. The Osmuncla, or Flowering
Pern, as it is called, is, of the native upright-growing species,
that which most readily gains height, and very old plants of
this may sometimes be found with bare stems of a foot or
more in length. The common Male Pern, the Lastrea Oreop-
teris, and the Polystichum angnlare, have also a tendency,
though in a less degree, to this mode of growth, but it never
becomes apparent except in the case of very aged plants.
The leaves of Perns are generally called fronds, and as we
think this latter term the most appropriate, we shall adopt
it, with this general explanation, that it means the leaf-like
organs which are borne on the proper stem. The leaf-like
character they bear, has led some botanists to reject the
term frond altogether, and to consider them as true
12 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
leaves ; but since they produce, from some part of their
surface, what in their case stands in the place of flowers,
there is no more reason why they should be called leaves,
than the leaf-like stems of Cactuses, or those of some
curious hot-house plants called Xylophyllas, each of which
is an example of a plant bearing its flower on what appear
to be leaves, but which are in reality stems. The frond or
leafy part of a Fern is, however, not to be classed among
stems; and hence, since it is of intermediate character
between a leaf and a stem, a distinctive name seems to be
properly applied to it. The name in common use among
botanists is frond, which we shall therefore adopt, and re-
commend our young friends to employ.
As there are no flowers produced by the Ferns (we use
the term flower in its popular sense, without entering into
points of speculative botany), it is in the fronds that we must
seek for that ornamental aspect which renders them such
general favourites. The fronds alone, however, afford
almost endless variety : — some are very large, others very
small; some quite simple and not at all divided, others
divided beyond computation into little portions or segments,
and it is these much-divided fronds which, generally
speaking, are the most elegant.
THE STRUCTURE OE FERNS. 13
Even in the few species which are natives of Britain, this
variety of size and form is very obvious, some kinds not
being more than two or three inches, others five to six feet
or more in height, — some quite simple, and others cut
into innumerable small segments. There is much variety
of texture too : some being thin and delicate, almost trans-
parent, others thick and leathery, and some perfectly rigid ;
some are pale green, some are deep green, some are blue-
green, some dark brownish, scarcely green at all ; some are
smooth and shining, others opake, and some few are
covered with hair-like scales.
The duration of the fronds of many species is compara-
tively short : they come up in spring, and in some cases
the earliest of them do not last till autumn, in others they
continue until touched by frost, from which the more
robust of them shrink, even as the tender sorts do from
drought as well as frost. Others are much more durable,
and the plants, if in a moderately sheltered situation,
become evergreen. These latter should be most ex-
tensively adopted for culture where ornamental effect is an
object. We shall point out these peculiarities as we de-
scribe the different species.
The fronds of Perns consist of two parts — the leafy portion;
14 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
and the stalk, which latter is often called the stipes. The
continuation of the stalk, in the form of a rib extending
through the leafy portion, and becoming branched when the
frond is divided, is called the rachis ; if the frond is compound,
that is, divided, so that there is another set of ribs besides
the principal one, the latter is called the primary rachis, and
the former the secondary rachis. Eew of our native spe-
cies are so highly compound as to possess more than a
secondary rachis. In practice, when the outline or division
of the frond is mentioned, it is generally the leafy portion
only that is referred to, exclusive of the stipes.
The stipes is generally furnished more or less with mem-
branous scales, which are sometimes few and confined to the
base, and at other times continued along the rachis. Some-
times these scales, which are generally brown, are large
and so numerous that the parts on which they are situated
acquire a shaggy appearance. The form of the scales, as
well as their number and position and even colour, is found
to be very constant in the different species or varieties, and
hence they sometimes afford good marks of recognition.
Whenever they are produced along the rachis, as well as
on the stipes, they are invariably largest at the base, and
become gradually smaller upwards.
THE STRUCTURE OF FERNS. 15
In some species the leafy portion of the frond is un-
divided, that is to say, the margins are not scalloped or
cut away at all : an example of this occurs in the common
Hart's-tongue. The margin is, however, much more com-
monly more or less divided. In the simplest mode of
division which occurs among the British species, the margin
of the frond is deeply divided or scalloped out at short
intervals, the divisions extending inwards nearly to the
rachis, bat not reaching it : this slightly divided form is
called pinnatiftd.
The fronds are sometimes divided quite down to the rachis,
which is, as it were, quite bared of the contiguous leafy
expansion, and when this occurs the frond is said to be
pinnate ; in this case, each of the distinct leaf-like divisions
is called a pinna. When these pinnse are divided again
upon precisely the same plan the frond becomes lipinnate,
or twice pinnate, but if the pinnse are only deeply lobed
they are said to be pinnatifid.
When the fronds are thrice pinnate, and in all other
more intricate forms, they are called decompound, but this
seldom occurs in any of the native kinds ; the nearest
approach to it is in very vigorous plants of the common
Bracken, and in some of the Lastreas, when very largely
developed.
16 HISTORY OF BEITISH TEENS.
The young fronds of the ferns before being developed
are arranged in a very curious manner, the rachis being
tolled inwards from the point to the base, and in the com-
pound sorts the divisions are each again rolled up in a
similar way. This arrangement is what is called circinate.
All the British species, with two exceptions, are folded up
in this way, so that their development consists of an un-
rolling of the fronds. The exceptions mentioned, are the
Moonwort and the Adders-tongue, in both of which the
fronds in the undeveloped state are folded straight.
The substance of the fronds is traversed by veins vari-
ously arranged; in some species forming straight parallel
lines, in others joined together like net-work. The manner
in which the veins are disposed is called the venation, and
the nature of this venation affords useful data in the divi-
sion of the ferns into family groups. It is from some
determinate part of these veins that the clusters of fructifi-
cation "proceed, that part to which they are attached being
called the receptacle. A correct appreciation of the con-
dition and position of the receptacle with reference to the
veins, is of considerable importance in the study of the
genera and species — that is to say, the individual kinds and
the family groups. In some, though few of the native
THE STRUCTURE OF FERNS. 17
kinds, it is projected beyond the margin, and the little cases
of seeds are collected around its free extremity. More
commonly, however, the veins stop within the margins, and
the seed- cases grow in round or elongated clusters, situate
at their ends or along their sides, and protruded through
the skin of the lower surface of the fronds.
No flowers are produced, but the plants bear, generally,
great abundance of seed-like bodies, which are technically
called spores, and are contained in little cases of very sin-
gular construction. Collectively, these cases and their
contents are called the fructification. The seed-cases, as
already remarked, are attached in the different species to
certain determinate thickened portions of the veins, which
points of attachment are called the receptacles. Each
separate mass or cluster of the seed-cases is called a sorus,
but as they are generally spoken of collectively, the plural
term sori becomes much more frequently used.
The seed-cases — called also spore-cases, or sporangia, or
tlieca — are mostly minute roundish-oval bodies, containing
one cavity, and nearly surrounded by an elastic vertical
band or ring, which is continued from the base so as to
form a short stalk, by which they are attached. TV hen
they have reached maturity, the elasticity of the ring
18 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
bursts the case irregularly, and the seeds or spores, in the
shape of fine dust, almost invisible, become dispersed.
This is what occurs in the majority of the native species ; in
Trichomanes and the Hymenopliyllums, however, the elastic
band is horizontal or oblique ; and in Osmunda, Botrycliiurn,
and OpJiioylossum, the spore-cases are two-valved, and des-
titute of the elastic ring.
In a considerable proportion of the known species of
Perns, and in the majority of those which are natives of
Great Britain, the sori are covered in the earlier stages of
growth by what is commonly called the indiwum, which
is mostly a thin transparent membranous scale of the same
general form as the sorus itself, at first completely covering
or enclosing the young seed-cases. Eventually, however,
by their growth, its margins are disrupted, and it is cast off,
frequently even before the maturity of the seeds. Some
species, however, never bear any indusium, and its presence
or absence is consequently one of the technical points by
which the large body of Terns are divided into groups of
manageable extent. In some Perns the indusium, or cover,
or at least what is considered analogous to it, is cup-shaped,
containing the seed-cases; but this form is of very rare
occurrence among the native species, and exists only in
Trichomanes and the Hymenophyllums.
THE STRUCTURE OF FERNS. 19
Taking now a retrospective glance, we have seen that
the Perns are, as regards external structure, flowerless
plants, having erect or creeping stems, which bear the leaf-
like fronds ; and on some part of the surface of the latter,
usually the lower side, but sometimes the margin, are borne
the clusters of seeds, which, in the majority of the native
species, are, when young, furnished with a membranous
scale-like cover.
The subject of internal structure, or anatomy, is foreign
to the purposes of this volume. We may, however, men-
tion in general terms, that the Ferns belong to the lowest
group of vegetation, which is especially remarkable for its
loose and often succulent texture, owing to the absence, or
nearly so, of those tissues which give firmness and elas-
ticity to the higher orders of plants. The Perns, however,
are the highest members of this group, and hence we find
them possessing, to some extent, both woody and vascular
tissue, — matters which, together with cellular tissue, the
soft loose material above mentioned, may be found explained
in any elementary book on physiological botany.
20
PROPAGATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND CULTURE.
NATURALLY Perns are propagated by means of the spores,
of which mention has been already made. These spores
are somewhat analogous to seeds, being like them endowed
with that mystery — the vital germ ; and, when placed under
fitting conditions, they become developed into young plants ;
but they differ from seeds in some important particulars.
All true seeds have a determinate structure; they have
an embryo, with special organs, namely, the plumule, or
germ of the ascending axis, the origin of the stem, and
the radicle, or germ of the descending axis, the origin of
the root. When a seed is planted, in whatever position it
may chance to have been deposited in the soil, the young
root or radicle strikes downwards, and the young stem or
plumule grows upwards.
The Tern spores have none of these determinate parts,
but are, as it were, homogeneous atoms ; and when placed
under circumstances which induce germination, that part
which lies downwards produces the root, and that part
PROPAGATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND CULTURE. 21
which, lies upwards produces the rudimentary stem. The
spores are very minute vesicles of various shapes, but
mostly roundish, and are often beautifully ornamented with
markings on the exterior. They consist merely of a small
vesicle of cellular tissue, and as they grow this vesicle
becomes divided into others, which again multiply and
enlarge, until they form a minute green leaf-like patch,
roundish but irregular in outline, unilateral, and often, if not
always, two-lobed, forming a primordial scale or leaf ; this
by degrees thickens at a central point on the side, which
henceforth becomes the axis of development, and from this
point a small leaf or frond is produced on the upper surface
where the tissue is acted on by light. This leaf is usually
very different in aspect as well as size from the mature
fronds, and is succeeded by other fronds, which acquire by
degrees the characteristic features peculiar to their species.
In some annual Ferns the mature character is soon at-
tained, but in others two or more years of growth is re-
quired before they reach maturity; they, however, soon
begin to assume something of their peculiar appearance,
so that by the time three or four of these young fronds
are produced, sometimes even earlier, a practised eye can
recognize the species.
22 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
It is from the under side of the thickened point or
axis of development above mentioned, where it comes in
contact with the moistened soil, that the roots are protruded,
The stem, or caudex, whatever its character, originates in
this primary axis of development.
In the first stages of development, then, the young seed-
ling Ferns (that is, Perns raised from the spores) assume the
appearance of a Liverwort, forming a green, semi-transparent,
crust-like patch on the surface of the soil — the unilateral
primordial scale referred to above.
In these minute and almost invisible atoms, no less than
in the more ponderous materials which surround us, we dis-
cover the impress of Almighty and Creative power. They
teem with life ! No commixture of elementary matter, no
electric shock guided by human agency, can originate that.
Truly the hand that made them is Divine !
The requisite conditions to induce the germination of the
spores of Ferns, in addition to the supply of the degree of heat
proper for the species which produced them, is simply contact
with a continually damp surface. Diffused light is favourable
to the young growth as soon as it begins to form, but is appa-
rently not necessary as a means of exciting it. It matters
little in what way the principal condition above-mentioned
PROPAGATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND CULTURE. 23
is supplied. In hothouses, where the plants stand and
shed their spores, the latter germinate freely on the undis-
turbed soil, or on any damp brickwork with which they
come in contact, or on the upright sides of the pots in
which the plants are growing, if these are so circumstanced
as to remain continually damp. They grow very readily on
the rough surface of a piece of sandstone-rock, just kept
moistened by water constantly but slowly dripping upon it.
The most convenient way, however, to raise Ferns from
the spores, where cultivation is the object, is to sow them
on the surface of peat soil, in pots of convenient size, the
surface of the soil being kept an inch or more below the
level of the pot rim, so that a piece of flat glass may be
laid over the top, to secure a close and constantly moist
atmosphere, and prevent rapid evaporation from the soil.
The pots should be nearly half-filled with small pieces of
broken potsherds or of broken bricks, and the soil itself
should be used rather coarse than fine, the surface being
left rough, that is, not pressed down close and even. The
pots should be set in pans or feeders, in which water should
be kept so long as the soil does not become saturated. By
this means, the soil may be kept at the required degree of
continual dampness ; but if by any chance saturation seems
24 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
to be taking place, the supply should be withheld for a time.
A shady situation, under the influence of a temperature
proper for the individual kinds, should be selected for these
nursery pots.
When all is in readiness, the spores should be thinly
scattered over the rough surface of the soil, and the glass
cover at once put on. It is necessary to be somewhat careful
in the act of sowing, as the spores, from their lightness and
minuteness, are liable to be dispersed in the atmosphere,
instead of being lodged on the seed-bed prepared for them ;
from the same cause, they are apt to cling about the surface
of the paper — even though it be glazed — in which they may
have been enclosed. A bell-glass may be employed to cover
the soil after sowing, but we have been content to point out
the simplest means and materials by which the end in view
may be attained.
A simple and convenient contrivance for sowing the
spores, by which the progress of germination might be very
readily watched, would consist in inverting a porous flower-
pot in a shallow dish or pan of water, large enough to take
also the rim of an enclosing bell-glass, which should cover
some surface of the water. A small cup or vase, set on the
top of the inverted pot, with two or three worsted siphons,
PROPAGATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND CULTUEE. 25
would keep its sides always damp ; the spores scattered
over the sides of this moistened porous earthenware would
find a proper nidus for their development, which might thus
be watched with great facility. It is to be borne in mind,
however, that the seedling plants are not so readily trans-
planted from an earthenware or stone surface, as they are
when growing on the soil.
The general features of culture — which it will be sufficient
here to notice — are shade, shelter, and abundance of mois-
ture, neither of these being, however, essential to all the
species, but when judiciously combined producing the con-
ditions under which all the species admit of being very suc-
cessfully grown.
In the garden, Ferns seem only appropriately introduced
on what is called rockwork, which generally means a bank
of earth irregularly terraced with misshapen fragments of
stone, or by some other hard porous material, the vitrified
masses formed in the burning of bricks being that most
commonly substituted. With taste in the distribution of
these and such like materials, and in the planting of the
Eerns, a very pleasing effect may be produced ; and on
rockwork of this kind, if it be erected in a shaded and
sheltered situation, and liberally supplied with percolating
26 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
(not stagnant) water, nearly all the English Ferns may be
grown.
It will, as a matter of course, suggest itself to the planter,
that the most sunny, most exposed, and least moistened
positions on the rockwork should be appropriated to those
species which grow naturally in situations to which these
conditions afford the nearest resemblance ; while, on the
other hand, the kinds which naturally prefer the deepest
shade and the dampest soil, should be placed in the posi-
tions where these conditions are most nearly imitated.
Perhaps, however, the most interesting occupation for the
amateur in Perns consists in the cultivation of them under
glass, either in pots, or planted in a Wardian case. All the
species admit of being grown in pots, and when developed
under the protection of a covering of glass, acquire more
than their natural delicacy of appearance.
For general purposes the frame or case in which they
are grown should have a northern aspect ; the eastern and
western aspects are less favourable, though with attention
to shading during sunny weather, they may be adopted, and
are at least much preferable to the southern, even with the
advantage of shading. It is the heat, no less than the
brightness of such an aspect, which is to be avoided ; and
PROPAGATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND CULTURE. 27
therefore, for all practical purposes, the nearer the situation
in which they are grown approaches the northern aspect,
the better. The plants must be kept cool in summer, by
shading, by sprinkling, by not quite closing the frame in
the day-time, and by removing all impediments to a free
circulation of air all night.
Wardian cases for Ferns, in which they may be planted
out on rockwork, may be either of the size and nature of a
small detached greenhouse, or of those window or balcony
greenhouses made by enclosing within a projecting sash, a
greater or smaller area external to the window, or they may
be of smaller size and more finished workmanship, for the
interior of dwelling rooms, for stair-case landings, or any
other situations within- doors, where they can be moderately
lighted.
As a general rule, Ferns under cultivation do not require
any manure. The most proper soil for them consists of the
native earths called peat or bog earth, and sandy loam,
mixed in about equal proportions, with a further admixture
equal to an eighth of the whole mass for the coarser sorts,
and of a fourth of the whole mass for the more delicate
sorts, of any clean sharp grit, which is used for the purpose
of preventing the too close adhesion and consolidation of
28 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
the particles ; the clean white sand, called Reigate sand, is
that most generally employed.
The supply of water to Ferns under artificial conditions
is a very essential matter ; they must never lack moisture,
or their fragile texture shrinks as before a burning blast ;
nor, with few exceptions, must the soil about them be kept
continually wet with stagnant water; indeed, stagnant
water is in all cases to be avoided.
DISTRIBUTION AND TOPOGRAPHICAL ASPECT.
THE species of Ferns known to botanists, including the
lesser groups sometimes separated from what have been
called the ' ' true " Ferns, amount to something more than
three thousand. Their head-quarters are the humid forests
of tropical islands, in some of which they acquire a giant
size, and in their tree-like habit become rivals to the noble
Palms. The tree Ferns are not, however, numerous, the
number of species having this habit bearing a small pro-
portion to those of shrubby or herbaceous growth.
From the statistics which have been collected in reference
to this question, it appears that the Ferns bear a higher
proportion to the flowering plants both towards the equator
and towards the poles ; and that their proportional number
is least in the middle of the temperate zone. They reach
their absolute maximum in the torrid zone, amid the heat,
moisture, and shade of the tropical forests ; and their
absolute minimum on the inhospitable shores of the polar
regions.
30 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
The proportion borne by the Ferns to the whole mass of
flowering plants, in the torrid zone, is stated at one in
twenty ; in the temperate zone at one in seventy ; and in
the frigid zone at an average of one in eight. In the most
northern parts of the Arctic zone, none have yet been dis-
covered.
In onr own country, the proportion borne between these
two great divisions of vegetation, is reckoned at one Pern
to thirty-five flowering plants. In Scotland they stand re-
latively as one in thirty-one.
The forms which exist among the Ferns are very diversi-
fied, and this, no less than their variations of size and habit,
renders them conspicuous objects in the scenery where they
abound. They may all be classed under three divisions, so
far as their leading features are concerned, namely, arbores-
cent, shrubby, and herbaceous.
It is the former class, the arborescent species, chiefly,
which exert a marked influence on the physiognomy of
nature, for, as Meyen well remarks, they unite in themselves
the majestic growth of the Palms, with the delicacy of the
lower Ferns, and thus attain a beauty to which nature shows
nothing similar. These truly arborescent species are prin-
cipally confined to the torrid zone, their slender waving
DISTRIBUTION AND TOPO GRAPHICAL ASPECT. 31
trunks often beautifully pitted by the marks left on the
falling away of the fronds ; they grow to a height of from
twenty to fifty feet or more, from their tops sending out the
feathery fronds, often many feet in length, and yet so
delicate as to be put in motion by the gentlest breeze. On
some of the East Indian Islands the tree Ferns occur as
numerously as the crowded Firs in our plantations ; but
wherever they are found — from the plains to an elevation of
3,000 to 4,000 feet — the soil and atmosphere are full of
moisture. Yery noble arborescent Ferns are found in New
Zealand and Tasmania.
The shrubby Ferns, those with short stems, surmounted
by tufted fronds, prevail rather at the tropics than at the
equatorial zone, and are found less frequently at the foot of
tropical mountains, than at an elevation of from 2,000 to
3,000 feet. Ferns of this aspect abound in the South Sea
Islands. Mr. Colenso describes one of the New Zealand
species as producing, from a main trunk twelve feet high,
fronds which form a droop often of eighteen feet ; such
plants, standing singly on the bank of a purling rill of
water, being objects of surpassing beauty.
The herbaceous species are rather characteristic of the
temperate and colder zones : not that their number in
32 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
warmer regions is less great, but their influence on the
aspect of vegetation there is of a different character ; they
are more frequently parasitic in the tropics, and by their
varied forms and colours, and the way in which they fix
themselves, they give an air of peculiar luxuriance to the
higher vegetation. Even in the temperate regions some of
these herbaceous Eerns attain considerable height, as is the
case with the common Bracken, which, in the hedge-rows of
sheltered rural lanes in the south of England, reaches the
height of eight or ten feet, and assumes the most graceful
habit that can be conceived.
Wherever the Eerns occur, whether it be the herbaceous
species of temperate climates, or the arborescent species of
the equatorial regions, or the epiphytal species which clothe
the trunks and branches of the trees in tropical forests, they
add a marked and peculiar character of beauty and luxuri-
ance to the scenery, and that to an extent which is not
realized by any other race of plants.
33
THE USES OF FERNS.
WE cannot make out a long catalogue of the uses of Ferns.
Indeed, compared with their numbers and size, their useful-
ness to man is very limited ; and the frigid utilitarian might
be almost tempted to ask of Nature, wherefore she gave
them birth. Her reply would, however, stay further inter-
rogation : " They are given
' To minister delight to man,
To beautify the earth.' "
The Ferns are not, moreover, altogether without their use ;
for to the aborigines of various countries they furnish a
rude means of subsistence. The pith of the stem or
rhizome is the part usually employed for food, and this on
account of the starch deposited in its tissue. Among the
species which are thus employed as food — chiefly, however,
where civilization has not become the dispenser of better
fare — there is the Cyathea, medullaris, Marattia alata and
elegans, Angwptens evecta; the Tasmanian Tara, Pteris
esculenta ; Nephrodium esculentum, Diplazium esculentum,
D
34 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
and Gleichenia Hermanni ; and it is worth remark that these
species represent almost all the principal groups into which
Ferns are scientifically divided.
But while the child of nature turns to the Fern for food,
his more civilized brother seeks in it a medicine ; and he
finds it ! Two of our common native species, the Filix-mas
and the Bracken, especially the former, have the reputation
of being remedies against intestinal worms, in consequence
of their bitter and astringent qualities, which properties are
possessed by the stems of many other species. Another
native Fern, the Eoyal Fern, has been successfully used in
cases of rickets. From the astringent mucilage present in
the green parts of many of the species, they are reckoned
pectoral and lenitive ; and both the native Adiantum
Capillus-Veneris, and the American Adiantum pedatum, are
thus employed in the form of capillaire, which is prepared
from them by pouring boiling syrup over the fronds, and
flavouring it with orange flowers ; this preparation is con-
sidered undoubtedly pectoral, though if too strong it is said
to be emetic. Other species of Adiantum, as well as some
Polypodium&, AcrosticJiums, and Noihochl&na*, are reported
to possess medicinal properties.
Both the common Bracken and the Male Fern abound
THE USES OF FERNS. 35
in alkali, and are applied to various economic uses, as
the manufacture of soap and glass, the dressing of leather,
&c. These species have also been used in the preparation
of beer ; and the Aspidium fragrant has been employed as
a substitute for tea.
The bruised leaves of Angwpteris evecta and Polypodium
phymatodes are said to yield an aromatic oil, employed in
perfuming the cocoa-nut oil of the South Sea Islands.
Deserving of especial mention in this place is the vegetable
curiosity called the Barometz, Boranez, or Tartarian or
Scythian lamb, of which marvellous tales have been told.
This "lamb" consists merely of the decumbent shaggy
rhizome of a Pern, what it has been supposed is that of the
Cibotmm Barometz ; when turned upside down, the bases of
four of its fronds being retained as legs, by the aid of a little
manipulation, this not inaptly resembles some small animal,
and may fairly rank as a vegetable curiosity.
The 'traveller's tale' on this subject is, that, on an ele-
vated, uncultivated salt plain, of vast extent, west of the
Volga, grows a wonderful plant, with the shape and appear-
ance of a lamb, having feet, head, and tail distinctly formed,
and its skin covered with soft down. The ' lamb' grows
upon a stalk about three feet high, the part by which it is
36 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
sustained being a kind of navel ; it turns about and bends
to the herbage, which serves for its food, and when the grass
fails it dries up, and pines away. The real facts are, that
the rhizome of tin's plant, as already stated, does present a
rude appearance of an animal ; it is covered with silky down,
and, if cut into, is seen to have a soft inside, with a reddish
flesh-coloured appearance. And no doubt when the herbage
of its native plains fails, its leaves, too, dry up, both perish-
ing from the same cause, but having no dependence the one
on the other. Thus it is that simple people have been per-
suaded, that in the deserts of Scythia there existed creatures
which were half animal, half plant.
37
SELECTION AND PRESERVATION FOR THE HERBARIUM.
FERNS are amongst the best of all plants for preservation in
the form of an herbarium ; for in addition to their elegant
appearance when nicely dried and arranged on sheets of clean
white paper, they are less liable than most plants to the
attacks of the destructive pests in the shape of insects,
which commit such havoc among dried plants in general.
We must give our inexperienced readers a few hints on the
selection of specimens for this purpose.
The process of drying we need not describe in detail ; we
shall merely remark, that they should be dried quickly,
under moderately heavy pressure, among sheets of absorbent
paper, which must be replaced by dried sheets as long as the
plants continue to give out moisture. The thicker the bulk
of paper placed between the specimens whilst under pressure,
the better. Two or three changes will generally be sufficient,
if the substituted sheets be in each case perfectly dry.
The smaller growing kinds should be gathered, if possible,
in the tufts as they grow, preserving the whole mass of
38 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
fronds, with the stem and roots, the fronds being spread out
in an easy and graceful form, and as far as possible kept
quite flat, but not formally ' laid out ' so as to destroy any
peculiarity of habit which the species may possess.
If entire tuffcs cannot be obtained, and single fronds have
to be substituted, they should be taken quite to the base,
and must be removed from the stem with care, so that the
scales, or hairs, or farinose powder, which may be present
on the stalk, may be preserved equally with the frond itself.
Of larger growing species, single fronds only are manage-
able, and these, when of larger size than the folios in which
the specimens are to be kept, must be folded to somewhat
less than the length of the papers, whilst yet fresh.
Of the gigantic species, portions only of the fronds, cor-
responding in size with the paper to be used, can be pre-
served; but all of our native species, except in cases of
extreme luxuriance, may, we believe, with a little judgment
in the selection of specimens, be folded so as to allow of
their being preserved in ordinary folios measuring eighteen
inches by twelve inches, or thereabouts.
It is sometimes recommended to select specimens with the
fructification mature. We should rather, as a general rule,
advise their being gathered before the masses of spores reach
PRESERVATION FOR THE HERBARIUM. 39
their fall growth. If, however, more than a single speci-
men of each kind is preserved, the perfectly mature and the
incipient states of fructification should also be gathered ;
but in the majority of cases the intermediate state will
afford the best materials for subsequent examination and
recognition.
Of course, when the species produces two or more kinds of
fronds, examples of each must be preserved, as, for instance,
in the Allosorus crispus, the fertile fronds of winch alone
would convey but a very indifferent notion of the plant.
The necessity of attending to this point is even more strik-
ingly apparent in such exotic genera as the Strutkiopteris,
and almost all the species related to the Acrosticliums.
After being thoroughly dried under pressure, the speci-
mens, according to their size, should be arranged, singly if
large, or in groups resembling the natural tufts, if sufficiently
small, on one side only of a series of sheets of stout white
paper, to which they should be fastened by a few thread
ties, or gummed straps, in preference to being pasted down
with glue. The specimens, however, admit of a much more
convenient and searching examination when kept loose in a
folded sheet of paper ; but if there should be frequent occa-
sion to handle such loose Specimens, they will be found much
40 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
more liable to become injured and broken than such as are
fastened to the paper.
The specimens should be fully labelled, the labels giving
at least their names, the locality where gathered, and the
date ; and these labels should, as far as possible, be fixed
with some degree of uniformity as to their position, so as to
be readily referred to by turning up one of the corners of
the sheets of paper.
The papers to which the specimens are affixed should be
enclosed in paper covers, each genus separately ; and these
covers should be placed either on the shelves of a cabinet,
or in drawers, or in any convenient place where they may
be preserved against dust, the attacks of insects, and other
casualties.
41
THE CLASSIFICATION OF FERNS.
THE first notions of classifying the Ferns, if we may judge
from the Latin sentences which served as names for them in
former times, were derived chiefly from the size, form, and
general resemblance of the fronds, and the situations in
which they grew. As, however, the knowledge of their
structure and organization became extended, the insufficiency
of such means of distinction and arrangement became appa-
rent ; and when the great Swedish botanist, Linnaeus, set
about the task of distributing the plants known to him, into
family groups, he selected the fructification as the leading
character of association, his groups of Eerns being formed
from the resemblances in the form and position of the
clusters of ' seed-vessels/ which we have already mentioned
(p. 17), under the name of spore-cases.
Those who immediately succeeded him did but carry out
to greater perfection, in accordance with increasing know-
ledge, the same general idea of family relationship, the most
important additional characteristic called into requisition
being that derived from the presence or absence of a general
HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
investing membrane or cover to the spore-cases,, and its
form,, origin., and mode of bursting when present. This, in
fact, brings us to the basis of the classification which has
prevailed till within comparatively very few years, and even,
to some extent, to the present time.
Another feature has, however, latterly been adopted by
many botanists skilled in the knowledge of Perns, as forming
the leading characteristic of their family relationship, the
groups thus brought together representing the modern classi-
fication of Perns. The feature thus adopted, as affording
the marks of family recognition, is the veining of the fronds ;
and probably, as at present employed, in conjunction with the
characters derived from the clusters of spore-cases and their
covers, there is but little scope for further improvement.
The tendency of the system is, however, towards subdivision
of the family groups, and in this direction it is perhaps
somewhat liable to err. "We shall introduce a summary of
the groups and species adapted to Mr. John Smith's plan of
arrangement, in accordance with the venation ; the picture
presented by our few native species must riot, however, be
taken as a proper representation of this system of classifica-
tion. In the more detailed descriptions it will be more con-
venient if we follow an alphabetical order.
A TABLE OF THE GROUPS AND GENERA OF THE BRITISH
FERNS AND ALLIED PLANTS.
I. PEBNS— FILICES.
Plowerless plants, bearing seed-vessels (spore-cases) on
the backs or margins of their leaves (fronds). The
British Perns belong to gronps which are called
Polypodiacea, Osmundacea, and Opkioglossacea.
i. POLYPODIACES = Perns having the leaves rolled up in a
circinate or crozier-like manner while young, and the
spore-cases girt with an elastic ring, and bursting in
an irregular manner. It comprises the lesser groups
of Polypodies, Aspidiece, Aspleniea, Pteridea, and
Dicksoniea.
A. POLYPODIES = Perns whose clusters of spore-cases
have no special membranous cover (indusium). It
contains the genera Polypodlum and Allosorus.
1. Poly podium = Dorsal-fruited Perns, with the sori
exposed.
44 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
2. Allosorus = Dorsal -fruited Perns, with, the sori
covered by reflexed, unaltered margins of the frond.
B. ASPIDIEJS= Perns whose sori have a special indusium,
of a circular or roundish form, and springing here
and there, from the back of the veins. It contains
the genera Wood&a, Lastrea, Polystichum, and
Cystopteris.
3. Woodsia = Dorsal-fruited Perns, having the in-
dusium attached beneath the sori, and divided
into hair-like segments.
4. Lastrea = Dorsal-fruited Perns, having a reniform
indusium, attached by its indented side.
5. PolysticJium = Dorsal-fruited Perns, having a cir-
cular indusium, attached by its centre.
6. (^fo^fem==Dorsal-fruited Perns, having a cucullate
or hooded indusium, attached by its broad base.
C. ASPLENIE^: = Perns whose sori have a special indusium,
of an oblong or elongated form, and springing from
the sides of the veins. It contains the genera
AtJiyrium, Asplenium, Ceterach, and Scolopendrium.
7. AtJiyrium = Dorsal- fruited Perns, having an oblong
reniform indusium, attached by its concave side,
the other side fringed with hair-like segments.
TABLE OF GENERA. 45
8. Aspleninm = Dorsal-fruited Perns, having the in-
dusium straight and elongate, and attached
by the side towards the margin of the pinnae or
pinnules.
9. CeteracJi = Dorsal-fruited Ferns, having the indu-
sium obsolete, and the sori hidden among densely
imbricated, rust-coloured, chaffy scales.
10. Scolopendrium = Dorsal-fruited Perns, having the
sori elongate, and proximate in parallel pairs, the
indusium opening along the centre of the twin
sorus.
D. PTERIDE,E = Perns, the margin of whose fronds is
either soriferous, and continuously or interruptedly
changed into a special indusium, or whose spore-
cases are in lines parallel with the margin. It con-
tains the genera Pteris, Adiantum, and Blecknum.
11. Pteris = Dorsal -fruited Perns, having the spore-
cases in a continuous line at the edge of the
frond, beneath an indusium formed of the altered
margin.
12. Adiantum = Dorsal -fruited Perns, having the
spore-cases in patches, on the reflexed, altered
apices of the lobes of the fronds.
46 HISTORY OF BRITISH FE11NS.
1 3 . BlecJmwm = Dorsal-fruited Ferns, having the spore-
cases in a continuous line between the midrib and
margin of the divisions of the frond.
E. DICKSONIE^ = Perns whose sori are (in the British
species) produced around the ends of veins project-
ing from the margin, and surrounded by an urn-
shaped or two-valved membrane. It contains the
genera Trickomanes and Hymenopkyllum.
14. Trichomanes = Marginal-fruited Terns, having the
sori surrounded by urn-shaped expansions of the
frond.
15. Hymenophyllum = Marginal-fruited Perns, having
the sori surrounded by two-valved expansions of
the frond.
ii. OSMUND ACE^E= Perns having the young leaves circinate,
the spore-cases destitute of an elastic ring, and burst-
ing by two regular valves. It contains the genus
Osmunda.
16. Osmunda = Marginal-fruited Perns, having the
regular valved spore-cases in irregular, dense,
branching clusters, terminating the fronds.
iii. OPHIOGLOSSACE.E = Perns having the young leaves folded
up straight, the spore-cases destitute of an elastic ring,
TABLE OF GENEEA. 47
and two-valved. It contains the genera BoUyckwm
and Oplnoglossum.
1 7 . OpJdoglossum = Marginal-fruited Ferns, having the
spore-cases sessile in two-ranked simple spikes
terminating a separate branch of the frond.
18. Botn/chium = Marginal-fruited Ferns, having the
spore- cases in irregularly branched clusters, on a
separate branch of the frond.
II. CLUB-MOSSES— LYCOPODIACES&
Plowerless plants, bearing spore-cases in the axils of
their leaves, and having reproductive bodies of two
different kinds, but of a similar nature. They con-
sist of the genus Lycopodium.
19. Lycopodmm = Moss-like plants, with leafy stems,
having the fructifications elevated in terminal
spikes, or in the axils of the leaves.
III. PEPPEKWOETS— MARSILEACEJE.
Flowerless plants, bearing axillary or radical spore-
cases, and reproductive bodies of two dissimilar
sorts. They comprise the genera Isoetes and
Pilularia.
48 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
20. Tsoetes = Stemless, quill-leaved, aquatic plants,
with the fructifications at the base, enclosed within
the bases of the leaves.
21. Pilularia = Creeping, slender -leaved, aquatic
plants, with the fructification in globular, sessile,
four-celled spore-cases.
IY. HOESETAILS— EQUISETACE^.
Elowerless plants, with peltate spore-cases, arranged in
terminal cones. This group consists of the genus
Equisetum.
22. Equisetum = Jointed, tubular-stemmed .plants, with
terminal cones of fructification.
A TABLE OF THE SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF BRITISH
FERNS, &c.
*
I. FILICES.
A. POLYPODIACE^S § POLYPODIES.
i. POLYPODIUM, Linnaus.
1. P. vulgare, Lmnczus. — Fronds pinnatifid. Plate I.
fig. 2.
d. cambricum. — Fronds twice pinnatifid.
2. P. Phegopteris, Linnceus. — Fronds sub-pinnate.
Plate II. fig. 2.
3. P. Dryopteris, Linnaus* — Fronds ternate, glabrous.
Plate II. fig. 1.
4. P. calcareum, Smith. — Fronds ternate, glandular-
mealy. Plate III. fig. 1.
ii. ALLOSOEUS, Bernhardi.
1. A. crispus, BernJiardi. — The only species. Plate Y.
%. i.
B. POLYPODIACE^ § ASPIDIE^3.
iii. WOODSIA, R. Brown.
E
50 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
1. W. ilvensis, R. Brown. — Pinnse oblong, deeply
lobed. Plate III. fig. 2.
2. W. hyperborea, R. Brown. — Pinnse bluntly triangu-
lar, lobed. Plate IY. fig. 1.
iv. LASTREA, PresL
1. L. Thelypteris, PresL — Fronds pinnate, not glan-
dular ; sori sub-marginal on sub-contracted fronds.
Plate VI. fig. 1.
2. L. Oreopteris, PresL — Fronds pinnate, glandular
beneath. Plate VII.
3. L. Filix-mas, PresL — Fronds sub-bipinnate or bi-
pinnate, broadly lanceolate. Plate VIII.
b. incisa. — Larger, pinnules elongate, with deep
serrated incisions.
c. abbreviata. — Smaller, pinnules contracted or
obsolete.
d. multifida. — Pinnse tasselled at the end. Plate
VIII. upper figure.
4. L. rigida, PresL — Fronds bipinnate, without spinu-
lose serratures, glandular. Plate IX. fig. 1.
5. L. cristata, PresL — Fronds pinnate or sub-bipin-
nate, narrow linear, pinnules oblong. Plate VI.
fig. 2.
TABLE OF SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 51
b. uliginosa. — Fronds (fertile) bipixmate at the base,
pinnules oblong, acute.
6. L. spinulosa, Presl. — Fronds linear, bipinnate, with
spinulose serratures, scales ovate.
7. L. dilatata, Presl. — Fronds oblong- or ovate-lan-
ceolate, bi-tri-pinnate, with spinulose serratures,
scales lanceolate. Plate IX. fig. 2.
b. collina. — Pinnules ovate, blunt, bluntly mucro-
nate-serrate.
8. L. fo3nisecii, Watson. — Fronds triangular, bipinnate,
pinnules concave above.
V. POLYSTICHUM, Roth.
1. P. Lonchitis, Roth. — Fronds pinnate. Plate IV.
fig. 2.
2. P. aculeatum, Roth. — Frond bipinnate, pinnules
acutely wedge-shaped at the base.
b. lobatum. — Fronds narrower, pinnules nearly all
decurrent. Plate IV. fig. 3.
3. P. angulare, Newman. — Fronds bipinnate, pinnules
obtusely angled at the base, stalked. PI. V. fig. 2.
b. subtripinnatum. — Pinnules pinnatifid.
vi. CYSTOPTEEIS, Bernhardi.
1. C. fragilis, Bernhardi. — Fronds lanceolate, bipin-
52 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
nate, pinnules ovate, acute; sori central. Plate X.
fig. 1.
b. dentata. — Pinnules ovate, obtuse, distinct; sori
marginal.
c. Dickieana. — Pinnules broad, obtuse, overlapping ;
sori marginal.
2. C. alpina, Desvaux. — Fronds sub-tripinnate, seg-
ments linear. Plate X. fig. 2.
3. C. montana, Link. — Fronds triangular. Plate XIV.
fig. 2.
C. POLYPODIACE^ § ASPLENIE^}.
vii. ATHYEIUM, Both.
1. A. Filix-foemina, Both. — The only species. Pinnules
flat, linear-oblong. Plate XI.
d. convexum. — Pinnules narrow, distinct, linear,
convex.
c. latifolium. — Pinnules broad ovate, crowded, irre-
gularly lobed.
d. molle. — Pinnules oblong, flat, decurrent.
e. multifidum. — Pinnae and frond tasselled at the
apex. Plate XI.
f. crispum — Dwarf, irregularly branched, with the
ends tasselled.
TABLE OP SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 53
g. marinum. — Fronds narrowed to the base, decum-
bent, pinnules oblong, rachis winged,
viii. ASPLENIUM, Linn&us.
1. A. septentrionale, Hull. — Frond linear-lanceolate,
two-three-cleft. Plate XII. fig. 3.
£. A. germanicum, Weiss. — Fronds linear, alternately
pinnate, pinnae narrow wedge-shaped ; indusium
entire. Plate XIII. fig. 3.
3. A. Ruta-inuraria, Lwntew. — Fronds bipinnate, pin-
nules wedge-shaped at the base ; indusium jagged.
Plate XIII. fig. 1.
4. A. viride, Hudson. — Fronds linear, pinnate, rachis
green above. Plate XIII. fig. 4.
5. A. Trichomanes, Linnteus. — Fronds linear, pinnate,
rachis black throughout. Plate XIII. fig. 5.
b. incisum. — Pinnse deeply lobed.
6. A. marinum, Lmnaus. — Fronds pinnate, rachis
winged. Plate XI Y. fig. 1.
7. A. fontanum, R. Brown. — Fronds bipinnate, narrow
lanceolate, rachis winged, smooth. Plate XIII.
fig. 2.
8. A. lanceolatum, Hudson. — Fronds bipinnate, broad
lanceolate, rachis not winged, scaly. PL XII. fig. 1.
54 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
9. A. Adiantum-nigrum, Linnaus. — Frond bipinnate,
triangular. Plate XII. fig. 2.
ix. CETERACH, Wittdenow.
1. C. officinaruin, Willdenow. — The only species.
Plate I. fig. 1.
x. SCOLOPENDRIUM, Smith.
1. S. vulgare, Symons. — The only species. Fronds
strap-shaped, entire. Plate XV. fig. 1.
b. polyschides. — Fronds narrow, irregularly lobed,
fertile.
c. crispum. — Fronds much undulated at the margin,
usually barren.
d. multifidum. — Fronds multifid at the apex.
D. POLYPODIACE^ § PTERIDE^E.
xi. PTERIS, Linnteus.
1. P. aquilina, Linnmis. — The only species.
a. vera. — Inferior pinnules pinnatifid.
b. integerrima. — All the pinnules entire. Plate
XVII. fig. 1.
xii. ADIANTUM, Linnaeus.
1. A. Capillus-Veneris, Linnaus. — The only species.
Plate XVI. fig. 1.
TABLE OF SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 55
xiii. BLECHNTTM, Linnceus.
1. B. Spicant, Both. — The only species. Plate XYI.
fig. 2.
E. POLYPODIACE^ § DlCKSONIEJS.
xiv. TRICHOMANES, Linnaus.
1. T. radicans, Swartz. — The only species. Plate
XVIII. fig. 1.
xv. HYMENOPHYLLUM, Smith.
1. II. tunbridgense, $^7*. — Pinnae vertical, involucres
compressed, serrate. Plate XY. fig. 2.
2. H. unilateral Willdenow. — Pinnse unilateral, in-
volucres inflated, entire. Plate XV. fig. 3.
F. OSMUNDACE^E.
xvi. OSMTJNDA, Linnaus.
1. O. regalis, I/innteus. — The only species. Plate
XIX. fig. 2.
G. OPHIOGLOSSACE^E.
xvii. OPHIOGLOSSUM, Linnaus.
1. 0. vulgatum, Linnceus. — The only species. Plate
XVIII. fig. 3.
xviii. BOTRYCHIUM, Linnteus.
1. B. Lunaria, Linnaeus. — The only species. Plate
XVIII. fig. 2.
56 HISTOKY OF BRITISH PEENS.
II. LYCOPODIACE.E.
xix. LYCOPODIUM, Linn&us.
1. L. alpinum, Linnam. — Leaves in four rows, ap-
pressed ; spikes solitary, sessile.
2. L. Selago, Linnceus. — Leaves in eight rows, imbri-
cated on the usually erect stems ; fructifications
in the axils of leaves, not spiked. PL XX. fig. 5.
3. L. annotinum, Zfinnceus. — Leaves indistinctly five-
rowed, linear-lanceolate, patent; spikes solitary,
sessile.
4. L. clavatuin, Itinnteus. — Leaves scattered, incurved,
hair-pointed; spikes two or more on a stalk.
Plate XX. fig. 6.
5. L. inundatum, Linntzus. — Leaves scattered, curved
upwards, linear; spikes solitary, sessile. Plate
XX. fig. 4.
6. L. selaginoides, Linnaus. — Leaves scattered, half-
spreading, lanceolate; spikes solitary, sessile.
III. MAESILEACE.E.
xx. ISOETES, I/inntem.
1. I. lacustris, Linnteus. — The only species. Plate
XIX. fig. 1.
TABLE OP SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 57
xxi. PILTJLAKIA, Jjinnteus.
1. P. globulifera; Linnaus. — The only species. Plate
XYIL fig. 2.
IV. EQUISETACE^.
xxii. EQUISETUM, Linnceus.
1. E. Telmateia, Ekrhart. — Stems dissimilar, the sterile
branched, smooth, with about thirty ridges, the
fertile simple, short, with large crowded sheaths,
and subulate two-ribbed teeth. Plate XX. fig. 2.
2. E. umbrosum, Willdenow. — Stems dissimilar, the
sterile branched, rough, with about twenty ridges,
the fertile simple, with approximate appressed
sheaths, having subulate one-ribbed teeth.
8. E. arvense, Linn&us. — Stems dissimilar, the sterile
branched, slightly rough, with from ten to
sixteen ridges, the fertile simple, with distant,
loose sheaths, having long pointed teeth.
4. E. sylvaticum, Linnceus. — Stems similar, with about
twelve ridges, and having loose sheaths termi-
nating in three or four large blunt lobes;
branches deflexed. Plate XX. fig. 3. .
5. E. limosum, Linnaus. — Stems similar, smooth, with
58 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
numerous slight ridges, the sheaths green, close,
with from sixteen to twenty sharp-pointed dark-
coloured teeth; branches short, few, often wanting.
6. E. palustre, Linn&us. — Stems similar, slightly
rough, with from six to eight broad prominent
ridges, the sheaths pale, loose, with acute wedge-
shaped, brown-tipped teeth; branches erect.
7. E. Mackaii, Newman. — Stems similar, very rough,
with from eight to twelve ridges, and having close
sheaths, which alternately become wholly black,
and have narrow subulate teeth ; almost branchless.
8. E. hyemale, Linnatts. — Stems similar, very rough,
with from fourteen to twenty ridges, and having
close whitish sheaths banded with black at the top
and bottom ; the teeth slender, deciduous ; almost
branchless. Plate XX. fig. 1.
9. E. variegatum, Weber et Mokr. — Stems similar, very
rough, with from four to ten ridges, and having
slightly enlarged sheaths, green below, black
above, with obtuse teeth tipped by a deciduous
bristle ; almost branchless.
b. Wilsoni. — Stems less rough, taller.
59
THE BRITISH FERNS.
" Sweet to muse upon His skill display'd
(Infinite skill) in all that He has made !
To trace in Nature's most minute design
The signature and stamp of power Divine ;
Contrivance intricate, express'd with ease,
Where uninstructed sight no beauty sees ! "
Genus XII. ADIANTUM,* Linnaus.
THE Adiantum, or Maiden-hair, may be known among the
British Ferns by its almost fan-shaped leaflets or pinnules,
which are attached by their narrow end, to the little black
hair-like stalks. This, however, though sufficient by which
to recognize it, among the very limited number of kinds
which are found in a wild state in Britain, is not its proper
distinctive mark. The real characteristics lie in the veins
and in the sori : the former may be readily seen by holding
a pinnule between the eye and a strong light, and the latter
by lifting up the little reflexed lobes which occur here and
* The Genera are arranged for facility of reference in alphabetical order.
Their place in the systematic arrangement is denoted by their No., which
agrees with the preceding Table.
60 HISTORY Or BRITISH FERNS.
there at the margin on the under surface. The veins will
be seen to be dichotornously forked, that is, separating into
two equal branches, beginning from the base upwards, the
forking being several times repeated, producing close pa-
rallel radiating venules which extend to the margin. The
sori are produced on the reflexed (or bent under) membra-
nous expansions of the margin of the fronds which form the
indusia, these indusia being traversed by veins which bear
the sori. There is only one native species, which possesses
these characteristics, and this is certainly one of the most
beautiful, as it is also one of the rarer of our indigenous
Ferns ; and being of small size and of evergreen habit, it is
one of the most desirable of all for culture in a Wardian case.
The name of the genus comes from the Greek adiantos,
which signifies dry, or unmoistened ; and is applicable to
these plants, from their possessing in a remarkable degree
the property of repelling water. It is, in fact, impossible to
wet the surface of their pinnules, when the fronds are in a
fresh state and in good health, the water being cast off as
though from an oily surface.
ADIANTUM CAPILLUS-VENEEIS, Linnteus. — The Maiden-
hair Pern. (Plate XYI. fig. 1.)
A small evergreen species, furnished with a very short
ADIANTUM. 61
creeping stem, which is clothed with small black scales, and
bears delicate, graceful, somewhat drooping fronds, of six
inches to a foot high. These fronds are usually of an
irregularly ovate form, sometimes elongate, occasionally
approaching to linear. Finely developed fronds are about
thrice pinnate; but the less vigorous fronds are usually
only twice pinnate, with alternate pinnae and pinnules ; and
sometimes fronds are found which are only once pinnate.
The ultimate pinnules, or leaflets, are very irregular in shape,
but for the most part have a wedge-shaped or tapering
base, and a more or less rounded and oblique apex, and
they have generally some variation of a fan-shaped or rhom-
boidal outline. The margin is more or less deeply lobed,
the apices of the lobes in the fertile pinnules being reflexed
and changed into membranous indusia, whilst the lobes of
the barren fronds are serrated ; their texture is thin and
membranaceous, their surface smooth, their colour a
cheerful green. The stipes, which is about half as long as
the frond, and furnished with a few small scales at the base,
is black and shining, as also are the raches, the ultimate
ramifications of which are small and hair-like.
The veins throughout the pinnules are forked on a di-
chotomous or two-branched plan, from the base upwards,
62 HISTOllY OF BRITISH PERNS.
the venules lying parallel, and extending in straight lines
towards the margins, terminating in the barren fronds 'in
the serratures of the margin, but in the fertile fronds
extending into the indusium, there forming the receptacles
to which the spore-cases are attached. The sori are oblong,
covered by indusia of the same form, each consisting of the
apex of one of the lobes of the frond, changed to a mem-
branous texture, and folded under. The sori are, as already
mentioned, seated on this membranous reflexed lobe, and
by this circumstance the genus may at once be detected by
those who are not conversant with its easily recognized
prima facie appearances.
The Maiden-hair is a local plant, though it has a wide
geographical range. It is found here and there in the
warmer parts of Great Britain and Ireland, evidently pre-
ferring cavernous and rocky situations within the influence
of the sea. What is believed to be the same species is
found in the warmer parts of Europe, in Asia, in the north
of Africa, and in the Canaries arid Cape de Yerd Islands.
It is, moreover, a tender plant, and does not thrive under
cultivation in the climate even of the south of England,
unless sheltered in a frame or green-house, or by being
covered with a glass. In a Wardian case it grows well ;
ALLOSOEUS. 63
and attains great luxuriance in a damp hot-house. The
proper soil for it is very light turfy peat, mixed with a con-
siderable proportion of silver sand, and it is beneficial to
plant it on or around a small lump of free sandstone.
Genus IT. ALLOSOEUS, Bernhardi.
OF this family we have but one British species, the Allo-
sorus crispus. It is known from all its fellow-country-ferns
by the coincidence of the following features. It bears fronds
of two kinds, one being leafy and barren, or without sori,
the other contracted, and bearing sori, and hence called
fertile. The edges of the lobes of the fertile fronds are
rolled under (which is what gives them the contracted ap-
pearance), and covers the sori in the stead of a special in-
dusium ; the sori when young form distinct circular clusters
beneath this recurved margin, but as they grow they join
laterally (in technical language, they become confluent),
forming two lines of fructification lengthwise the segments
of the fronds.
The name Allosorus is compounded from the Greek, and
comes from alias, which means various, and sorus, which
64 HISTORI OP BRITISH FERNS.
means a heap ; the intention being to indicate the variation
or change which occurs in the apparent arrangement of the
sori, from the distinct patches to the continuous lines in
which they are seen to be disposed, if examined at different
stages of development — the change, after all, being only
apparent, and not real.
ALLOSORUS CRISPUS, Bernhardi. — The Rock Brakes, or
Mountain Parsley. (Plate V. fig. 1.)
This elegant little plant, which has considerable first-sight
resemblance to a tuft of parsley, and is hence sometimes
called Mountain Parsley, grows in a dense tuft, throwing up
its fronds in May or June, and losing them in the course
of the autumn. The fronds average about six inches in
height, and are generally almost triangular, with a longish,
slender, smooth stalk. They are of two kinds ; both kinds
twice or thrice pinnate, and of a pale green colour. The
segments into which the fruitless fronds are cut, are more
or less wedge-shaped, and notched or cleft at the end. The
fertile fronds have the segments df an oval or oblong or
linear form.
The divisions of the fertile frond have a slightly tor-
tuous midvein, producing simple or forked venules which
extend nearly to the margin, each, for the most part, bearing
Plate V.
ASPLENIUM. 65
near its extremity a circular sorus. There is no true indu-
sium, but the sori are covered by the reflexed and partially
bleached margins which almost meet behind, and by which
they are quite concealed. These patches are at first distinct,
but ultimately meet laterally.
The Eock Brakes is a mountain Fern, choosing to grow in
stony situations. It is comparatively rare and local ; most
abundant in the north of England and Wales, and less
plentiful in Scotland and Ireland. It grows readily in pots,
and also in a Wardian case, for either of which modes of
cultivation its small size and elegant aspect render it a very
desirable object.
This Eern has been called by several other names, of
which the principal are — Cryptogramma crispa, Pier is
crispa, and Osmunda crispa. The two latter are now quite
obsolete.
Genus VIII. ASPLENIUM, Linnaus.
THE British Aspleniums are small evergreen Eerns, with
long narrow single sori lying in the direction of the veins
which traverse them; and by these marks they may be
66 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
known from all other indigenous Ferns, excepting the Ce-
terach, which latter is readily distinguished from them by
having the back of its fronds coated with brown scales,
among which the sori are hidden. They are the types of
the tribe A-Spleniece, which consists of Ferns having the
elongate masses of fructification attached along the side of
the veins, and covered by an indusium of the same elongated
form as the sori themselves. The Aspleniums are known
from their nearest allies, the Atliyriums, by the latter having
the free margin of the indusium fringed with capillary or
hair-like segments, while the margin of the indusium of As-
plenium is either quite entire or very slightly jagged. There
are nine species of Asplenlum indigenous to Britain, and all
of them are interesting to the cultivators of Ferns.
The word Asplenium comes from the Greek asplenon ; a
name applied by old authors to some kind of Fern possessed
of supposed virtues in curing diseases of the spleen.
ASPLENIUM ADIANTUM-NIGRUM, Linnceus. — The Black
Spleenwort. (Plate XII. fig. 2.)
This is a rather common evergreen Fern, and a very con-
spicuous ornament of the situations where it occurs in a
vigorous state. The fronds grow in tufts, and vary much
in size, from a height of three or four inches when it occurs
ASPLENIUM. 67
on walls, to a foot and a half and even two feet including
the stipes, when it occurs on shady hedge-banks in con-
genial soil. The fronds are triangular, more or less elon-
gated at the point, the shining dark purple stipes being
often as long as, or longer than, the leafy portion, but in
stunted plants growing in sterile situations very much
shorter; they grow erect or drooping, according to the
situations in which they occur. They are bipinnate, or some-
times tripinnate ; the pinnse pinnate, triangular- ovate, drawn
out at the point, the lower pair always longer than the next
above them. The pinnules, especially those on the larger
pinna3, are again pinnate; the alternate pinnules being
deeply lobed, and the margins sharply serrate.
The fronds are of a thick leathery texture, with numerous
veins. To each pinnule there is a distinct midvein or prin-
cipal vein, bearing simple or branched veuules, on which
the sori are produced. All the ultimate divisions of the
fronds, as well as all the larger lobes, have midveins pro-
ducing these simple or branched venules, and these bear the
sori near their junction with the midvein, so that the sori
are placed near the centre of every pinnule or lobe. At
first the sori are distinct, and have the elongate narrow
form common to this genus, but as they become older they
68 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
often spread and become confluent, so that almost the
entire under-surface of the frond is covered with the spore-
cases. The indusium is narrow, with its free margin entire ;
this soon becomes pushed away by the growing sori, and
is lost.
This species is very variable. In dry and exposed places
it is small, and obtuse in its parts, whilst in sheltered,
shady places it is much drawn out or elongated. The ex-
treme states have been considered as varieties ; and it is
true that occasionally there occur plants of which this blunt-
ness seems characteristic, and to these the name of obtusum
is sometimes given ; while on the other hand, sometimes,
but rarely, the form in which all the parts are much nar-
rowed and very acute is met with, and this is called acutum.
These differences become less marked in the cultivated plants
than in those which occur in a wild state, and hence they
seem hardly to deserve to be considered as permanent
varieties. The species has also been met with having the
fronds variegated with white.
The ordinary forms of the plant are very commonly met
with growing on rocks or old walls, and on hedge-banks in
a sandy soil. The latter situations, where they grow most
vigorously, are often beautifully adorned by the drooping
ASPUENIUM. 69
tufts in which they occur. The extreme forms are more
rare.
This is one of the more useful evergreen Terns for shady
rockwork, as it will grow with freedom if planted in sandy
soil, which is just kept moistened either by natural or artifi-
cial means. As a pot plant it is easily manageable.
The blunt-leaved variety alluded to above, is believed to
be the A. obtusum, and the narrowed form the A. acutum,
of continental authors.
ASPLENIUM FONTANUM, R, Brown. — The Smooth Eock
Spleenwort. (Plate XIII. fig. 2.)
This is a small tufted-growing species, seldom seen more
than three or four inches high under ordinary circumstances ;
in a hot-house, where its parts become more lengthened, it
sometimes reaches six or eight inches high, but we never
saw this stature exceeded in cultivated plants, and it is but
rarely attained. The small fronds are evergreen, and mostly
grow nearly upright ; they are of a narrow, lanceolate form,
rather rigid in texture, of a deep green above, paler beneath,
and supported on a very short stipes, which has a few
narrow, pointed scales at the base. In division they are
bipinnate, the pinnse being oblong-ovate, and the pinnules
obovate, tapering to the base, the superior basal pinnule of
70 HISTORY OF BRITISH TERNS.
each pinna having the margin divided by four or five deep,
sharp teeth, the rest of the pinnules and lobes having from
one to three similar teeth. The main rachis of the frond,
as well as the partial rachis of each pinna, have a narrow
winged margin, that is to say, a very narrow leafy expansion
along their sides, throughout their length ; and this is per-
haps the most obvious technical point, except size, by which
to distinguish the present plant from A. lanceolatum. In
structural details they very much resemble each other, so
that in description they appear very similar, although to the
eye they are at all times distinct.
The fronds being rigid and opake, the venation is less
evident than is usual in Ferns. It consists, in each pinnule,
of a central or principal vein, which throws off a venule
towards each lobe or serrature, and in the larger pinnules
some of these venules become divided, so that a veinlet is
directed towards each of the serratures into which the mar-
gin is divided. On two or more of these veins a sorus is
produced, which in form is short compared with those pro-
duced by most of the genus ; the actual form is oblong,
rather flat on the side by which they are attached; and they
are covered by an indusium of similar form, which is waved
and indented on the free margin. Sometimes the sori keep
ASPLENIUM. 71
quite distinct, but it is not uncommon for them to become
confluent so as to cover nearly all the under-surface of the
whole of the little pinnules.
There are some who doubt this species being really a
native of Britain, on the ground that it is not now to be
found in the places where it is said to have been originally
met with. We have been favoured by Mr. Shepherd, of
Liverpool, for many years a cultivator of Ferns, with a frond
gathered at Matlock, in Derbyshire. It has, moreover, been
met with on a very old wall at Tooting, and also on rocks
near Stonehaven ; and considering that it is a very small
plant, and that the places where it would be most likely
to occur are generally the most inaccessible, and, therefore,
the least likely to be searched — considering, moreover,
the many probable localities which exist, and have not
been carefully explored by any keen botanical eye, we
think the probability is that it is really indigenous, though
from these causes it is overlooked. While so many pro-
babilities exist in favour of its being native, we are not
justified in rejecting the statements which the older bota-
nists have left us.
This species is too rare to be often trusted on rock-work,
unless where every provision, such as shade, shelter, and
72 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
moisture, has been made for it ; but planted in a well- drained
pot, and kept in a close, cold frame, or in a damp hot-house,
it grows freely, becoming much more vigorous under the in-
fluence of heat.
The other names which have been given to this Fern,
besides that here adopted, are these : — Aspidium fontanum,
Athyrium fontannm, Polypodium fontanum, and Aspidium
Halleri.
ASPLENIUM GERMANICUM, Weiss. — The Alternate Spleen-
wort. (Plate XIII. fig. 3.)
One of the rarest of our native Ferns, and perfectly dis-
tinct from A. Ruta-mtraria, of which some botanists have
thought it to be a variety. It grows in little tufts, the
fronds being from three to six inches high, sub-evergreen,
narrow-linear in form, pinnate, divided into distant, alternate,
wedge-shaped pinnse, one or two of the lowest having gene-
rally a pair of very deeply divided lobes, the upper ones
more and more slightly lobed, all having their upper ends
toothed or notched.
The whole fronds are quite small, arid the parts narrow,
which, added to their opacity, renders the venation indis-
tinct ; there is no midvein, but each pinna or lobe has a
vein entering from the base, which becomes two or three
ASPLENIUM. 73
times branched as it reaches the broader parts upwards, six
or eight veins generally lying close together, in a narrow fan-
shaped manner, in each of the larger pinnae, the smaller
ones having a proportionately less number. Two or three
linear sori are produced on a pinna, and these are covered
by membranous indusia, the free margin of which is entire,
or slightly sinuous, but not jagged ; the sori at length be-
come confluent.
Yery rarely met with in Scotland, but nowhere else in the
United Kingdom. It is found, but very sparingly, in other
parts of Europe.
This kind is not only rare, but one of those which does
not freely yield to artificial culture. It grows tolerably
freely if potted in well-drained, sandy peat-soil, and kept
under a bell-glass in a shaded frame — or better in a hot-
house ; but the plants are very liable to die in winter. The
safeguard is, not to allow any water to lodge about their
crowns, nor to keep the bell-glass too closely or too con-
stantly over them.
This species is often named A. alternifolium by British
authors ; but the name we have adopted claims precedence.
It has also been called Asplenmm Breynii, Amesium germa-
nicum, and Scolopendrium alternifolium.
HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
ASPLENIUM LANCEOLATUM, ffu&on. — The Lanceolate
Spleenwort. (Plate XII. fig. 1.)
We have here an evergreen Eern of variable size, seldom
in cultivation having the vigour which it exhibits near the
coast in our south-western counties, and especially in the
Channel Islands. As might be expected, it evidently re-
quires a mild and sheltered climate, so that in a hot-house,
where the temperature is not kept too high, it grows freely,
which can seldom be said of plants kept in a cold frame in
the climate of London, and never of plants fully exposed.
Under the least favourable circumstances its fronds are
from four to six inches long; but under the most favourable
conditions they reach the length of a foot, or even a foot
and a half. The fronds are of a lanceolate form, supported
on a brownish-coloured stipes of about a third of their
entire length, the stipes as well as the rachis having, scat-
tered throughout their length, numerous small bristle-like
scales. In the more vigorous wild plants the habit seems
to be erect, but the cultivated plants mostly assume a
spreading or even decumbent mode of growth. This species
is very closely related to the common Asplenium Adiantum-
nigrum, which, in some of its states, very much resembles
it; but the outline of the fronds will, we believe, always
Rate HI.
a
ASPLENIUM. 75
separate them, those of lanceolatum being lance-shaped, or
tapering from near the middle towards the base, while those
of Adiantum-mgrum are always triangular, or broadest at
the base. The pinnse spread at nearly right angles with the
rachis, often, but not always, opposite, and have an ovate-
lanceolate form ; they are again pinnate, so that the frond
is bipinnate. The pinnules are of irregular form, often
obovate, or nearly so, sometimes unequally quadrate, but
always indented on the margin with deep, sharp teeth, the
larger pinnules being first lobed, and the lobes toothed,
the smaller ones simply toothed.
The venation is tolerably distinct; the pinnules each
having a tortuous midvein, which produces forked venules,
one of the veinlets of which extends towards each serrature.
The sori have no very definite order ; they are at first ob-
long, and covered by an indusium of the same form, having
a lacerated free margin ; but as they become old the sides
become bulged out so as to give them a roundish form, and
the indusium becomes obliterated.
This is rather a local species, being found only in the
southern and western parts of England, and in Wales, almost
always near the coast. It is found very luxuriant in the
Channel Islands,
76 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
ASPLENIUM MARINUM, TAwfUKU*. — The Sea Spleenwort.
(Plate XIY. fig. 1.)
This very handsome evergreen Pern, like the Lanceolate
Spleenwort, is a maritime species, occurring profusely on our
south-western rocky coasts and in the Channel Isles, and
extending to Prance and Spain, to Madeira and the Canaries.
In cultivation it thrives most luxuriantly in the atmosphere
of a damp hot-house, where it forms, in a comparatively
short time, a dense mass of the deepest green, and often
reaching a foot and a half in height. In a cold frame, if
kept closed, well-established plants will continue in health,
progressing slowly, and never acquiring half the size of those
grown in heat. In the climate of London it does not pros-
per, nor, as far as we know, survive, if planted on exposed
rock-work. It is a tufted-growing species, with linear or
linear-lanceolate fronds, usually six or eight inches long, of
the deepest glossy green, with a smooth, rather short, dark
brown stipes. The fronds are simply pinnate, with stalked
pinnse, connected at their base by a narrow wing which
extends along the rachis ; their form is either obtusely
ovate or oblong, unequal at the base, the anterior base being
much developed, while the posterior is, as it were, cut away,
the margin being either serrated or crenated.
ASPLENIUM. 77
They are of leathery texture, but the veins are neverthe-
less tolerably evident, each pinna having a midvein, from
which venules are given off alternately on either side, there
again producing a series of veinlets. The sori are produced
on the anterior side of each venule, lying obliquely, and
forming two rows on each side the centre ; they are oblong
or linear, covered by a persistent indusium, which opens
along the anterior margin as the spore-cases grow towards
maturity.
The chief variation to which this Tern appears subject is
that of the elongation of its parts. Sometimes the pinnae are
much elongated, tapering to a narrow point; sometimes,
besides being narrowed, they are auricled at the base, and
deeply lobed.
This species, with the Lanceolate Spleenwort and the
Maiden-hair, are exceedingly well adapted for Wardian cases
in warm sitting-rooms. All of them enjoy the warmth ; and
being all evergreens of moderate size, and very elegant in
structure, they supply just what is wanted in such situations.
They should be planted on elevated rock-work, in sandy
peat-soil, lying in the interstices between the fragments of
stone ; and when once established will grow freely, provided
they are not much exposed to the sun, which they do not
like.
78 HISTOHY OF BRITISH FERNS.
ASPLENIUM RUTA-MURARIA, Linntfus. — The Eue-leaved
Spleen wort, or Wall Hue.
Very diminutive, and not very attractive, occurring abun-
dantly on old walls, often in such situations little more than
an inch high. It grows in tufts, insinuating its wiry roots,
as is the case with all the mural species, into the crevices
and joints of the masonry, and is not easily removed from
such places in a condition suitable for planting. The fronds
are numerous, of a glaucous-green, varying between one
and six inches long, with a stipes about half the entire
length, the leafy part usually triangular in outline, and bi-
pinnate. The pinnce are alternate, with rhomboidal, or
roundish- ovate, or obovate pinnules, sometimes wedge-shaped
with the apex abruptly cut off. The more luxuriant fronds
are once more divided, so as to become almost tripinnate,
the pinnules being deeply pinnatifid, and the lobes of the
form of the ordinary pinnules. Occasionally in immature
specimens the fronds are only once pinnate, with pinnatifid
pinnae. The upper margins of the pinnules are irregularly
toothed.
The veins are rather indistinct, and there is no inidvein,
but a series of veins arise from the base, becoming branched
in the progress towards the apex, the number of ultimate
Plate HIT.
ASPLENIUM. 79
branches usually corresponding with that of the marginal
teeth. Several sori are produced near the centre of the
pinna, covered by indusia which open inwardly with a
jagged or irregularly sinuated margin.
A very common species, confined to rocks and walls, and
occurring throughout Europe and in many parts of North
America.
Synonymous with the name we employ, are the following :
— Amesium Ruta-mwraria, Scolopendrium Ruta-muraria.
ASPLENIUM SEPTENTKIONALE, HM. — The Forked Spleen-
wort. (Plate XII. fig. 3.)
A rare and diminutive Fern. The habit is tufted, com-
paratively large masses being sometimes formed ; the fronds
themselves are very small, from two four inches long, slender,
dull green, with a long stipes, which is dark purple at the
base. The leafy part — if, indeed, it can here be called leafy
—is of a narrow elongate lance-shaped form, split near the
end into two or sometimes three alternate divisions, or in
the smaller fronds merely toothed ; each of these fronds, or
divisions of the frond, has its margin cut into two or more
sharp-pointed teeth, the points of the larger teeth being
very frequently bifid.
The veins are reduced to a minimum ; one vein enters
80 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
each lobe, or if the frond is not lobed the stipes is continued
upwards in the form of a vein ; this becomes forked so as
to send up one vein to each of the teeth into which the
part is divided ; and three or four linear sori are produced
in a very crowded manner within this small space, so that
when from age the sori burst open the indusiurn, the spore-
cases form a confluent mass over the whole under- surface.
The confluent mass of spore-cases arising from the
crowded position of the sori, has led some authors to consider
this plant an Acrostichum, the mark of which is to have the
whole under-surface thus covered. Some of the sori being
face to face, and almost in juxtaposition, has again led other
botanists to think it a Scolopendrium, the mark of which is
to have the sori confluent in pairs face to face ; but if the
plant is examined while young, it will be seen that these
resemblances are unreal, and that it is really an Asplenium.
It is thus that it has been called by the names of Aero-
sticjium septentrionale and Scolopendrium septentrionale ; to
which Amesium septentrionale has to be added as another
synonyme.
In cultivation it requires sandy peat-soil, and the shelter
of a close frame, or bell-glass.
ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES, Linnaw. — The Common
Spleen-wort. (Plate XIII. fig. 5.)
ASPLENIUM. 81
This is rather a diminutive plant, but, when in a vigorous
state, has a very interesting appearance, from the contrast
between its black stipes and rachis, and the bright green
pinnae, and from the regularity with which the latter are
disposed. It grows in tufts, naturally introducing itself
into the joints of old masonry and among the crevices of
rocks, and producing numerous small slender fronds, of a
linear form, in its most vigorous state nearly a foot long,
but generally from three to six inches. They are evergreen,
simply pinnate, on a rather short stipes, which is of a
purplish-black, the rachis also being of the same dark
colour. The pinnae are dull green, small and numerous,
equal-sized, of a roundish-oblong figure, attached to the
rachis by a stalk-like projection of their posterior base ;
the margin is rather entire or crenated. The pinnae are
jointed to the rachis, and when old are readily displaced, so
that eventually the black rachis is left denuded among the
tuft of fronds.
A distinct midvein passes through each pinna, giving off
on each side a series of venules bearing veinlets, the an-
terior of these producing the linear sorus just within the
margin of the pinnae. The sori, which in the young state
are covered by a thin indusium having a somewhat crenu-
G
8£ HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
lated free margin, very frequently in a later stage become
confluent/ and cover the whole of the under surface.
A very rare and very curious variety of this species has
the pinnae deeply pinnatifid, with linear notched segments ;
this is sometimes distinguished by the name of incisum.
The ordinary form of the species occurs rather plentifully
growing on rocks, old walls, and ruins, and less frequently
on hedge-row banks. It is pretty generally distributed
throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland ; and also
occurs throughout Europe, and in each of the other divisions
of the globe.
This is one of the species of Ferns which has enjoyed a
medicinal reputation, a tea and a syrup prepared from it
being a country remedy for coughs and colds.
When once established this plant grows readily either in
pots or on rock- work ; but its roots being wiry, and gene-
rally inserted into the crevices of the walls or rocks on
which it grows, it is sometimes found to be difficult to
transplant. In general the smaller and younger plants may
be removed with greater success than the larger and older
ones. The newly transplanted roots should be kept rather
close, if possible, for a short time ; but after they are esta-
blished, shade is not so essential to this species as to most
ASPLENIUM. 83
other Perns,, although it grows most vigorously under the
influence of shade and shelter. In a Wardian case, for
which its size is suitable, it should have the upper and drier
parts of the rock -work.
Asplenium melanocaulon is another name which has been
given to the common Spleen wort.
ASPLENIUM VIEIDE, Hudson. — The Green Spleenwort. \
(Plate XIII. fig. 4.)
This Fern has such a general resemblance to A. Tric/w-
manes as to have been mistaken for it by casual observers.
It is, however, quite distinct, and is most readily known
from A. TricJiomanes by the colour of its rachis, which, is
green in the upper part, while in the latter it is black
throughout. It is an evergreen tufted species, producing
narrow, linear, simply pinnate, bright pale green fronds,
ranging from two to eight or ten inches in length, supported
by a short stipes, which is dark -coloured at the very base,
but otherwise green, the rachis being entirely green. The
pinnse are small, generally roundish- ovate, rather tapered
towards the base, and attached to the rachis by the narrowed
stalk-like part, the margin being deeply crenated.
The venation is distinct : the midvein sends off alternately
a series of venules, which are either simple or forked, bearing
84 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
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.
A native of moist,, rocky, mountainous districts in Eng-
land, Scotland, and Wales ; occurring, also, though less
frequently, in Ireland, and throughout Europe.
It is not difficult to cultivate in pots in a close, damp,
cold frame ; or on moist, shady rock-work, if covered over
by 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 our summers. The object of
covering it with a glass is to avoid both these casualties, and
provided it is not kept too close it will then thrive well.
The proper bell-glasses for these half-hardy Perns are those
with a small opening in the crown, which may be closed or
not at pleasure, but, in general, are best left open. In pots
it should have a gritty, porous soil.
Genus VII. ATHYEIUM, Both.
IN the Athyrium we have perhaps the most variable of all
our native Perns; though the varieties it presents, and
ATHYRIUM. 85
which have been from time to time looked upon as affording
so many distinct kinds, are now almost universally considered
as different phases of one species. Viewed in this light, the
species is certainly not a very constant one, which fact seems
all the more inappropriate, inasmuch as the species itself is
that to which the name of Lady Pern is applied. All the
various forms are plants with delicate and beautiful fronds
of annual duration, varying in size from tufts of a few inches
high, to plumy masses of the height of three or four feet.
The texture is thin, and almost transparent, on which account
the nature of the venation and of the connection of the parts
of fructification may be here very well seen and studied.
They serve to connect the Aspidium-like and the Asplenium-
like groups, differing, however, obviously from the former in
having the sori elongate instead of round ; although from the
circumstance that in age the sori here become somewhat
curved or reniform, thus approaching the rounded form, this
very species, the Lady Pern, has, by many writers of dis-
crimination, been placed in the old genus Aspidmm. If,
however, the fructification is examined while young, imme-
diately before or after the indusium has burst, its true cha-
racter will readily be seen. We have here an illustration of
the inconvenience which arises from the preservation only of
86 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
herbarium specimens in wlu'ch the fructification is quite
mature ; for this, without doubt, was the cause of the Lady
Fern having been referred to the family of Aspidium} with
which it has no real affinity. The affinity of the Lady Fern
is properly with the Aspleniums, and there is less reason to
dispute the conclusions of those who actually place it as a
species of Asplenium ; although, as there is a difference be-
tween them, and the genus Asplenium is rather a crowded
one, it is a convenience to have them separated. The mark
by which the Aspleniums and their allies are known, in
addition to the elongated form of the sorus, is its position
on the side, not the back, of the veins ; the receptacle being
lateral, as it is said. From Asplenium itself, the Athynum
is known by having its indusium fringed on the free margin
with capillary segments, while in Asplenium proper the
margin of the indusium is without this membranous fringe.
There is, as already mentioned, only one indigenous species
of AtJiyrium. The Asplenium fontanum is sometimes ad-
mitted, but we think it does not properly belong to this
genus.
The name is derived from the Greek, and comes from
atliyros, opened ; the allusion being to the position assumed
by the indusium, which stands out from the surface of the
Plate XL
^I/VYA. l/V U\ ^ tC V/ .^VVA, —
ATHYRIUM. 87
frond like an opened door, after the growth of the spore-
cases has disrupted its anterior margin, and eventually is
quite turned back.
ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCEMINA, Roth. — The Lady Pern.
(Plate XI.) v
The Lady Pern, on account of the exquisite grace of its
habit of growth, the elegance of its form, and the delicacy
of its hue, claims precedence over every other British species ;
and this is more or less true of every one of its variable con-
ditions. The habit of the plant is tufted, the caudex of the
larger varieties often with age acquiring some length, and
elevating the circlet of fronds on a low, rude pedestal ; this
stem, however, never acquires more than a few inches in
length. In winter, the summit of this stem, whether a tuft
seated close to the ground, or elevated a few inches above
the surface, is occupied by a mass of incipient fronds, each
rolled up separately, and nestling in a bed of chaffy scales.
About May these fronds become developed, and from the
strong old roots a score or upwards are usually produced ;
they reach maturity early in the summer, during which time
a few additional fronds are generally developed from the
centre ; and the whole of them are destroyed by the autumn
frosts under ordinary circumstances. The form of the fronds
55 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
is lanceolate, more or less broad ; and they are supported
On stipes which are scaly at the base, and usually about a
third of the entire length of the fronds. The division of the
fronds is what is called bipinnate; the pinnae are always
lanceolate, more or less drawn out at the point, and they are
always again pinnate, though sometimes with the bases of
the pinnules connected by a narrow leafy wing, but not so
much so as to render them merely pinnatifid. The pinnules,
however, are more or less lobed or pinnatifid, the lobes being
sharply toothed in a varying manner.
Prom the delicate herbaceous texture of the fronds the
venation is very distinct; and is seen to consist, in each
pinnule, of a wavy midvein, from which proceed alternate
venules, which again produce alternate veinlets, and on the
anterior side of this series of veins, at some distance from
the margin, is borne an oblong sorus ; in the larger and
more divided pinnules the veining is more compound, and
more than one sorus is produced from each primary venule,
which thus becomes a midvein, with branches on a smaller
scale. The sori are themselves oblong, a little curved, and
they are covered by indusia of the same form. Both the
sorus and the indusium, on the development of the spore-
cases, become bulged in the centre and contracted at the
ATHYRIUM. 89
ends, appearing more curved than before, and the sorns
thus becomes finally roundish in outline, and the indusinm
apparently almost circular with a lateral notch; in this
state it somewhat resembles a Lastrea. On one side the in-
dusium is fixed longitudinally to the side of the vein which
forms the receptacle ; its other margin, the anterior one, or
that towards the midvein of the pinnule, becomes free, and
is then seen to be fringed, or split into a number of hair -like
segments. This description applies to the commoner forms
of the Lady Pern, which, however, are very variable in size,
according to the situation and circumstances which influence
their development, sometimes scarcely exceeding a foot in
height, and at other times reaching the height of four or
five feet, the latter being the result of growth in a damp,
shady situation, the former the consequence of a more exposed
and drier locality.
Of the varieties we shall notice only the most striking,
and of these convexum is botanically the most distinct, and
probably should be regarded as a distinct species. It differs
from the commoner Lady Perns in its more lady-like pro-
portions, both its fronds, its pinnse, and its pinnules being
smaller and more slender than in them. The fronds seldom
exceed two feet in height, and are often less ; they are more
90 HISTORY OP BRITISH FEIINS.
erect, and their form is narrow-lanceolate ; the pinnae are
taper-pointed ; the pinnules set quite clear of each other,
very narrow, that is, linear, with sharp points, the margins
bluntly toothed, but rolled under so that very little of the
toothing is seen; the sori are very often confluent. It oc-
curs sparingly in boggy places.
The variety latifolmm of Mr. JBabington, which appears
to be the Mhyrium latifolmm of Presl, a German writer on
Perns, is probably also a distinct species. This differs from the
common forms in the elongate or oblong-lanceolate outline
of its fronds, and in the broad, leafy, crowded development
of its pinnules, which are somewhat irregularly lobed, as well
as deeply toothed at the margin, with the curved sori lying
near the sinus of the lobes. This is a strong- growing form.
It has been recently found near, Keswick, in Cumberland.
The variety nolle has ovate-lanceolate fronds, growing
nearly erect, the lower pair of pinnse being short and de-
flexed ; it has flat, toothed pinnules, connected at their base
by a slender wing to the midrib, and produces its sori dis-
tinct. This is a small form, often not more than about a
foot in height.
Besides these, there are three varieties of horticultural in-
terest. One called multifidum, which has the habit of con-
ATHYBIUM. 91
vexum, but is more vigorous, has the tips of all the pinnae,
as well as of the frond itself, multifid or tasselled, which
gives it a very elegant appearance. Another, which we call
crispum, is a dwarf tufted plant, no larger than a bunch of
curled parsley, which it much resembles, its fronds being
curiously crisped and tasselled. These two are, strictly
speaking, monstrosities, but they have retained their cha-
racteristics for many years in cultivation, and are very elegant.
Another curious form we propose to call marinum : it
was found by Dr. Dickie growing along with Cystopteris
DicJcieana, in a cave near the sea at Aberdeen, and has now
for five or six years been cultivated along with other hardy
Perns, and retains its distinct appearance and characteristics.
It has small fronds about a foot long, lanceolate, and re-
markable for the manner in which they taper from their
broad centre, equally towards the base and apex; these
fronds, moreover, have a spreading or horizontal mode of
growth ; their pinnules are oblong and bluntly toothed, and
attached closely together, at right angles with the continu-
ously winged rachis of the pinnae. The sori are very short,
often curved in a horse-shoe form, and crowded on the small
pinnules.
The common Lady Pern is abundant in warm moist woods
92 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
and hedge-rows throughout Great Britain, and especially so
in Ireland ; it also occurs throughout Europe, and in Asia,
Africa, and North America. The monstrous varieties are of
Irish origin; though the parsley-like one has also been
found in Scotland.
Pew of our native Ferns are more easily cultivated than
this. A rather boggy soil suits it best, and it loves shade
and moisture ; indeed, these latter conditions being fulfilled,
soil becomes a secondary consideration. The moisture,
however, though abundant, should not be stagnant. The
Lady Pern is occasionally seen planted in the mouth of a
cave or recess by water among shady rock-work ; nothing is
so lovely as a finely-grown plant of it so situated.
" Supreme in her beauty, beside the full urn,
In the shade of the rock, stands the tall Lady Fern."
As a pot plant it requires plenty of room, both for its
roots and fronds, and must be liberally watered.
By the older botanists this plant was called Polypodium
Filix-fcemina. It was then transferred to Aspidium, under
the name of Aspidmm Filix-foemina ; and subsequently by
other botanists it has been called Asplenium Filix-fcemina,
which latter name is still given to it by those who do not
adopt the genus Atliyrium.
93
Genus XIII. BLECHNUM, Linnam.
IT is not quite agreed among botanists, whether the English
plant should be considered a member of the genus or family
called BlecJmum, or that which bears the name of Lomaria.
We think it most nearly related to the former, although
in the contraction of its fertile fronds it approaches very
near the latter. Among the British species the plant under
notice — for there is only one native species of the genus —
is known by having its fructification extended longitudinally
on the pinnse, so as to form a linear or continuous sorus on
each side the midvein, and about midway between it and
the margin. The only other British Pern which has its
fructification in extended lines lying parallel with the mid-
rib, is the Pteris, or Bracken, in which, however, the sorus
is on the margin, and not within the margin and near the
mid vein, as in Bleehnim. The BlecJmum may, however,
be at once known from the Pteris, by the division of its
fronds, which are merely pinnate, while those of Pteris are
decompound.
The name BlecJmum is an adaptation of the Greek blech-
non, which signifies, a Fern. There is but one native
species, £. Spicant; and we take the opportunity to state
94 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
here, why we prefer this specific name to that of boreale,
which is now more commonly used. The name of Blechnum
Spicant was applied to this plant by Both, Relhan, With-
ering, Symons, and Hull, before that of B. loreale was
given to it by Swartz ; it has, therefore, unquestionably the
right of priority. Besides this, the specific name Spicant
has been used to distinguish this plant by nearly all the
older botanists, though they have held very conflicting views
as to the genus to which it belonged, referring it, for ex-
ample, among others, to Osmunda, to Onoclea, to Acrosti-
chum, and to Asplenmm. Thus all the evidence is in favour
of the name we adopt.
BLECHNUM SPICANT, Both. — The Hard Fern. (Plate
XVI. fig. 2.)
The common name of this species is very appropriate,
from the rigid harshness of its texture. It is one of the few
native kinds which produce two distinct-looking kinds of
frond — fertile and barren. The fertile ones have their
pinnae much narrowed, or contracted, as it is called, while
the fronds themselves are considerably taller than the bar-
ren ones. These fronds grow in large tufts, and being
very gracefully disposed, the plant becomes one of the most
ornamental of our wild species during the summer season,
BLECHNUM. 95
when its fronds are in a fresh state. Both kinds of fronds
are of a narrow lanceolate form ; the barren ones being only
deeply pinnatifid, while the fertile ones are pinnate ; but the
segments in both are long and narrow, like the teeth of a
comb. The barren fronds, which are from one-half to two-
thirds the height of the fertile ones, assume a spreading or
horizontal position, and are attached to the caudex by a
very short scaly stipes. The fertile ones, which are situated
in the centre of the tufts, are erect, from one to two feet
high, the stipes, which is sparingly furnished with long
pointed scales, being nearly half the length, and of a dark
brown colour.
The veins are not very evident in the fertile fronds, on
account of the contraction of the parts, but they resemble
those of the barren ones, except in having a longitudinal
venule on each side the midvein, forming the recep-
tacle to which the spore-cases are attached. The midvein is
prominent, and produces a series of venules on each side,
these becoming forked, and extending almost to the
margin, terminating in a club-shaped head. In the fertile
fronds the veinlets are necessarily shorter, and connected, as
already mentioned, by the longitudinal venules which bear
the fructification. The spore-cases are thus arranged in
96 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
two linear sori, one on each side the midvein ; these are dis-
tinct while young, but soon become confluent, covering the
whole under-surface of the pinnse. The indusia, by which
they are at first covered,, burst along that side towards the
midrib, and eventually become split across here and there,
at points opposite some of the venules.
The Hard Fern is a rather common plant, occurring in
heathy and stony places, and preferring localities which are
rather damp than otherwise. It is found in various parts
of Europe. In cultivation, it is a very suitable plant for
damp shady rock-work, and in such situations, planted
in peaty soil, it grows freely, and without requiring any
special attention.
The principal of its synonyms are — Lomaria Spicant,
Blechnum boreale, Osmunda Spicani, Asplenium Spicant,
Onoclea Spicant, Acrostickum Spicant, Struthiopteris Spicant,
and Osmunda borealis.
Genus XVIII. BOTEYCHIUM, Swartz.
THIS is called Moonwort, and is a small and very distinct
plant, easily known by two circumstances, — first, it has two
BOTRYCHIUM. 97
fronds, or rather two branches of its frond, the one of which
is leafy, the other seedy ; and secondly, the pinnae of the
leafy branch are crescent- shaped, with the outer margin
jagged. There is no other native plant which has these
peculiar features, and hence the Moonwort is a plant very
easily recognized when it is met with. It is rather local in
its range, but not scarce in the localities where it is found,
which are open heaths and pastures, rather dry than
otherwise. The spore-cases are collected into branched
clusters at the end of the fertile branch ; the little branches
of the cluster are all turned one way, and the spore-cases
themselves are numerous and globular, and somewhat re-
semble in the aggregate a miniature erect bunch of grapes.
There is a peculiarity in this Pern which also serves to
distinguish it, and its near ally the Opkioglossum, or Ad-
der's-tongue, from all other native species — the venation
is straight, not circinate; that is, the fronds, before they
are developed, are not rolled up spirally, unrolling as they
expand, but in the incipient state the parts are merely
folded together by a flat surface. Only one species of
Botrychium is indigenous.
BOTRYCHIUM LUNARIA, Swartz. — The Moonwort. (Plate
XVIII. fig. 2.)
H
98 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
This is a very peculiar plant, exceedingly interesting to
the student of Perns,, from the differences of structure and
development it exhibits as compared with the majority of
Ferns. It is an almost stemless plant, furnished with a few
coarse brittle fibres, and a bud springing from the perma-
nent point which represents the stem. Within this bud,
before the season at which the fronds are developed, they
may be found in an embryo condition, perfectly formed, the
two branches of the frond placed face to face, the fertile
being clasped by the barren one. This new frond springs
up annually, and perishes before winter, and in the majority
of cases is not very conspicuous. The size varies from
three to eight or ten inches in height, the lower half con-
sisting of a smooth, erect, cylindrical, hollow stipes, the
base of which is invested by a brown membranous sheath,
which had covered it while in the bud.
Above, the frond is separated into two branches, one of
which is spreading, pinnate, leafy, lance-shaped ; the pinnae
crescent-shaped, or somewhat fan-shaped approaching to
lunate, filled with a radiating series of two or three times
forked veins, such as occur in Adiantum, one vein extending
into each of the crenatures into which the margin is divided.
The other branch is erect, fertile, compoundly branched,
CETEEACH. 99
that is, it is first divided into branches corresponding with
the pinnae, and these again into another series of branches,
on which, distinct, but clustered, the globose stalkless spore-
cases are produced. The spore-cases are two-valved, and
open transversely when ripe ; the valves are concave.
Occasionally, though very rarely, two fertile branches are
produced, and there is a variety in which the pinnae are
pinnatifid.
This species is widely distributed, but local, occurring in
open heaths and pastures, where the soil is peaty, and not
very wet. The same plant occurs in other parts of Europe,
and also in North America.
The Moonwort is not very easily cultivated. It may,
however, be preserved in pots in a cold frame, if transplanted
while dormant into rather unctuous peaty soil, and kept
from either of the extremes of drought or saturation. The
roots should not often be disturbed when once established.
The Moonwort is the Osmimda Lunaria of Linnaeus.
Genus IX. CETERACH, Willdenow.
THE genus Ceterach furnishes only one British species ; and
this is so different from all others as to be distinctly re-
100 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
cognized at a glance. The mark by which it is known is
this : — the back of every frond is covered by densely-
packed, brown, pointed, chaffy scales. Among these scales,
and concealed by them, lie the elongate sori, which are
anomalous, in regard to their relationship, in having no
indusium. The affinity of Ceterach is without doubt with the
Asplenium-like Perns, and this being the case they ought
to have an indusium ; the Polypody-like and Acrostichum-
like Perns only, among the dorsal groups, wanting this
cover to the sori. No indusium, however, exists here,
unless it be represented by a kind of membranous ridge,
which exists on the receptacles just behind the sori, and is
the part which has been called an indusium. The proba-
bility is, that it does represent that organ, which is not
largely developed in consequence of the presence of so
dense a covering of scales, these not only serving the pur-
pose of a cover to the sori, but perhaps, from their crowded
position, preventing its proper formation.
The name Ceterack is an alteration of the word Chetkerak,
which was applied to this plant by Persian and Arabian
medical writers.
CETERACH OFFICINARUM, Willdenow. — The Scaly Spleen-
wort. (Plate I. fig. 1.)
Plate 1 .
CETEEACH. 101
A downy, evergreen, distinct-looking, and very pretty
Fern, growing in tufts. The fronds when fresh are thick
and rather fleshy, and from this cause, as well as the
densely- packed scaly covering of the under surface, they
are perfectly opake when dry. Their size is variable, ac-
cording to the circumstances of their growth : they are
found from two to six inches in length, rarely exceeding the
latter. They grow on a short scaly stipes, and are either
pinnatifid, as is commonly the case, or more rarely pinnate,
the difference being, that in the latter the fronds are
divided rather more deeply than in the former. The upper
surface is a deep opake green, prettily contrasting with the
rust-coloured brown of the scales on the under surface,
these being just seen projecting from the margin, and still
more fully in the exposed under surface of the young par-
tially-developed fronds. The pinnse or lobes are of an ovate
form, and either entire or lobed on the margin.
The opacity of the fronds renders the venation indistinct,
and indeed it is only to be made out by examining young
fronds, removing the covering of scales, and the outer skin
of the frond itself. It is then seen, that from the lower
corner the principal vein enters, taking a sinuous course
towards the upper side of the apex; it branches alter-
10£ HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
nately, the venules being again branched, and the veinlets
anastomosing more or less near the margin. The sori are
borne along the sides of the venules in a very irregular
manner, the majority of them being directed towards the
apex of the pinna ; at first the sori are quite concealed by
the scales, but the spore-cases ultimately protrude between
them, although, being very similar in colour, the latter are
never very obvious.
The Ceteracli is a mural species, occurring on the walls
of old buildings and ruins, and in rocky places. It is
pretty generally distributed in the United Kingdom, but is
considered somewhat rare in Scotland. It occurs also
throughout central and southern Europe, and in the north
of Africa.
Like other wall Ferns, this is often difficult to establish
in cultivation when first transplanted ; but when once this
is overcome its cultivation is not difficult. It is best grown
in a cold frame, potted rather high, among loam mixed with
a large proportion of brick -rubbish, and not over- watered.
Though generally found in exposed and rather sunny situa-
tions, the finest examples we have seen were found in a
shaded, moist situation, under trees, where sunshine never
visited them.
CYSTOPTEEIS. 103
»
Among other names, this plant has borne those of Asple-
nium Ceterack, Scolopendrium Ceterach, Grammitis Ceterach,
Notolepeum Ceterach, and Gymnogramma Ceterach.
Genus VI. CYSTOPTERIS, Bernhardi.
THE species of Cystopteris are all small, fragile Ferns, yet,
notwithstanding, they are very beautiful and very interesting,
and furnish some remarkable differences of form. They are
much more delicate and herbaceous in their texture than the
majority of our native species, and hence are well adapted
for the purpose of minute investigation into the nature of
their venation and fructification. Their texture alone almost
suffices to tell a practised eye their family position, but the
tyro needs a more precise characteristic, and this is found in
the structure of the scale or indusium which covers the sori.
The sori in these plants are round, as in Lastrea and Poly-
stichum, all, equally with Cystopteris, once included under
the old family name of Aspldmm ; but here, instead of being
almost flat and circular, the indusium is inflated or bulged
out like a hood, and is attached at the back (towards the
base of the pinnule) of the sori by its broad base, covering
104 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
the sori while in a young state, but becoming ultimately
reflexed at the point, which is more or less jagged or fringed.
Hence these plants are called Bladder Terns. There are
three native species, of one of which numerous distinct
forms or varieties occur.
The technical name comes from two Greek words, kystos,
and pteris, which respectively mean bladder, and fern ; so
that in this case the English appellation is a literal trans-
lation of the scientific name.
CYSTOPTERIS ALPINA, Desvaux. — The Alpine Bladder-
Fern. (Plate X. fig. 2.)
A diminutive but very elegant plant, quite a gem. It
has a close tufted stem, producing from its crown numerous
bright green fronds, usually four to six inches, but some-
times as much as ten inches high. These grow up in May,
and die away in autumn. Their form is lanceolate, the
mode of division bipinnate, with the pinnules so deeply pin-
natifid as to render them almost tripinnate. The stipes is
short, smooth, and scaly at the base. The pinnse are nearly
opposite, with a winged rachis, ovate, divided into bluntly
ovate pinnules, these latter being deeply cleft, almost down
to their mid vein, into short, blunt, linear lobes, which are
either entire, or have two or three blunt teeth.
CYSTOPTERIS. 105
The midveiii of the pinnules is nearly straight, with a
venule, simple or divided, branching off to each lobe, one
branch extending to the point of each marginal tooth. The
small roundish sori are rather numerous, but not confluent,
borne near the margin, and covered by a concave mem-
branous indusium.
This species, which is cultivated like the other species of
Cystopteris without difficulty, has been found (formerly in
abundance, now, we believe, almost exterminated) on an old
wall at Leyton, in Essex. Indeed, its claim to aboriginality
is strongly suspected, a small, much-divided form of Cysto-
pteris fragilis being supposed to have been mistaken for it.
The Scotch and Welsh plants which have been called Cysto-
pteris atpina are probably open to this objection, but there is
reason to believe the Essex plant to have been genuine ; and
I have fronds of the true plant, communicated by a Eern
cultivator, Mr. Shepherd, of Liverpool, which, he informs
me, were gathered in Derbyshire and Yorkshire. It occurs
in the alpine parts of southern Europe.
Cystopteris regia is another name for this elegant plant,
which has also been called Cyatliea regia and Cyathea incisa,
Cystea regia, Polypodium alpinum, Aspidium regium, and
Polypodium trifidum.
106 HISTORY OF BRITISH FEIINS.
CYSTOPTERIS FRAGILIS, Bernhardi. — The Brittle Bladder-
Pern. (Plate X. fig. 1.)
This is a tufted-growing plant, spreading, if undisturbed
under congenial circumstances, into large patches of nume-
rous crowns, each of which throws up a tuft of several
fronds, growing from six inches to a foot, sometimes more,
in height. The stipes, which is very brittle, dark-coloured,
and shining, with a few small scales at the base, is usually
rather more than a third of the length of the frond, and
generally erect. The form of the frond is lanceolate ; it is
bipinnate, the pinnse lanceolate, the pinnules ovate acute,
cut more or less deeply on the margin, the lobes furnished
with a few pointed teeth. In some of the plants, and
usually owing to their vigour, 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 pinnse and frond.
The venation is very readily seen, owing to the delicate
texture of the frond. In the ordinary-sized pinnules there
is a somewhat tortuous midvein, which gives off a lateral
branch or venule to each of the lobes into which the margin
is cut, these venules branching again into two, three, four,
or more veinlets, according to the size of the lobes, and each
FlateX.
CYSTOPTERIS. 107
branch generally bearing a sorus at about midway its length.
The sori are thus generally numerous, and rather irregularly
disposed; and it often occurs that they are so numerous as,
when fully grown, to become confluent into a mass of fructi-
fication covering the whole under surface of the frond. The
number of sori produced, and consequently the sparse or
crowded disposition of the fructification, is a matter alto-
gether dependent upon the circumstances of growth, and
hence exceedingly liable to vary even in the same plant, and
within the same year, as heat or cold, drought or moisture,
may preponderate. The sori, which are nearly circular, are
covered while young by a concave or hood-shaped indusium,
which is attached by its broad base on one side beneath the
sori, and has its apex ultimately free; this part usually be-
comes torn or split into narrow segments, and the whole soon
becomes pushed back or cast off by the growing spore- cases.
There are many forms or varieties of this species. Two
of them, called cynapifotia and antliriscifolia, do not seem
to need any distinct description. Another, called angustata,
is rather larger, generally, than the typical form, but differs
more by having the points of its pinnae and the apex of the
frond itself drawn out considerably into very narrowr points
than in any other circumstance readily pointed out.
108 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Another distinct variety, called dentata, is generally
smaller, and almost always blunter in the form of its parts ;
this grows from six to eight inches high, and has ovate-lan-
ceolate pinnae, with ovate, obtuse, pointless pinnules, which
are again divided on the margin into a series of short blunt
notches or teeth ; the venation is more simple, and the fructi-
fication is more marginal, than in any of the preceding forms.
The most distinct of all the varieties, however, is one
which we have called Dickieana, after Dr. Dickie, its dis-
coverer ; it has a more compact frond than any of the pre-
ceding, grows from four to six inches in height, in outline
almost ovate, terminating in a point, the pinnse ovate-lanceo-
late, overlapping each other, the pinnules decurrent, broad,
obtuse, with a few shallow, marginal notches ; the texture is
very delicate and herbaceous, and the fructification marginal.
It is of a deep green, and has often a degree of translucency
which makes it very interesting ; it is a constant variety
under cultivation.
The usual forms of this species occur abundantly in moist
mountainous districts, and also on walls, but generally in
moist rocky situations throughout the United Kingdom,
Ireland excepted, where it is comparatively rare. The same
species is very widely dispersed in various parts of the world.
CYSTOPTERIS. 109
The varieties are more rare, and we know of only one locality,
a sea-cave, near Aberdeen, in which Dickieana has been
found. Cystopteris fragilis may be said to have rather a
preference to limestone. Under cultivation it is one of the
most manageable of the smaller sorts, growing freely on
rock -work or in pots. Its fronds are produced very early in
spring, are often renewed during summer, and continue to
grow up in succession until the frost cuts them off. Being
so very delicate in texture, the first frosts which have access
to them do this.
The names of Cyathea fragilis, C. cynapifolia, C.anthris-
cifolia, C. dentata ; Cystea fragilis, C. angustata, C. dentata ;
Poly podium fragile, P. cynapifolium, P. antJiriscifolium, P.
dentatum, P. rh&ticum ; Aspidium fragile, A. dentatum, and
A, rhaticum have been given by various authors to the dif-
ferent forms of this variable species.
CYSTOPTERIS MONTANA, Link. — The Mountain Bladder-
Fern. (Plate XIV, fig. 2.)
This is the rarest of our native Ferns, and hence is a
plant of great interest. It is a small species, growing with
a slender creeping scaly stem, by the division of which it is
increased. The fronds, which grow up from this caudex, are
from four to six or eight inches high, triangular in outline,
110 HISTORY OF BEITISH FERNS.
from the great development of the lowest pair of pinnae ; and
they are remarkable for the comparative length of the
slender stipes, which is about twice as long as the leafy
portion. The fronds are tripinnate in the lower part, and
bipinnate upwards, the pinnae spreading, and standing op-
posite in pairs, the lowest pair considerably larger than the
next above, and unequally developed, the inferior side being
very much larger than the superior ; this disproportion is
not maintained to the same extent in the upper portions of
the frond. The lower pinnae, on the inferior side, are first
divided into ovate or lanceolate pinnules, and these are
again cut into a second series of pinnules, of an ovate or
oblong form, these ultimate pinnules being coarsely and
irregularly notched or toothed; on the upper side, the
pinnules correspond with the secondary pinnules of the
lower side. The inferior pinnules of the next pair of pinnae
also correspond in size, outline, and subdivision with the
secondary pinnules of the lower pimi83; and above this
the parts become gradually smaller and less divided up to
the apex of the frond.
The whole texture of the fronds is delicate and herba-
ceous, as in the more common species, and hence the veins
show very distinctly. In the ultimate pinnules the central
Ill
vein is somewhat flexuous, and gives off alternate lateral
veins, one of which is directed toward the sinus or margi-
nal indentation between two serratures. The sori have the
usual roundish form common in this genus, and, being
numerous, they become very conspicuous when fall-grown ;
but though crowded they do not appear often to become
confluent. These sori are covered, in the young state, by
a blunt, concave, jagged-edged indusium.
This rare species occurs wild in the United Kingdom only,
as far as is known, among the Breadalbane mountains of
Scotland, on one of which, Ben Lawers, it was originally
found by Mr. Wilson, in company with Sir W. J. Hooker
and Professor Graham ; this was in August 1836. Subse-
quently, in 1841, Messrs. Gourlie and Adamson again met
with it, on the "mountains between Glen Dochart and
Glen Lochey." Mr. Gourlie again, we believe, as well as
Dr. Arnott and Mr. Borrer, met with it in 1850. In the
European Alps this Fern is met with, most abundantly
northwards ; and it also occurs on the Eocky Mountains of
the New World, occurring for the most part in its wild
haunts, on rough stony ground in sub-alpine regions, but
sometimes also in woods.
The synonyms of this species are Polypodium montanum,
Aspidium montanum, and CyatJiea montana.
112 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
Genus XY. HYMENOPHYLLUM, Smith.
THE British Hymenophyllwm*, or Filmy Ferns, are small
moss-like plants, with pellucid fronds, distinguished, along
with Trichomanes, by having the fructifications at the edge,
not on the back of the fronds ; and known from that
genus by having the involucres which surround the clusters
of spore-cases, two-valved instead of urn-shaped or entire.
So far as our native species go, these distinctions serve, but
they become puzzling in some exotic forms, which it is not
easy to refer to their proper genus. They are the smallest
of all our native Ferns, and, being somewhat rare, or at
least local in their distribution, they have always been re-
garded with much interest. Two native species are recog-
nized, much like each other in general aspect, and distin-
guished by one or two rather minute technicalities, which,
however, are sufficiently obvious to those who have learned
how to look for them. These peculiarities will be presently
explained.
The name Hymenopliyllum is compounded from the two
Greek words hymen and phyllon, which mean a membrane,
and a leaf; and is applied to those plants with much pro-
priety, from the membranous texture of their fronds.
HYMENOPHYLLTJM. 113
HYMENOPHYLLUM TUNBRIDGENSE, Smith. — The Tun-
bridge Filmy Eern. (Plate- XY. fig. 2.) f^\
This is so named in consequence of its having been
found in the neighbourhood of Tunbridge, though occurring
also in many other parts of the United Kingdom. It grows
in the form of matted tufts, on the surface of damp rocks,
in the sheltered, humid localities which are congenial to
it; the black, wire-like, creeping stems being entangled
together, and interlaced with the mosses and allied plants
which are often found in its company. The fronds are very
short, from one to three or four inches long, membranous
and semitransparent, almost erect, and of a dull brownish-
green even when fresh, which gives them in some measure
the appearance of being dead. These fronds are lanceolate,
or somewhat ovate; they are pinnate, with the pinnae pin-
natifid or bipinnatifid, and having their branches mostly
produced on the upper side, though sometimes alternately
on each side the pinna.
The fronds are virtually, as is the case with the TricJw-
manes, a branched series of rigid veins, winged throughout,
except on the lower part of the short stipes, by a narrow,
membranous, leafy margin. The clusters of spore-cases are
here produced around the axis of a vein, which is continued
i
114 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
beyond the margin of the fronds, this vein or receptacle
being enclosed within an urn-shaped involucre, consisting
of two nearly orbicular compressed valves, which are spi-
nosely serrate on the upper margin.
It is a species widely distributed throughout the United
Kingdom, and is found in many other parts of the world.
It requires the same conditions for its successful cultiva-
tion as does the Trichomanes, to which genus the reader is
referred. ; ...
It is the TricJwmanes turibndgense of Linnaeus.
HYMENOPHYLLUM IJNILATERALE, Willdenow. — Wilson's
Filmy Fern. (Plate XV. fig. 3.)
This plant is by English botanists most commonly called
Hymenopkyllum Wilsoni, but there is no ground to doubt
that it is identical with H. imilaterale, a name published
by Willdenow long before that of Wilsoni ; we have, there-
fore, adopted Willdenow' s name on the ground of priority.
The species is a small moss-like plant, with numerous
creeping filiform stems, generally growing in dense tufts,
and producing a crowded mass of semi- drooping, brown-
green, half -transparent fronds, averaging three or four
inches in height. The fronds are of a linear-lanceolate
form, and pinnate ; the rachis is usually somewhat curved,
H YMENOPHYLLUM. 115
and the pinnae are convex above, all turned one way, so
that the fronds become more or less unilateral ; the outline
of the pinnae is wedge-shaped, cut in a digitate-pinnatifid
way, the lobes being linear-obtuse with a spinulose-serrate
margin.
The rigid veins, branching from the principal rachis,
which is very slightly winged in the upper part, become
themselves branched so as to produce one venule to each
segment ; or, in other words, the veins are twice branched,
and throughout their entire length after they leave the
primary rachis they are furnished with a narrow membra-
nous leafy wing or border, the primary rachis itself being
almost quite without any such border. The clusters of spore-
cases are collected around the free ends of veins, which
usually occupy the place of the lowest anterior segment, and
are included within an urceolate involucre, which is divided
into two oblong convex inflected valves, which are quite
entire at the flattened edges where they meet.
This Filmy Fern seems equally diffused with its allied
species, and they are often found in company. This,
however, seems to be the more common of the two in some
parts of Scotland, and in Ireland. It is widely distributed
in other parts of the world.
116 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Genus IV. LASTKEA, Presl.
ONE group of the Ferns were formerly called Aspidiums,
or Shield-Ferns. This group, so far as English species are
concerned, is now divided into three, bearing the names of
Lastrea, Polystichum, and Cystopteris. The Lastreas are
known among these by having the indusium, or seed-cover,
round in outline with a lateral notch, thus becoming
kidney-shaped; they are attached to the frond by the
notched part. This group includes some of the largest and
most common of our native species, and nearly all of them
are remarkable for their elegance. Several of them retain
their fronds through the winter in sheltered situations, but
they are not strictly evergreen, and in exposed situations are
always bare during winter.
Of the Lastreas eight British species are usually recog-
nized, but the number varies according to the value put
upon certain differences in the plants, by different authors.
The name Lastrea commemorates a zealous botanist and
microscopical observer, M. Delastre of Chatelleraut.
LASTREA CRISTATA, Presl. — The Crested Fern. (Plate
VI. fig. 2.)
This is the simplest of the British forms of a group of
LASTREA. 117
species intimately related to each other, and which are some-
times in the aggregate called Crested Perns; the latter
name is, however, more usually applied only to L. cristata,
of which we have used it as the equivalent. The group
alluded to consists of L. cristata, uliginosa, spinulosa,dilatata
in its many forms, and fcenisecii or recurva, plants whicli
form a closely connected series, so close, indeed, that some
very eminent botanists consider them as all belonging to
two^species only, cristata and dilatata, the other forms being
considered as mere varieties. This view of the subject is, we
believe, almost exclusively confined to those whose lot it has
been to study the Terns in a general way ; and the magnitude
of the subject in such a form necessarily leads to generaliza-
tions, and the acknowledgment only of such differences as are
the most obvious. It is, in fact, often inconvenient for the
general botanist to search after or take cognizance of very
minute differences. Those, on the other hand, who study
a smaller series, confined to certain geographical limits —
our own country, for example — being unperplexed by the
magnitude of their subject, as necessarily search for and
find differences of another kind, less obvious at the first
glance, but to be found if looked for ; and these, when
proved to be constant and unvarying, are relied on as proper
118 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
marks of distinction. As this book is intended for the use
of those who are only likely — at least whilst they require its
aid — to study the smaller group, we shall endeavour to show
them how to understand the minuter differences which serve
to separate this series of Crested Perns into several recog-
nizable species ; and for this purpose shall first enumerate
the leading features of distinction : —
Lastrea cristata grows with very erect, narrow, oblong
fronds, whose deltoid pinnae are not quite divided down to
the central rib, and the lobes into which they are separated
are attached by the whole width of their base, and are oblong
with a rounded apex. The stipes is sparingly furnished
with broad, obtuse, membranous, whole-coloured scales.
Lastrea uligmosa has two or three sorts of fronds ; one
set, the earlier ones, having much resemblance to those of
the preceding, the other sets producing fructification, being
bipinnate at the bases of the pinnee, the fronds narrow-
oblong, the lobes tapering to a point, and the scales of the
stipes broad, blunt, and whole-coloured. This connects
cristata with spinulosa.
Lastrea spmulosa grows erect, has narrow, lance-shaped,
bipinnate fronds, and whole-coloured blunt scales to the
stipes. It is broader and more divided than the foregoing.
LASTREA. 119
Lastrea dilatata grows more spreading, has still broader
or ovate lance-shaped fronds, and the stipes is clothed with
lance-shaped scales, which are darker-coloured in the centre
than at the margins. This is a very variable plant.
Lastrea fcenisecii grows spreading, and has fronds smaller
than the last ; they are triangular, bipinnate, and the seg-
ments have their edge curved back so as to present a hollow
surface to the eye; the scales of the stem are narrow,
pointed, and jagged.
Lastrea cristata itself, the Crested Fern, is not very ele-
gant, but of considerable interest on account of its rarity.
It forms a thick stem or root-stock, from which a limited
number of narrow, very upright fronds arise early in May,
and attain the average height of a couple of feet. The
fronds are destroyed in autumn by the frosts. Their out-
line is linear- oblong, that is, from a narrow width at the
base of the leafy portion — say two and a half or three inches
in the case of fronds of the average height — the margins
run nearly parallel almost to the apex, where they narrow
into a blunt point ; they are supported by a stipes which
rather exceeds a third the length of the entire frond, is pro-
portionally stout, and maintains this proportion upwards
through the leafy portion of the frond ; on the lower part it
120 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
has a few scales of a blunt, ovate form, a membranous tex-
ture, and an uniform light brown colour. The pinnae are
elongate-triangular in their outline, the broadest occurring
at the base of the frond, the upper ones becoming gradually
narrower, but all of the same general form, namely, widest
at the base, gradually tapering to the apex. They are not,
in the usual form of the species, divided quite down to their
midrib, so as to become, in technical terms, pinnate, but
each segment is attached by the entire width of its base, and
connected by a narrow extension of its base with the seg-
ment next behind it ; all the segments having their apices
inclined rather towards the apex of the pinna. The lobes
of the pinnae are themselves oblong, with a rounded apex,
and a crenately toothed margin.
The midvein of the lobes takes a tortuous course, and
gives off lateral branches which divide into several secondary
branches, one only of which, that nearest the apex of the
lobe, bears a sorus. The fructification is confined to the
upper portion of the frond, and often remarkably so ; less
frequently it extends downwards to the pair of pinnae next
above the basal ones. The spots of spore-cases are covered
by a kidney-shaped scale or iudusium, having an entire
margin, and become mature in August and September.
LASTREA. 121
This species occurs only on boggy heaths, and that in but
few places in Britain, confined, we believe, to the counties
of Nottinghamshire, Cheshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. It is
easily cultivated, either in a pot, or planted in a damp, some-
what shady situation, and preferring a peaty soil.
A Eern which has, within the last year or two, attracted
some attention, and which Mr. Newman has called Lastrea
uliginosa, we notice here as a variety of Lastrea cristata.
It is exactly intermediate in its general appearance and cha-
racters between that species and Lastrea spinulosa, and
would perhaps, at first sight, be rather considered a state of
the latter than of the former. In the mode in which its
young fronds are rolled up, and in the arrangement of its
veins, it however agrees best with cristata, and for this rea-
son we prefer to consider it a variety of that species approach-
ing spinulosa, with which latter it agrees most closely in the
form of its pinnules.
This Pern forms a stout crown or root-stock, having a
tendency to multiply by lateral off-shoots. From the crown
the fronds spring up in a circle, and grow nearly erect to
the height of from two to three feet ; these bear the fructifi-
cation. Other fronds, however, are produced, which are
barren, and these do not grow so erect, nor put on the same
122 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
form as the fertile ones. The barren fronds closely resemble
those of cristata, while the fertile ones have much the ap-
pearance of those of spinulosa, only they are narrower, and
have narrow pinnae. The outline of these latter is narrow
lance-shaped, drawn out at the apex, the pinnae having a nar-
row tapering form, and the pinnules being oblong-pointed,
with rather deep, serrated, marginal notches, the serratures
terminating in a fine, somewhat hardened point.
The midvein of the pinnules is somewhat tortuous, giving
off branched lateral veins, the anterior of which bears a sorus,
so that these latter are placed in two regular lines lengthwise
on each pinna ; the sori are produced from the base to the
apex of the frond. The barren fronds are broader, usually
shorter, less erect, and their pinnules are of a broader,
blunter form, and more closely placed, than those which are
fertile. The stipes has ovate, pale-coloured scales, rather
sparingly distributed, and most numerous at the lower part ;
and the sori are covered by even-margined, kidney-shaped
scales or indusia.
This plant is found on boggy heaths, generally in company
with cristata and spmulosa; it has, however, we are in-
formed, been detected where cristata is unknown to exist.
As far as we yet know, it is comparatively rare.
LASTKEA. 123
Sometimes after the growth of the first set of fertile fronds
others will spring up which are also fertile, but have the
appearance described above as peculiar to the barren ones.
These fronds are undistinguishable from cultivated fronds
of L. cristata, and furnish another reason for considering
uliginosa as a state of that species.
LASTREA DILATATA, Presl. — The Broad Prickly-toothed,
or Crested Pern. (Plate IX. fig. 2.)
This is one of the most compound of our native species.
It forms a large tufted stock or stem, and has broad arched
fronds, which average about a couple of feet in height,
though it is sometimes met with smaller, and often, when
luxuriant, reaches a height of five feet. They are always
more or less drooping or curved, and never grow erect as
those of cristata, uliginosa, and spimdosa do. The general
outline is ovate-lanceolate, though in this, one of the most
variable of Perns, the form varies considerably, becoming
sometimes narrow elongate lanceolate on the one hand, and
short broad almost triangular on the other. It is not im-
probable that among these various forms, the most distinct
of which are sometimes regarded as varieties, two or three
distinct species may be associated under the name of
tata. We shall describe the more usual form.
124 HISTORY OF BEITISH TEENS.
The fronds are ovate, lance-shaped in outline, on a stipes
of moderate length, which stipes is much thickened at the
base, and densely clothed with entire, lance-shaped, pointed
scales, of a very dark brown colour in the centre, but nearly
transparent at the margins. They are bipinnate, with elon-
gate-triangular or tapering pinnse, placed nearly opposite,
and having more or less of obliquity from the larger deve-
lopment of the inferior side. The pinnse are pinnate, and
the pinnules near their base often so deeply divided as to be
again almost pinnate; the rest are pinnatifid, or in the
upper parts merely deeply toothed, but the margins, whether
deeply or shallowly lobed, are set with teeth, which end in
short spinous points.
The veining is very similar to the more compound parts
of the allied species spinulosa ; and the fructification is pro-
duced in great abundance, the sori being ranged in two
lines crosswise the pinnse on the larger lobes, or lengthwise
on the less divided parts ; so that they have apparently a
less regular distribution than occurs in spinulosa. The
sori are covered by kidney-shaped scales or indusia, which
are fringed around the margin with projecting glandular
bodies.
One of the varieties of this Fern has the fronds shorter,
LASTREA. 125
almost triangular in outline,, and remarkably convex ; it has,
moreover, usually a dark green colour, often with a brownish
tinge. It is found in more exposed places than the normal
form, and. is not uncommon.
Another is met with on the hills of the north of England ;
and this, which it has been proposed to call Lastrea collina,
is probably a distinct species. The form of its fronds is
ovate, drawn out to a long narrow point, and the pinnules,
which are obtusely ovate and have a broad attachment at
the base, have the serratures on their margin less spinulose
than in the common form. It was first noticed by the
Eev. Mr. Pindar in Westmoreland.
Mr. Newman proposes to separate a form of this plant,
which differs in having its surface covered with glands, and
in the scales of the stipes being broader, under the name of
Lastrea glandulosa. Of its distinctness as a species we are,
as yet, unprepared to decide. It appears, however, to con-
nect L. spinulosa with dilatata, and is apparently the same
as had been previously named I/, maculata by Dr. Deakin.
This species, though found in drier places than its near
ally spinulosa, is nevertheless partial to moisture, being
found in damp, shady hedge-banks and woodlands. It is
hardy, and easily cultivated.
126 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
LASTREA PILIX-MAS, PresL — The Male Pern. (Plate
VIII.)
The Male Pern is so called from its robust appearance in
contrast with the more delicate, though similar, Lady Pern
or FUiiV-fcemina. It is one of the species which grow up
annually, the fronds being destroyed by the frosts of winter,
unless the situation be very sheltered, when the old fronds
often remain green until the young ones are produced in
spring. It is a robust-growing plant, producing its fronds
in a tuft around a central crown, and when vigorous and
perfectly developed is a very striking object, though its
ornamental qualities are often unheeded, we suppose, on ac-
count of its commonness. Surely, however, it is not wise
that objects imbued with that mystery — vitality, and being
intrinsically graceful and beautiful, should be despised be-
cause a beneficent Creator has scattered them about our path
with a lavish hand ; they ought the rather, one would think,
to lead us to admire and adore !
The stipes of this Pern is densely scaly. The fronds
average about a couple of feet in height, and are of a broad
lance-shaped figure, and what is called bipinnate, though
less decidedly so than occurs in some other species, for here
it is those pinnules only which are nearest to the main rachis
ZLa,te VEL.
LASTREA. 127
which are separate from each other. The pinnae are narrow
and tapering, with a few of the lowest pinnules distinct, the
rest united at the base ; these pinnules are of an obtusely
oblong form, and serrated on the margin. The fructification
of this plant is generally very copious, and is usually con-
fined to the lower half of the pinnules, where it is crowded.
This is one of the best species to study with the view of
understanding the fructification of Ferns, for here the indu-
sium, a very important organ, is seen to be remarkably pro-
minent in fronds which have about reached their full deve-
opment. In that state the indusium is as yet closed over
the clusters of spore-cases, and will be seen to consist of a
lead -coloured, tumid, kidney -shaped, conspicuous scale,
which, at the proper time, becomes elevated on one side to
allow the dispersion of the spores. This may readily be seen
by closely watching the progress of the fronds after they
have reached the stage just adverted to; or if they are
gathered in that state for preservation in the herbarium they
are almost certain to burst, more or less, in the process of
drying, before they yield up their vitality. These covers are
at first little white scales.
The veins of this species are also readily seen, and each
pinnule will be found to have a flexuous midvein, with
128 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
alternate venules, which are simple or forked, or sometimes
three-branched in different parts of the pinnule, the three-
branched ones, if present, occurring at the base, and the
unbranched ones at the apex. The sori are borne on that
branch which is towards the apex of the pinnule, and jointly
they form a line at a little distance from and on each side
of the mid vein.
One variety of this Fern we have called Lastrea Filix-mas
incisa in the ( Hand-book of British Ferns/ and it has been
named Lastrea erosa, and I/. Filix-mas erosa, by others, in
the belief of its being identical with a plant called Aspidium
erosmn by an old author named Schkuhr — which we think
it is not. However this may be, it is a magnificent variety,
much larger than the commoner form of the plant, attaining
four or five feet in height, and possessing the same general
features as that which has been already described, but
larger in every part, and having the pinnules more elongated
and tapering towards the point, more deeply cut along
the margin, the branches of the venules more numerous,
and the sori produced over a larger proportion of the sur-
face of the pinnule, in fact, usually almost reaching to its
apex.
Another variety or starved form of this common plant
LASTREA. 129
has the pinnules changed into small rounded lobes, and the
fructification reduced to a single row of spore-cases on each
side the rib of the pinnae. This has been called Lastrea
Filix-mas abbreviata.
A third curious form of the Male Fern has the points of
the frond and of the pinnae dilated into a fringe or tassel — a
very curious transformation, which, it is curious to remark,
occurs only, as far as we know, among British species, in
this — the Male Fern — and in the Lady Fern.
The Male Fern is found abundantly all over the country
in shady situations : the larger variety is met with here and
there in similar places ; the other varieties are rare. It is
one of the most easy to cultivate, and is very suitable for
cool, shady rock-work, or for shady walks in woody scenery.
Like its allies, this species has been called Pofypodium, or
Aspidium, or Polystichum, besides Lastrea, but the specific
name Filix-mas seems to have been always preserved to it.
LASTEEA FCENISECII, Watson. — The Triangular Prickly-
toothed, or Eecurved Fern.
This is a moderate- sized and very elegant plant, of droop-
ing habit, and possessing a crisped appearance from the
recurving of the margins of all the segments of fronds. It
grows from one to two feet high, and from its tufted stem
K
130 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
produces a spreading circle of triangular fronds, the stipes
of which, of about the same length as the leafy part, are
thickly clothed with small, narrow, jagged, pale-coloured
scales. The fronds are bipinnate, the lowest pair of pinnae
always longer and larger than the rest, and the pinnules on
the inferior side of the pinnae larger than those on the supe-
rior side. The pinnules are of an oblong- ovate figure, and
the lowest of them often divided again into a series of oblong
lobes, for the most part decurrent, but sometimes slightly
stalked ; the margin is cut into short spinous-pointed teeth.
The veins of the pinnules are alternately branched from a
sinuous midvein, and these venules give off two or three
alternate veinlets, the lowest anterior one being the sorus.
The exact ramification of the veins depends upon the degree
in which the pinnules or lobes are divided. The fructifica-
tion is distributed over the whole under surface, the sori
being pretty evenly distributed in two lines along each pin-
nule or lobe ; they are covered by small reniform indusia,
which have their margin uneven, and fringed with small,
round, stalkless glands. The whole frond is covered with
similar glandular bodies.
This Fern, which is most abundant in Ireland and the
western parts of England, occurs in damp, sheltered woods,
Tla.te Vll.
\sugmi
^ Imtitii
.
e>~t\,a_Vv( ^
LASTREA. 131
and on shady banks and rocks. It is of an elegant drooping
aspect, and is cultivated without difficulty. It is the more
valuable as a pot plant from its moderate size and its ever-
green character.
This species is the Lastrea recurva of some writers, and
the Nephrodium fcenisecii of others.
LASTEEA OEEOPTEKIS, Presl. — The Mountain Fern;
sometimes called Heath Pern. (Plate VII.)
This is a very elegant species, growing shuttle-cock fashion
around the central crown of the stem, to the height of from
two to three feet; and it is, moreover, so fragrant when
drawn through the hand as to be recognized from its kindred
by this circumstance alone. The fragrance is due to the
presence of numerous minute glandular bodies on the lower
surface, which, being bruised when the plant is handled,
give out strongly that peculiar odour which many Ferns
possess — a sort of earthy, starchy smell, by no means dis-
agreeable. The fronds are annual, springing up about May,
and enduring through the summer : they are erect, lance-
shaped in their outline, pinnately divided ; and there is this
about them remarkable, that the stipes is unusually short,
the leafy part being continued nearly down to the ground,
and the lower pinnse are so short that the frond tapers
132 HISTORY OF BRITISH TERNS.
downwards as much or perhaps more than it does towards
the point. The pinnse generally stand opposite, and are
narrow, tapering, and pinnatifidly divided, bearing their
fructification almost close to the margins of the segments,
and generally very abundantly.
In this species the divisions of the fronds are flat, not
revolute, as in L. Thelypteris, which most resembles it. Each
segment or lobe has a distinct and slightly sinuous midvein,
which is alternately branched, the branches simple or divided,
and bearing the spore-cases in clusters near their extremity.
This plant loves shade, and is found most luxuriant in
woods, occurring also on mountainous heaths. It may be
considered a common plant in England, Wales, and Scot-
land ; but in Ireland is much more rare. It is an effective
plant for shady rock-work, and, when established, grows
freely.
Besides the name we have here adopted, this Fern has
borne the following titles : — AspiMum Oreopteris, Polypo-
dmm Oreopteris, Poly podium montanum, Polystichum mon-
tanum.
LASTREA RIGIDA, Presl. — The Rigid Fern. (Plate IX.
% i.)
This very elegant Fern is of moderate size, growing nearly
Plate IX.
1 1 b
LAST11EA. 133
upright, and from one to two feet in height. It is perhaps
the most elegantly divided member of its family, the pin-
nules being all doubly and very evenly toothed. The fronds
issue from the crown of a comparatively thick stem, and are
annual in their duration, greeting the approach of summer
with the fresh green of youth, and shrinking dead and
shrivelled from the icy touch of winter. There are two
forms of frond — the one narrowly triangular, the other lan-
ceolate, and they are bipinnate, with narrow tapering pinnse,
and oblong blunt pinnules, which are cut into broad rounded
segments, again notched into a varying number of pointed
but not spinulose teeth. The stipes is densely scaly.
The veining is very similar to that of the large variety of
Filix-maSj the pinnules having a flexuous midvein, with
alternate venules again pinnately branched. The clusters
of spore-cases are borne on the lowest anterior branch of each
venule, that is, on the lowest veinlet on the side towards the
apex of the pinnule, and they are covered by a kidney-
shaped indusium, which does not soon fall away. Over the
fronds are scattered numerous small sessile glands, which,
when slightly bruised, give out a faint and not unpleasant
odour.
This Fern seems confined to the limestone districts of the
134 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
north of England, growing at considerable elevations. It
was first found at Ingleborough, in Yorkshire, and has been
since met with on the limestone ranges of Westmoreland
and Lancashire. In cultivation it is usually a free-growing
plant, more lax than in the wild state, and one of the most
elegant of the larger kinds.
LASTREA SPINULOSA, PresL — The Narrow Prickly -
toothed, or Crested Pern.
This is a rather erect-growing kind, with a stout stem or
root-stock, which becomes branched, so that several crowns
are generally found together forming one mass. The crowns
may readily be separated, and in this way the species may
be increased with much facility. The fronds grow from one
o three feet high, and are bipinnate, the pinnse having an
obliquely tapering form from the inferior pinnules being
larger than the superior ones : this is most obvious at the
base of the fronds, where the pinnae are broader than they
are towards the apex. The pinnules are of an oblong form,
somewhat narrowing upwards, the margins deeply incised,
the lobes being serrated, and the teeth somewhat spinulose;
— this description, it should be remembered, applies to the
lowest pinnules on the lowest pinnse ; those towards the
apex of each pinna, as well as the basal ones of the pinnse
LASTREA. 135
nearer the apex of the frond, become gradually less and less
compound, so that, although the margins are still furnished
with spinulose teeth, they gradually lose the deep lobes
which are found on the lowest pinnse. In all the more com-
pound Ferns there is a similar difference of form according
to the position of the pinnules, and in all such cases it is
usual to describe only those which are the most complete,
namely, such as are situated at the base of a few of the
lowermost pinnse. The stipes of Lastrea spinulosa is rather
sparingly furnished with semitransparent scales of a broad
or bluntly ovate form, in which particular it agrees with cris-
tata and uligintxa, but differs from dilatata an&famsecii.
The venation of all these allied species is so very similar,
.that it is unnecessary to repeat the description in detail. In
the less divided pinnules there is a midrib, less tortuous
than in cristata, which gives off branched venules, the lower
anterior veinlets proceeding from which bear the sori, about
midway between the rib and the margin ; the clusters of
spore-cases thus forming an even double row on each pinnule.
"When the pinnule is more divided, the same arrangement
of the sori occurs on the lobes, the branches of the lateral
veins or venules being then more numerous. The sori are
covered by kidney-shaped indusia, having the margin entire.
136 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
Marshy places and damp woods are the situations in which
this Fern is met with ; and in such places it does not appear
to be uncommon. It is very easily cultivated on damp
banks or rock-work, and, when grown in pots, requires to be
plentifully supplied with water.
LASTREA THELYPTERIS, Presl. — The Marsh Fern. (Plate
VI. fig. 1.)
This is called the Marsh Fern from its growing in marshes
and boggy situations. It has a slender, extensively creeping
stem, which is usually smooth and of a dark colour, pro-
ducing matted fibrous roots. The annual fronds are pro-
duced about May, and later, and perish in the autumn : they
usually grow about a foot high, the fertile ones taller ; some-
times, when the plant is very vigorous, they reach the height
of three feet* Their texture is delicate, their colour pale
green, their outline lanceolate, their mode of division pin-
nate, the pinna3 mostly opposite, a short distance apart, and
pinnatifidly divided into numerous crowded, entire, rounded
lobes ; the lobes in the fertile fronds appear narrower and
more pointed that those of the barren, on account of their
margin being revolutely bent under.
The venation of the lobes of this Fern consists of a
distinct, somewhat tortuous midvein, from which alternate
Plate VI.
OPHIOGLOSSUM. 137
venules branch out, these being usually forked, and both
branches bearing a sorus half-way between the margin and
the midvein. The sori, which are thus pretty numerous,
often become confluent, and are partially concealed by the
bent-back margin. The indusium, or cover of the spore-
cases, is in this species small and thin, and is soon thrown
off, and lost.
The Marsh Pern has a wide geographical range, and in
England and Wales occurs in numerous localities ; in Scot-
land and Ireland it is rather uncommon.
Not a very attractive species for cultivation. It has
been severally referred, under the individual name of TJiely-
pteris, to the families of Aspidiwm, Poly podium, Acrostichum,
and Polystic/mm, by various botanical writers.
Genus XVII. OPHIOGLOSSUM, Linnaus.
THIS is very nearly related to the Moouwort, though at first
sight having a very different aspect. The points in which
it agrees, are, that the parts are folded up straight in the
incipient state, and the fronds are two-branched, one branch
being leafy, the other fertile. OpJiwglossum differs from
138 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Botrychium, most obviously, in its parts being all simple,
while those of Botrychium are compound. Its habit of
growth is precisely the same, but the fructification is very
different, consisting of a distichous spike of imbedded spore-
cases. There is but one native species.
The name Opliwglossum literally means Adders-tongue,
which is the English name borne by this plant. It is
derived from the Greek ophios, a serpent, and glossa, a
tongue ; and is applied in consequence of the resemblance
of the fertile fronds to the tongue of a serpent.
OPHIOGLOSSUM VULGATUM, Linnaus. — The Common
Adders-tongue. (Plate XVIII. fig. 3.)
A small stemless plant, producing a few coarse brittle
roots from a central crown which represents the stem, and
which annually produces a bud from which the new frond
arises. The young fronds are produced about May, and
perish by the end of the summer. They grow from three
inches to ten or twelve inches in height, with a smooth,
round, hollow, succulent stipes of variable length. In the
upper part this becomes divided into two branches, the one
branch leafy, entire, smooth, ovate-obtuse, traversed by
irregularly anastomosing veins, forming elongated meshes.
The fertile branch is erect, contracted, about half its
OSMUNDA. 139
length being soriferous, forming a linear slightly tapering
spike, which consists of two lines of crowded spore-cases
imbedded in the substance of the spike, and occupying its
two opposite sides. The spore-cases are, therefore, con-
sidered as being produced on the margins of a contracted
frond. "When mature, the margin splits across at intervals
corresponding with the centre of each spore-case, so that
eventually the spike resembles a double row of gaping
spherical cavities.
The Adder' s-tongue is very abundant in the localities
where it is found, which are damp meadows and pastures,
on a loamy soil. It is generally distributed over England,
but is less abundant in Wales, and the other parts of the
United Kingdom. The species is a common European
plant, and is found in North America as well as in Africa.
There is no difficulty in cultivating the Adders-tongue,
whether in pots, or among an out-door collection of Ferns ;
the essentials are a stiff loamy soil, and the constant pre-
sence of water enough to prevent drought.
Genus XYI. OSMUNDA, Linnaus.
THE Osmunda is called the Eoyal Fern, and well it deserves
140 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
the regal honours, for it is the most majestic of our indi-
genous Perns. It is known by its large size, by having its
fronds entirely leafy in the lower part, and entirely fertile
at the top. In other words, the pinnae or branches at the
apex of the fronds are changed from the ordinary leafy form,
into dense masses of spore-cases, arranged in the aggregate
in the same way as the leafy pinnules would have been.
This mode of bearing the fructification renders it so
strikingly obvious at first sight, and gives the plant an
aspect so entirely different from that of those in which
the fructification is more or less concealed by its position
on the under surface, that the Oamunda, though classified
as one of the Cryptogamous or flowerless plants, is often
anomalously called the Flowering Fern. In truth, the
contracted chocolate-coloured apex looks not unlike a
dense panicle of small brown flowers crowning the tall
straight stem, whose lower pinnse have much the appearance
of broad green leaves. There is but one native species.
The name of the genus has given rise to some speculation
as to its derivation, and the question is still open. Some
derive it from the Saxon muncly which they say signifies
strength. Others consider the word expressive of domestic
peace, and derive it from the Saxon os, house, and mund,
OSMUNDA. 141
peace. Others,, again, have thought it commemorative, as
the following legendary passage bears evidence. The point
involved, however, we must leave antiquarians and philolo-
gists to settle.
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 ; and
Osmund stood for a moment, when snatching up his oars
he rowed his trembling wife and fair child to a small island
covered with the great Osmund Eoyal, and assisting them
to land, enjoined them to lie down beneath the tall Perns.
Scarcely had the ferryman returned to his cottage, than a
HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
company of Danes rushed in ; but they hurt him not, for
they knew he could do them service. During the day and
night did Osmund row backwards and forwards across the
river, ferrying troops of those fierce men ; and when the
last company was put on shore,, you might have seen Os-
mund kneeling beside the river's bank, and returning heart-
felt 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.
OSMUNDA REGALIS, Limirtus. — The Osmund Royal, or
Flowering Fern. (Plate XIX. fig. 2.)
' L&*J ^is P^ant has a verv stately aspect, growing to the
average height of three or four feet, but sometimes found
eight or ten feet high. It has what is called a tufted habit
of growth, and its stem by degrees acquires height, so that
in very old and luxuriant plants there is a trunk formed
of from a foot to two feet high. From the crown of this
trunk (whether that is seated close to the ground, or whether
it is elevated) grow the fronds, which are seldom, less than
two feet high in very weak and starved plants ; more usually
from three to four feet, and forming a mass of a couple of
yards across; or sometimes, as upon the margins of the
OSMUNDA. 143
Irish lakes, eight, ten, or twelve feet high, noble and
majestic almost beyond conception. In the lovely lake
scenery of Killarney this plant is very prominent ; and we
need not be surprised at the rapturous descriptions which
have been given of its arching fronds, dipping in the crystal
lakes, and sheltering, with its broad green pinnse, the nu-
merous aquatic birds which seek its canopy from the prying
eyes of pleasure-hunting tourists. When young the fronds
have generally a reddish stipes, and a glaucous surface,
which at a later period becomes lost. These fronds are
annual, growing up in spring, and perishing in the autumn.
The form of the mature fronds is lanceolate ; they are bi-
pinnate, the pinnse lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, with pin-
nules of an oblong-ovate form, somewhat auricled at the
base especially on the posterior side, bluntish at the apex,
and saw-edged along the margin. Some fronds are en-
tirely barren, and these differ from the fertile ones only in
having the leafy pinnules continued all the way to the apex,
instead of having the apex contracted, and bearing the
spore-cases. It is not always, however, that the spore-
cases when present are produced at the apex of the frond ;
abnormal developments are not uncommon, and in these
cases any portion of the pinnules may be seen converted
144 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
into spore- cases — sometimes a few pinnae at the middle of
the frond, while the apex is leafy, sometimes the base of
a pinna., while its apex retains the leafy form, sometimes the
base of a pinnule here and there, just its apex too, being
broad and leafy ; but the usual condition is to find a few
of the shortened pinnse, which form the apex of the frond,
contracted and soriferous throughout.
The venation, as seen in the barren fronds, consists of
a prominent midvein, bearing once or twice forked venules
proceeding to the margin in direct lines. 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 por-
tion of the venules which becomes developed just to serve
as a receptacle. The spore-cases are subglobose, shortly
stalked, reticulated, and two-valved, opening vertically.
The Osmund Eoyal is a widely-distributed plant, oc-
curring in favourable localities, that is, marshy and boggy
situations, throughout the United Kingdom, and, as already
mentioned, extremely abundant and luxuriant in some parts
of Ireland. It is common throughout Europe, and occurs
in the United States of America.
This plant is especially suited, in cultivation, to occupy the
base of rock-work abutting upon a piece of water, where its
POLYPODIUM. 145
roots may be placed within the reach of the water. For
the margins of ponds or lakes, or for any other damp loca-
lities, it is also well adapted ; and in such situations only
does it acquire anything like its natural vigour. It should
have peat earth for its roots. The best way to establish
it is, to procure strong vigorous patches from localities
where it abounds, and these, if removed carefully any time
before growth commences — or even after it is considerably
advanced — will succeed perfectly. This course is far more
satisfactory than to make use of weaker plants in the hope
of their eventually gaining the requisite vigour to produce
the effect desired.
Genus I. POLYPODIUM, Zinnaws.
THE Polypodies, which botanists call by the Latin name of
Polypodium, are known from all the other British Perns,
by their having the spore-cases arranged in little round
patches here and there on the back of the frond, these
patches not being at any time, or at any stage of their
development, covered by the membranous film which, it
has been explained, is called an indusium ; hence they are
said to be naked, or non-indusiate. This family includes
L
146 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
four distinct kinds, with some variations of the common
sort; some of these have the fronds persistent, and so
become evergreen, while in others they last but from spring
to autumn.
The Polypodies derive their name Polypodinm, which
literally means, many-footed, from the branching of their
creeping stems, the tubercular protuberances on which, in
the earlier stages of development, have some supposed re-
semblance to those on the feelers of Polypes.
POLYPODIUM CALCAREUM, Smith. — The Limestone Poly-
pody. (Plate III. fig. 1.)
This Pern is known from P. Dryopteris — to which it is
so nearly related that some botanists do not consider it dis-
tinct— by having its fronds less decidedly, though somewhat
three-branched, and by having its surface covered with small
stalked glands, which give a mealy appearance to every part
of the fronds. To us these two plants appear quite dis-
tinct, for, in addition to the points of difference already re-
ferred to, the fronds of this are of a dull deep green, more
rigid, and without the marked deflexure of the rachis so
obvious in its ally ; and the young fronds, instead of being
rolled up in three little balls, have their pinnae all rolled up
separately. The glandular surface of the whole frond is
Plate III.
POLYPODIUM. 147
very readily seen with a pocket-lens, — a necessary aid, by
the bye, to the study of Ferns.
The fronds grow from six inches to a foot in height,
nearly triangular, with the base shorter than the sides, the
stipes about equalling the leafy portion in length. They
are partially three-branched, but the lateral branches are
much smaller than the central one, and attached to the
stipes by a more slender rachis. The lower branches are
pinnate, with pinnatifid pinnse ; the upper branch pinnate,
with its lower pinnse again pinnate, and the upper ones pin-
natifid, as also is the apex of the frond and of the lower
branches. The pinnules or lobes have a distinct midvein,
with simple or slightly branched venules, near the termina-
tion of which, in a marginal series, the sori are produced.
This is one of the few Eerns which are found in calca-
reous or chalky soils. It is rare, and local in its distribu-
tion, being, we believe, almost confined to rocky limestone
districts, and occurring chiefly in the northern and western
parts of the island. In cultivation it does not require so
much moisture and shade as most other Ferns, but a lime-
stone soil is not at all essential to its well-being.
The names of Poly podium Robertianum and of Lastrea
Robertiana have been given to this species ; and the former
148 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
of these seems to have the precedence on the ground of
priority, but it has not as yet been adopted in this country.
POLYPODITJM DRYOPTERIS, Linnaus. — The Tender Three-
branched Polypody, sometimes called the Oak Pern. (Plate
ii. % i.)
This is at once known among the Polypodies by having
its quite smooth fronds divided into three branches; and
when the fronds are but partially developed this latter cha-
racteristic is available, for the three branches are rolled up
separately, and the fronds in the stage alluded to resemble
three little balls set on short slender wires, and supported
by one which is longer and stouter. It is, however, alto-
gether a slender and delicate plant, its height being com-
monly not more than six inches, often less, arid sometimes
more, its colour a pale bright green, and its texture fragile.
Hence it is at once destroyed by frost, and soon becomes
rusty and withered by exposure to heat and drought. When
growing in a cool, shady situation, however, it continues
fresh and cheerful-looking from April, when it usually starts
into growth, onwards until it is affected by autumnal cold.
In pots, in Wardian cases, or on sheltered, shady rock -work,
it is alike desirable for cultivation.
The fronds of this delicate little Pern grow from a slender
Plate II.
POLYPODIUM. 149
creeping stem, which often forms densely matted tufts.
They are quite smooth, and of a bright light green colour,
supported by stipes which are usually about twice as long as
the leafy part, and are slender, brittle, and dark -coloured.
The outline is almost pentagonal, the frond being divided
into three branches, each of which is of a triangular form.
One peculiarity about this species, which is in a slight degree
shared by its near ally, P. calcareum, is the deflexion of the
rachis at the point where the lateral branches of the frond
take their rise, but this feature is greatly more obvious in
P. Dryopteris. The fronds are divided thus : — each branch
is pinnate at the base, and pinnatifid towards its point ; the
pinnae are also pinnate at their base, then pinnatifid, becom-
ing acute and nearly entire at the point ; the pinnules and
ultimate lobes are oblong and obtuse. The pair of pinnules
at the base of each pinna, close to the principal rachis, are
placed so that when the pinnae are exactly opposite they
stand in the form of a cross ; the two towards the apex of
the branch being smaller than the opposite pair, and more
nearly parallel with the rachis.
The pinnules or lobes have a rather tortuous midvein,
from which the venules branch out alternately, being, in
those of moderate size, simple, with a sorus near their ex-
150 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
tremity, and in those which are larger and more compound,
branched, with a sorus on the lower branch. The fructifi-
cation is very unequally produced in different seasons and
localities, being sometimes crowded, and at other times very
sparingly scattered over the fronds.
P. Dryopieris is not an uncommon species, but it occurs
only in mountainous situations and the drier parts of damp
woods : in England mostly in the north ; in Scotland dis-
tributed pretty generally; very rare in Ireland.
This species has been called Polystichum Dryopteris and
Lastrea Dryopteris.
POLYPODIUM PHEGOPTERIS, Lwnaus. The Beech Poly-
pody, sometimes called Mountain Pern. (Plate II. fig. 2.)
This is a somewhat fragile plant, enduring no longer than
till autumn, or the appearance of the first frosts. It grows
wild in moist mountainous situations and in damp woods,
often common enough where present, but rather limited in
its range, occurring, however, in England to the southward,
westward, and northward; pretty generally distributed in
Scotland ; but rarely met with in Ireland. It has a slender
but extensively creeping and slightly scaly stem, producing
black fibrous roots, and, about May, throwing up delicate
hairy pale green fronds, which, when full grown, measure
POLYPODIUM. 151
from six inches to a foot in height. The stipes, which is
fleshy and very brittle, is generally twice as long as the
leafy part of the frond ; near its base are a few small almost
colourless scales. The fronds are triangular, extended into
a long narrow point. In the lower part they are pinnate ;
but this distinction of the parts is seldom carried beyond
the two lowest pairs of branches, those of the upper por-
tions of the frond being connected at the base, in what
is technically called a pinnatifid manner : hence this Fern
is said to be subpinnate, which, in this case, means par-
tially pinnate, or pinnate at the very base only. The
pinnse have a narrow and acutely lance-shaped outline, and
are deeply pinnatifid; they usually stand opposite each
other in pairs, the lowest pair being directed downwards,
towards the root, and set on at a short distance from the
rest. The united base of the pairs of the other pinnse,
when they stand exactly opposite each other, exhibits a
cruciform figure more or less strikingly obvious ; and by
this mark, in conjunction with the subpinnate mode of divi-
sion, this species may be known from the other British Poly-
podies. The veins in the lobes of the pinnse are pinnate ;
that is to say, there is a slender midvein, from which al-
ternate venules mostly unbranched extend to the margin ;
152 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
those near the base of the lobes bearing each one small
circular sorus near their extremity — the fructification thus
becoming almost marginal.
This is a very delicate and graceful Pern for pot-culture
or for a Wardian case, and requires plenty of percolating
moisture. On the damp, shady sides of sheltered artificial
rock-work, in the open air, it grows with tolerable vigour.
Polystickum Pkegopleris and Lastrea Phegopteris are
names which have been proposed for the Beech Fern.
POLYPODIUM VULGARE, I<inn<zus. — The Common Poly-
pody. (Plate I. fig. 2.)
This is an evergreen Pern, growing abundantly on pol-
lard trunks, mossy banks, moist rocks and walls, and old
thatched roofs ; and pretty generally distributed over the
United Kingdom. When sheltered the fronds are of a
lively green, and it may be then recognized by the com-
paratively large circular patches of golden spore-cases;
indeed, it may generally be known by this feature alone, no
other native sort having the fructification at all similar in
appearance. It grows with a creeping stem as thick as
one's finger, which is covered over with pale brown chaffy
taper-pointed scales. From its upper side spring the
fronds, and from its lower side chiefly the branching fibrous
POLYPODIUM. 153
roots by which it clings to its support. The fronds, if ex-
posed to frost, perish ; but if at all sheltered they remain
green during winter, and until after young ones have been
produced, which happens generally towards the end of
May. The stipes or stalk of the full-grown fronds is usually
nearly equal in length to the leafy portion; the entire frond
measuring from six to eighteen inches in length. The
frond itself, that is, the leafy part, is lance-shaped in outline,
but cut in from the margin along both sides nearly as far
as the midrib or rachis, and thus becomes what is called
pinnatifid. The portions into which it is divided are
called the lobes, or segments, or divisions of the frond ; and
in this case, they are usually oblong in form, generally
rounded at the end, but sometimes tapering to a blunt
point, and occasionally notched along the margin.
Each lobe has a slightly tortuous midvein, producing al-
ternate lateral veins (venules), which generally have about
four veinlets or little veins disposed alternately ; it is the
lowest of these veinlets, on the sides towards the apex of
the frond, which produces the sorus when it is present ; the
rest, which are barren, terminate in club-shaped apices,
which are very conspicuously seen when a fresh frond is
held up between the eye and a strong light. Most of the
HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
fronds of this kind of Pern produce fructification, which,
however, is usually confined to the upper half of the fronds,
and has generally become mature by the end of September.
The most important variety is the Welsh Polypody, called
Polypodium camdricum by Linnseus. In' this the lobes of
the frond are broader, and, instead of being simple, are
deeply and irregularly lobed a second time, the segments
being rather sharply toothed. This form, which is cer-
tainly only a variety of the common Polypody, is almost
always found without fructification. Under slight shelter,
where its fronds are persistent, it is one of the most beautiful
of what are called hardy Perns.
Other varieties which have been proposed are — bifidum,
in which the lobes are more or less regularly two-cleft at
the apex; serratum, in which they are deeply saw-edged;
and acutum, in which they are drawn out to a long narrow
point. The forms, however, are not constant, and are hence
of but small importance.
The species and its varieties grow freely under culti-
vation, either planted in pots, or on rock-work in a shady
situation.
155
Genus V. POLYSTICHUM, Both.
THE Polystichums form a small and very distinct group of
evergreen Ferns, some forms of which rank among the most
beautiful of our native species. They once formed part of
the genus Aspidium, the token of admission to which, was
the presence of round seed-patches covered by a scale.
From the allied genus Lastrea, the PolysticJiums are known
by their having the scale-like cover of the sori circular,
without a lateral notch, its attachment being by a little
stalk in the centre : this form is called peltate. To a prac-
tised eye they are also known by a more rigid texture, and
by having altogether a more spiny appearance than even the
spinulose species of Lastrea ; but these means of recognition
the novice can turn to but little account. The alpine form
of the genus is strictly evergreen, and the others acquire this
character when in a sheltered situation, but if they are much
exposed, the fronds will be killed by a sharp frost. In
general, however, they retain their fronds without much dis-
figurement from frost, quite through the autumnal quarter,
and often far into winter. The British species of Pofysti-
chum are three in number.
The name Polystichum is compounded of two Greek
156 HISTORY OF BEITISH FERNS.
words — -poly, and stichos, signifying many, and order ; .and it
is applied to these plants in allusion to the numerous re-
gular lines of sori, which are seen distributed over the fronds.
POLYSTICHUM ACULEATUM, Roth. — The Common Prickly
Fern.
This is a species almost evergreen in a sheltered situation,
and one of those which are well suited by boldness of cha-
racter for the decoration of rocky scenery. It is a stout
plant, having the fronds a couple of feet long, and springing
from a stout tufted stem or crown, whence they grow up
in a circle, about the month of April, and take, a somewhat
erect position. Their form is lanceolate, in the most perfect
state of the species broadly lanceolate, but in a variety
presently to be referred to, very narrowly lanceolate. The
texture is harsh and rigid, the upper surface dark green and
shining, and the short stipes densely enveloped in rust-
coloured membranous pointed scales. The fronds are bi-
pinnate, with alternate pinnse, these pinnae being again more
or less perfectly divided into a series of pinnules, which are
either decurrent, that is, insensibly merging in the substance
of the rachis which supports them, or else, are tapered to
a wedge-shaped base, and attached to the rachis by the
cuneate point. The general form of these pinnules is some-
POLYSTICHUM. 157
what crescent-shaped, for they have, as is universal in the
British forms at least of this genus, the upper base extended
into a small auricle, or enlarged lobe, and the lower base as
it were abscised ; while the apex is tapered off to an acute
point, and the margin is serrated, with spiny teeth.
The veins are alternately branched, and do not join
together or anastomose, but extend free to the margin ; and
the fructification, which is generally abundant, and often
crowded, is ranged in a line on each side the midrib of the
pinnules, and also on the larger pinnules on each side the
midvein of the basal lobes or auricles. The indusium is
circular, and attached by a little depression or stalk in its
centre.
A variety called lobatum, and considered a distinct species
by some botanists, differs chiefly in the narrow outline of
the frond, the pinnules of which are much more decidedly
decurrent ; indeed, every possible variation in the consolida-
tion of the pinnules is to be met with, between the ordinary
bipinnate form of PolysticJium aculeatwm, and a simply
pinnate form of the species, which, from its resemblance to
P. Lonckitis, has been called lonchitidioides. This latter
form, however, owing its origin to the peculiar circumstances
of growth only, cannot properly be recognized as a variety,
158 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
but the intermediate state, which is the most common of
these abnormal forms, is at least sufficiently different to be
considered distinct.
This common and free-growing Pern is found in hedge-
banks, and similar situations; and being abundant, easily
cultivated, nearly evergreen, and withal possessing consi-
derable elegance of growth, has much to recommend its
admission to a prominent position in the Pern garden.
This plant is often, even now, referred to the genus Aspi-
dium, and was formerly included under that of Poly podium.
POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, PresL — The Angular-lobed
Prickly Pern. (Plate Y. fig. 2.)
A strong- growing, tufted- stemmed species, sometimes
forming large masses. The fronds are lanceolate, from two
to four or five feet high, persistent through ordinary winters,
and in sheltered situations retaining their verdure unim-
paired until the new fronds are produced. It is one of the
most graceful of all the native species. The stipes, which
varies from a third to a fourth of the length of the entire
frond, is very shaggy, with reddish chaffy scales, which scales,
though of smaller size, are continued throughout the upper
parts of the frond. The fronds are bipinnate, with numerous
tapering, distinct pinnse, having their pinnules flat, some-
POLYSTICHUM. 159
what crescent-shaped, as already explained, often bluntish at
the apex, but sometimes acute, always with spinulose mar -
ginal serratures, and sometimes, in a few of the lower pin-
nules, with deep lobes, so that the pinnules become pimia-
tifid. The pinnules are tapered to a broad-angled base, the
lines of which usually exceed a right angle, and they are
attached to the rachis of the pinna by a short, distinct,
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 the midrib, and are
covered by a peltate scale or indusium.
A form sufficiently distinct to be regarded as a variety is
that to which allusion has been made, as having its basal
pinnules deeply lobed ; this we call sub-tripinnatum. It
does not differ in any other particular, but, being rather more
lax than the other forms, is the most elegant of them all.
There are many other slight variations, some with narrow
acute pinnules, some with blunt rounded pinnules, others
with the pinnules deeply serrated, and some very conspicu-
ously spinulose, but these differences probably do not point
to any permanently distinctive characters. We find the
sub-tripinnate form constant in a cultivated state.
This is a not uncommon Pern, growing in hedge-banks
160 HISTORY OF BRITISH FEBNS.
and in lowland woods, preferring, as do most if not all the
larger Ferns, the presence of plenty of free (not stagnant)
water. As a cultivated plant, either for pots or rock-work,
it is most desirable, and acquiring, as it does, considerable
size, it may be made to produce some striking effects in
ornamental scenery.
Like its congeners, this was formerly, and now is by
some, considered to be an Aspidium.
POLYSTICHUM LONCHITIS, Eoth. — The Holly Pern. (Plate
IV. fig. 2.)
This is a rigid and prickly-looking species, whence comes
the English name. It has a scaly tufted stem, from the
crown terminating which, the young fronds are produced
early in each spring ; these fronds remain fresh and vigorous
until after those of the succeeding year are developed, so
that the species is truly evergreen in its habit of growth.
The size of the fronds is very variable ; sometimes they are
not more than six inches long, and cultivated plants do not
often much exceed this stature. In damp and but slightly
elevated situations it becomes more luxuriant, the fronds
sometimes attaining a foot and a half in length, and then
having a vigour and robustness of aspect never acquired, as
far as we know, in cultivation, at least in England. The
POLYSTICHUM. 1G1
climate of Ireland seems more congenial to it, and we un-
derstand it is there cultivated with facility. The fronds
are narrow in outline, their figure being linear-lanceolate ;
they are once pinnate, the pinnae being short, crowded, and
somewhat crescent-shaped, the upper side at the base having
an ear-shaped projection, the lower side being, as it were,
cut away. The margin is set with spinous teeth.
The veins are twice branched, the branches extending to
the margin without joining with others. The clusters of
spore-cases form a line parallel with, and on each side of the
midrib, and are covered each by a membranous circular scale,
which is attached by a short central stalk.
A true rock-Pern, occurring on the bleak mountains of
Scotland and in the milder climate of Ireland, as well as
rarely in the north of England and in Wales. It is a very
distinct, and, when vigorous, a not inelegant species, but
exceedingly difficult of cultivation, and seldom seen thriving
under artificial treatment.
The Holly Pern has been at different times called Aspi-
dium Lonchitis and Polypodmm Lonchitis.
162 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Genus XL PTERIS, Lmnaus.
Pteris is the most common of all our Perns. It is that
which occurs almost everywhere in woods and in sandy
wastes, often appropriating to itself the whole surface of the
ground, but seeming to possess the peculiarity of avoiding
chalky soil. It is a very variable plant in its appearance,
owing to differences in its size and development dependent
on the circumstances in which it grows. Sometimes in dry,
very sandy soil, the plant becomes a pigmy, not reaching a
foot in height, and being merely bipinnate. The opposite
extreme occurs when the plant is growing on a damp hedge-
bank in a warm, shady lane, where it attains eight or ten
feet in height, and is proportionately compound in its de-
velopment. Its more usual size is from three to four feet in
height. Under circumstances which favour the most luxu-
riant development, this common and usually vulgar- looking
plant combines the most noble and graceful aspect, perhaps,
which is borne by any of our indigenous species, its fronds
scrambling up among the bushes which sustain them at the
base, while their graceful feathery-looking tops form, over-
head, a living arch of the tenderest green. The Pteris, or
Bracken, is known among the native Ferns by having the
Uf • ' fl •
uvi/ud/juuuAA. ,}T|rl/i VK^
PTEUIS. 163
edges of all the little divisions of its fronds furnished with
a line of spore-cases. No other of our native species has
the fructification arranged in continuous lines except this
and the Blechnum • and the Pteris may be readily known
from that by the lines being in it confined to the margin,
leaving the centre unoccupied, while in Blechnum the mar-
gin is unoccupied by the sori.
Pteris is a Greek name for a Fern, and is derived from,
the word pteron, which signifies a feather ; and, of course,
is here applied in reference to the graceful feather-like
aspect which the fronds of Perns generally possess. When
the plant is luxuriant this name is quite as applicable to the
Bracken as to any other known Fern. This consideration
is perhaps enough to justify the application to this species,
by the older writers, of the name of Female Fern, which
scarcely seems appropriate to the commoner uncouth-look-
ing form which the plant more usually bears.
PTERIS AQTJILINA, Linn&w. — The Common Brakes, or
Bracken. (Plate XVII. fig. 1.)
This Fern has a creeping caudex, and one that creeps
very extensively too, just beneath the surface of the soil,
though in some cases descending to a great depth perpen-
dicularly ; it is recorded by Mr. Newman that he has found
164 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
the steins thus penetrating to a depth of fifteen feet. This
caudex is thickish, black-looking, and succulent, containing
a good deal of starch. Prom it are produced, at intervals,
the annual fronds, which generally make their appearance
about the latter end of May, when there is little risk of
frosts, for the least frost would destroy them, and, indeed,
it is not uncommon for the earlier growth to be destroyed
in exposed places by the very slight frosts which occur at
that season of the year. The fronds themselves have been
variously described, and often erroneously, for they are not
unfrequently said to be three- branched, a form which really
occurs in one of the smaller Polypodies (P. Dryopteris).
Now, they are not properly three-branched, and except when
very much starved and stunted, do not approach that form
very nearly. They are, in reality, bipinnate, or when very
luxuriant tripinnate, the pinnae standing opposite in pairs,
each pair in succession becoming fully developed, while the
main rachis is extending upwards, and the next pair is be-
ginning to unfold. The mature fronds are thus truly bi- or
tri-pinnate, with the pairs of pinna3 standing opposite.
When the fronds are much diminished in size by the sterility
of the soil which sustains them, they become almost trian-
gular, and then have somewhat the appearance of a three-
PTEEIS. 165
branched frond, 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 pinnae which it
would normally possess. That this is the true habit of the
species is still more clearly exhibited when it attains its
greatest luxuriance, for the full-grown fronds then consist
merely of a series of pairs of branches from the bottom to
the top. The unrolled young fronds are very curious ob-
jects, and the watching of their development will be found
full of interest.
The stipes is downy while young, and furnished with
sharp angles when mature, which, if it be incautiously
pulled, will wound the hand severely. The part under
ground is black, like the creeping stem itself, and is spindle-
shaped just at the base, where it permanently retains the
downy or velvety surface which was present in the upper
portions while young.
Average specimens of the fronds are tripinnate, that is,
they produce a certain number of pairs of branch-like pinnoe,
which branches are bipinnate. We must confine our fur-
ther description to one of these branches, selected from the
lower part of the frond, where they are more perfectly deve-
loped than in the upper parts — such a branch, in fact, as is
166 HISTORY OF BRITISH ¥ERNS.
represented in Plate XVII. The general form is ovate, a
little elongated; that of its pinnae (the secondary pinnae)
narrow lanceolate. These latter are placed rather closely
together, and are again divided into a series of pinnules.
Two forms will be met with, one apparently equally common
with the other : in one the pinnules are undivided, and at-
tached to the rachis by their base without the intervention
of any stalk, and these bear a line of spore-cases along each
margin ; in the other the pinnules are larger, more elongated,
and deeply pinnatifid or sinuate, the margins of these lobes
bearing the lines of spore-cases. The apices of the primary
and secondary pinnae, and of the pinnatifid pinnules, become
less and less divided, until at last the extreme points form
an entire lobe, more or less elongated.
In its venation there is some variety, dependent on the
differences of structure and development which we have
already pointed out. We shall be most intelligible by ex-
plaining the form represented in Plate XYIL, which shows
the least divided form of the plant. Each pinnule, as is
there shown, has a distinct midvein, producing alternate
lateral venules, 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
PTEEIS. 167
bleached, membranous, fringed expansion of the upper skin
or epidermis of the fronds, which reflexes so as to cover the
spore-cases, but there is here another membrane which lies
beneath the spore-cases, and is no doubt a similar expansion
of the skin of the under surface.
It has been already remarked that there are two forms of
this plant commonly met with. These are so very dissimilar
that we have elsewhere* proposed to distinguish them as
varieties, applying to the pinnatifid form the name ver a, and
to the more entire form that of integerrima.
This, which is the most abundant of our indigenous
species, is also widely distributed in other parts of the world,
and bears a variety of names, from having been supposed to
be distinct by those who have met with it from such widely
separated localities.
Being so common, and in an ordinary state uncouth-
looking, it is not a plant for cultivation to any extent. In
warm, damp wilderness- scenery, however, where it would
attain great luxuriance, and the situation is such as would
enable it to develope the arching character already men-
tioned, it might very properly be introduced.
* Handbook of British Ferns : p. 134.
168 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Genus X. SCOLOPENDRIUM, Smith.
THIS genus is botanically very distinct from all our other
native .Ferns ; and from other points of view is exceedingly
interesting. There is only one British species, but of this
there are several varieties, which have a perfectly distinct
aspect, owing to peculiarities in their development. They
are all evergreen, and on this account, as well as by reason
of their ornamental appearance and hardiness, they are
among the best of all Perns for out-door rock-work. The
genus is known from all others by the peculiarities of its
sori, which, though forming parallel oblique lines at intervals
on each side the midvein, and having the appearance of
being single if seen when mature, are in reality composed
of two sori, set face to face, and so close together as to be-
come laterally confluent. This is best seen just at the stage
when the indusia are bursting ; indeed, at a later stage of
development an unpractised eye would probably fail to ob-
serve any evidence that such was really the structure.
Nevertheless it is so; and the fructification, technically
speaking, consists of sori confluent in pairs, the two sori
forming each pair being placed face to face.
Scolopendrium is merely an alteration of Scolopendra, the
Plate IT.
SCOLOPENDRITJM. 169
scientific name of the insect better known as the centipede ;
and the name is applied from a fancied resemblance (in the
position, we suppose) between the feet of a centipede and
the lines of fructification produced on the fronds of the Fern.
SCOLOPENDRITJM vuLGARE, Symons. — The Common
Hart's-tongue. (Plate XV. fig. 1.)
This is a common plant, nevertheless its shining bright
green, though simple fronds, contrasting so beautifully with
the feathery aspect much more common among the Ferns,
procure for it admirers whether seen in a wild or cultivated
state. It grows in tufts ; the fronds, which are evergreen,
vary in length from six inches to a foot and a half, and even
more, and are either stiff and erectish when growing under
circumstances which render them dwarf, or more or less
spreading and drooping when in situations which are favour-
able to enlarged development : in the former case the fronds
are thicker and more leathery in texture; in the latter,
thinner and less rigid, from being produced in very damp
shady situations. The usual form of the fronds is what is
called strap-shaped, that is, narrow oblong-lanceolate, much
elongated; they taper towards, and are acute at, the apex,
narrowing a little downwards, and becoming cordate at the
base ; the margin is entire, or very slightly wavy, and they
170 HISTORY OE BRITISH FERNS.
are supported on shaggy stipes of about a third of their
entire length.
The fronds have a strong midrib or costa, extending
throughout their whole length, from which are produced
forked veins, the branches of which (venules) lie parallel,
and proceed direct towards the margin, terminating just
within the edge in a club-shaped apex. The veins are usually
forked twice, but they 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 length of the
frond, are each composed of two proximate lines of fructi-
fication laterally united ; each of these lines, however, consist-
ing of a complete sorus, so that the two united are properly
called a twin sorus. This is the mark of the genus Scolo-
pendrium. This twin sorus is always produced between two
fascicles of veins ; that is, the lowermost venule produced by
one vein, and the uppermost venule produced by the vein
next below — these two venules lying, of course, contiguous,
each become the receptacle upon which a line of spore-cases
is produced. The indusia which cover these two lines of
spore-cases have their attachment respectively on the upper
and lower sides of their venules, the other edges overlapping
SCOLOPENDRIUM. 171
one the other ; the free margin, therefore, is exterior with
reference to the fascicle of venules to which it belongs.
When very young there is no evident trace of separation at
the part where they overlap, but as they advance towards
maturity the separation becomes apparent, and they even-
tually open down the centre, one indusium turning upwards
and the other downwards, the two lines of spore-cases
they had covered becoming confluent and undistinguishable
without manipulation.
This is the ordinary form of Scolopendrium ; but there are
some very curious and distinct varieties, differing only,
however, in the form of the fronds, and not in the fructifi-
cation, where it is present. Of these varieties it is deserving
of especial mention that they are perfectly constant under
cultivation, although they have, no doubt, originated in
aberrations, that is to say, accidental variations of the ori-
ginal species, which have been perpetuated either naturally
or by art.
The most beautiful of these varieties is that called cris-
pum, in which, while the same outline of frond prevails,
yet the leafy portion is so much more developed than the
midrib, that the margin becomes excessively undulated,
giving the fronds a very elegant curled or crisped ap-
172 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
pearance. This sort is usually barren, though we have
seen it, when somewhat less curled, produce the usual fruc-
tification.
Another variety is called polysckides, or angustifolium
by some. The fronds of this are linear, and blunt at the
apex, much narrower than in the common sort, and the
margin is deeply and irregularly lobed, and crenated. This
sort is fertile, and its sori are short, and instead of being
ranged in a single series on each side the midrib, as is
usual in the common sort, they form two irregular lines
on each side. A very curious form, lobed in the same
manner as this variety, but having more the outline of the
common sort, has been found by Sir W. C. Trevelyan, in
Somersetshire; it is remarkable in having a longitudinal
ridge on each side between the midrib and margin, on the
exterior of which ridge the short interrupted sori are pro-
duced.
A third variety is multifidum. This has the fronds forked
either near the apex or sometimes near the base; each
branch is again more or less repeatedly forked, and the
apices of all the forks are developed into irregular fan-
shaped leafy expansions, to which the term multifid is ap-
plied. Sometimes the fronds are merely forked once or
SCOLOPENDKIUM . 173
twice, without being multifid, and this state has been called
lobatum; in other cases the stipes itself becomes forked,
bearing multifid branches, and this has been called ramosum ;
but it may be doubted whether these are more than ac-
cidental variations of the form called multifidum. This
multifid sort is fertile.
The common HartVtongue is an inhabitant of hedge-
banks, of old walls, and sometimes of the interior of wells,
in which latter situation it acquires great luxuriance. It
is one of the more commonly distributed species in England
and in Ireland, less abundant in Scotland; and also found
all over Europe. The varieties are rare in a wild state, and
are now better known as cultivated plants.
Being an evergreen, and a plant of free growth, the Hart' s-
tongue is one of the most desirable hardy Ferns we possess
for open rock- work. Its broad simple fronds serve to con-
trast with the more divided or compound forms ; and its
varieties all have a different aspect, combined with the
same good qualities of hardiness and endurance. Shady
and rather humid places are those in which this plant most
delights, although, as is evident from its sometimes growing
on walls, it will live in more exposed and arid situations.
The plants, however, never acquire much vigour under such
174 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
circumstances, and have mostly a starved and stunted aspect.
They are not particular as to soil, excepting that such as
contains fibrous or half- decayed vegetable matter, or the
damp surface of some porous stone, is much preferable to
soil which is much spent and comminuted, as indeed is the
case with respect to all Ferns.
The HartVtongue is sometimes called Scolopendrium offi-
cinarum, and has been named Scolopendrium P/iyllitidis,
Asplenium Scolopendrium, or Pkyllitis Scolopendrium.
Genus XIY. TEICHOMANES, Linnaus. ,
THE Trichomanes is the most rare genus among our native
Eerns; the indigenous species, of which only one occurs,
being among the few which are met with very rarely indeed,
and within a very narrow range. It, however, is not the
most rare species, although very unfrequent, and local.
Unlike in texture all the other native kinds excepting the
Hymenophyllums, being quite pellucid, and of the most
delicately crisped appearance imaginable, it is soon distin-
guished by this mark alone. The fructification, too, is here
totally unlike that of all others, except the Hymenophyllums,
TEICHOMANES. 175
from which in the native species it is easily distinguishable,
although in some exotic kinds the differences almost vanish.
The sure technical mark by which to distinguish Trichomanes
and Hymenophyttum among the British Ferns, lies in the
fact of their spore-cases being contained within deep urn-
shaped pits or recesses at the margin : in these two families
the fructification is at the margin instead of being situated
at the back of the fronds. Trichomanes is known from Ey-
menopJiyllum by its urns, or involucres as they are called,
being entire, while those of Hymenophyllum are split length-
wise into two valves. In both cases the spore-cases are
clustered around hair-like receptacles, which are, in fact,
the ends of the veins of the fronds projecting into the urns.
In Hymenophyllum these hairs are always shorter than the
urn, but in Trichomanes it is usual for them to project more
or less, so that the fronds become somewhat bristly when
very full of fructification ; and hence has arisen the com-
mon name of Bristle Fern, which is applied to the group.
The name Trichomanes itself has the same signification :
it comes from two Greek words, meaning hair, and excess,
in reference to these projecting hair-like receptacles.
TEICHOMANES RADICALS, Swartz. — The Bristle Fern.
(Plate XVIII. fig. 1.)
176 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
This very beautiful plant exists only in the immediate
neighbourhood of waterfalls,, and in situations where a con-
stant moisture is maintained. This is, indeed, quite neces-
sary to it, on account of its semi-membranous texture,
which shrinks before an arid atmosphere ; and hence it can
only be successfully cultivated when kept quite close, and
constantly wetted over-head. This species has a creeping
stem, smallish, wiry, and black-looking, clothed with
pointed scales. The fronds are three or four times pinnatifid,
cut up into small linear segments, which are entire or bifid
at the apex, and have a stout nerve or vein running up their
centre, and rendered very conspicuous in consequence of the
thin pellucid texture of the leafy expansions which surround
it. Or the frond may be described as consisting of a series
of three or four times branched rigid veins, margined
throughout by a thin, pellucid, cellular expansion, or wing,
a greater or less number of the apices of the veins becoming
surrounded by the cellular membrane in the form of an urn
or vase, and within them bearing the fructification.
The fronds are pendulous, and vary from an angular-
ovate to a lanceolate form, the divisions being considerably
undulated, so that they acquire a crisped appearance. The
first series of lobes are usually of an ovate-lanceolate form ;
TEICHOMANES. 177
the next series shorter, more ovate, and the third series of
divisions narrow, more or less linear. The ultimate branches
of the veins which extend into the divisions of this third
series, end just at or within the apex of the lobes if they are
barren; but if they are fertile, they are produced beyond
the margin, and surrounded at the base by the urn-shaped
involucre, within which the spore-cases are placed. Some-
times the involucre is so placed as to appear immersed
within the margin, but it more frequently projects beyond
the margin. There is also considerable variation as to the
length to which the bristle-like receptacle is extended
beyond the involucre ; sometimes scarcely exceeding it in
length, and sometimes being four or five times as long.
The lanceolate form of this plant has been sometimes
thought distinct from the broader form, but the general
opinion is, that it is an extreme variety of the same species ;
to this the name of Andrewsii is applied, in compliment
to the gentleman by whom it was first discovered.
The Sister Isle now claims, so far as the British Isles are
concerned, sole parentage of this lovely, half-transparent
species. There, amidst dripping rocks, it thrives with a
degree of luxuriance which charms every one who has seen
it creeping over their shelving ledges. It is said to have
N
178 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
been formerly found in Yorkshire. The same species is
widely distributed in the warmer parts of the world.
The variety and elegance of this plant make it a favourite
species for cultivation. The conditions of success are, a
close atmosphere, shade, moderate warmth, constant but
not stagnant moisture, and a porous surface to which the
roots may cling.
Among the many names which have been applied to this
plant, the following are the most likely to occur in English
books : — Trichomanes speciosum, Trichomanes brevisetum, Tri-
chomanes alatum, and HymenopJiyllum alatum.
Genus III. WOODSIA, R. Brown.
THE Woodsias form a family group consisting of two di-
minutive kinds, which, however, possess much interest
among the British species on account of their extreme rarity.
These Perns are furnished with indusia, and by their peculiar
construction and position they may readily be known. The
peculiarities consist in their being not placed as a cover to
the sori, but attached underneath them ; when very young
they indeed enclose them, but subsequently in each case
Plate IV,
WOODSIA. 179
they split from above into narrow scale-like segments not
easily distinguished, at least without optical assistance, from
the hairs which occur with them on the fronds. In the full-
grown state, the sori are consequently seated in the centre
of a spreading tuft of hair-like scales, which are formed of
the lacerated 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.
These Perns were formerly ranked with the Polypodies and
AcrosticJmms, but when the structure of this race of plants
became better understood, they'were very properly separated,
and they now, in conjunction with some few foreign kinds,
form a distinct family circle. The name Woodsia was given
in compliment to a clever veteran English botanist, Joseph
Woods, Esq., whose name has been recently before the
public as the author of a very useful ' Tourist's Flora/
WOODSIA HYPERBOREA, R. Brown. — The Blunt-leaved or
Alpine Woodsia. (Plate IV. fig. 1.)
This is a diminutive species, never exceeding a few inches
in stature, and renewing its fronds annually in the spring,
the older ones being destroyed by the frosts and cold of
winter : when this influence is felt by the plants, the fronds
180 HISTORY OF BRITISH TERNS.
quickly lose their vitality,, and are cast off at the articulation
or joint near the base of the stipes, which occurs in this
family. The Alpine Woodsia, like its congener, grows in a
tufted manner, sending up several fronds from the crown,
from the base of which the dark-coloured wiry roots are
protruded. In form these fronds are longish and compara-
tively very narrow, almost linear, as it is termed ; and they
are pinnately divided into several roundish triangular pinnae,
which are shallowly lobed on the margin, and are usually
set on alternately along the opposite sides of the stalk or
rachis ; those towards the lower part are usually placed at a
greater distance apart than those near the upper end. They
are nearly smooth on the surface, and, in this respect, unlike
those of the kindred species, which have a much more hairy
appearance; small hair-like scales, in company with hairs,
are, however, present in both species.
The midvein of the pinnae is indistinct, and throws out
venules into each lobe, these venules being more or less
branched according to the size of the lobes. The sori are
placed near the extremity of the venules, and are often
abundantly produced, so as to become crowded on the
pinnse.
The Alpine "Woodsia is named W. alpina, by Mr. New-
WOODSIA. 181
man; and has formerly been called Acrostichum alpinum,
Acrostickum hyperboreum, Polypodium liyperboreum, and
Polypodium arvonicum.
The two English Woodsias are in Great Britain found
only in high mountain regions, where they grow from the
crevices of the moistened rocks. They are both rare, though,
from the inaccessible localities in which only they occur,
they may really be more abundant than is generally sup-
posed. Both also appear to be confined to the northern
parts of our hemisphere.
From their rarity rather than their beauty these form
interesting pot-plants. They require to be kept in a cold
shady frame, to be potted in very porous soil, and to be
carefully guarded against drought or stagnant moisture.
WOODSIA ILYENSIS, R. Brown. — The Oblong Woodsia.
(Plate III. fig. 2.)
A deciduous species, dying down to the ground annually
in winter, and reviving with the returning spring. Its very
short stems form tufts, which, if not disturbed, and are
situated under favourable circumstances, grow into large
masses, speaking comparatively with its diminutive stature.
The fronds average about four inches in height, and are less
frequently found larger than smaller than this. Their form
182 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS,
is lanceolate, more or less broad, and in their mode of divi-
sion they are pinnate, the pinnae usually set on nearly or
quite opposite in pairs, and having an obtusely oblong out-
line, with a deeply -lobed or pinnatifid margin. 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 are almost concealed. The stipes is also
scaly, and, as occurs in a whole group of these Woodsias,
has a joint or articulation at a short distance from its base,
at which point separation takes place if the fronds are left
on to attain a good old age, the lower part remaining at-
tached to the caudex, while the upper part falls away.
The veining of the segments of the pinnse consists of a
rather indistinct midvein, from which the ven tiles, either
simple or branched, proceed towards the margin, near to
which the sori are produced.
There seems no reasonable doubt that the Fern which
Linnaeus called AcrosticJium Uvense is that now under notice.
It has also been called PoJ/ypodium Uvense.
183
THE BRITISH CLUB-MOSSES.
Genus XIX. LYCOPODIUM, Lwnaw.
THE Lycopodiums, commonly called Club-mosses, are moss-
like plants, mostly of creeping or decumbent habit ; and
their stems, which consist of annular or spiral vessels inter-
mixed with cellular matter, are clothed with cellular leaves,
so placed that they overlie each other like the tiling of a
roof. The fructification is produced in the axils of the
leaves, and is in most of the species confined to the apices
of the branches, where it forms a cone-like head.
The organs of reproduction at once distinguish the Club-
mosses from all other plants. They consist of kidney- shaped
spore-cases, one- to three-valved, and containing bodies
of two distinct kinds. One kind consists of minute pow-
dery matter, in the shape of smooth resinous grains, which,
by reason of lateral pressure, acquire the form of irregular
polygons. These bodies have been called antheridia by
some botanists, and their granular contents have been con-
184 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
sidered as pollen by some, and as abortive spores by others.
The other kind of spore-case contains three or four roundish
fleshy bodies, which are marked at the apex by a three-
branched line, and are many times as large as the granular
bodies which have been already mentioned. These larger
bodies have been called spores or oophoridia, and by some
observers anthers.
The true explanation of these parts is a matter of doubt.
All that is certainly known is, that the larger bodies do
germinate, or at least vegetate, and according to a statement
of Willdenow the smaller ones germinate also. , It seems
probable that the suggestion made by Dr. Lindley is correct,
namely, that the powder-like grains are true spores, while
the large ones are buds or viviparous organs. This view is
supported by the descriptions which have been given of the
supposed germination of these larger bodies, in which a
process quite analogous to the vegetation of a bud is clearly
pointed out.
The granular matter is produced by all the species of
Lycopodmm, but the large fleshy bodies are found only in a
few of the species. It has been usual to regard both sets
of organs, when present, as axillary to the leaves or bracts,
and so they may be considered for all practical purposes.
LYCOPODITJAi. 185
A different theoretical explanation has, however, been given
by Muller, a German writer, who considers the oophoridiutn
as the entire metamorphosed terminal bud of a main axis ;
and he supports this opinion by the statement that in the
early condition this oophoridium is opposite the spike in
which the granular bodies are produced. The spike and
the oophoridium are by him regarded as two metamorphosed
branches into which a main axis has become divided, and it
is only at a later period of growth that they both appear to
belong to the same axis. The smaller granules, or antheridia,
he regards as lateral buds, or twig buds, only to be dis-
tinguished from the terminal bud which is developed into
the oophoridium, by the circumstance that the latter is a
principal branch, possibly capable of a more extensive de-
velopment into branch and foliaceous organs, while the
twig, which is developed into an antheridium, is but a small
particle of such a main branch.
These plants, like the Ferns, are most abundant in hot,
humid, and especially insular, situations in the tropics, be-
coming scarcer northwards, but often even in very northerly
regions covering large tracts of land. Our native species,
with one exception, have a boreal and alpine tendency, being
found most abundantly on the high lands of the north, and
186 HISTORY OP BRITISH PERNS.
decreasing in quantity as they advance southwards. Many
of the tropical Lycopodium* are extremely beautiful : some
are of scandent habit, and many of them attain considerable
size.
Though of humble growth, and altogether unattractive
in appearance, the Club-mosses are not without their use.
More than one species is used in dying operations, and
several have a medicinal reputation. The powdery matter
called pollen, which is produced in considerable quantities
by our common species, is highly imflammable, and is used
in pyrotechny under the name of vegetable brimstone.
Being of a drying and healing nature, it is also used to pre-
vent excoriation in infants ; and in pharmacy is also used
sometimes for coating pills, as it is with difficulty wetted.
The common Club-moss is emetic, and the Fir Club-moss
is a cathartic and a powerful irritant; the former is also
used in the treatment of cutaneous disorders, and is a re-
puted remedy for the plica polonica.
The tiny species of Lycopods now known to botanists have
been thought to be the direct representatives of the vast
tree-like Lepidodendra met with in a fossil state, and which
in former ages must have rivalled our coniferous trees. The
evidence in support of this view has been questioned ; but
LYCOPODIUM. 187
there seems no good reason to doubt, at least, that there is
a very close affinity between the two races; and, indeed,
some of the most skilful investigators of this subject find an
almost complete agreement between them.
The British species of this order are all included in the
genus LyQopodmm, the name of which comes from lycos, a
wolf, and podos, a foot, and is given in allusion to the sup-
posed resemblance of its forked fertile stems to the claw of
some animal, as of the wolf. Hence one species, and that
which probably suggested the name, has been called Wolf s-
claw.
LYCOPODIUM ALPINUM, Linnaus. — Savin-leaved Club-
moss.
This kind of Club-moss gets its trivial name from the
resemblance between its branches clothed with the closely-
pressed leaves, and those of the Savin, Juniperus Sabina.
It is a pretty little evergreen plant, forming thick wide-
spreading patches of round, tough, creeping, sparingly leafy
stems, bearing numerous other erect stems which are re-
peatedly branched in a dichotomous manner, growing erect,
from three to six inches high. The colour of the plant is
a bright pleasant green. The smaller branches are set
more or less closely with the small smooth sessile leaves,
188 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
whose form is lance-shaped, ending in a point; they are of
a thickish texture, and are rounded off at the back and
hollowed out in front where they fit against the stem. On
the dichotomous branches just mentioned the leaves are
closely placed, the lower ones lying over the bases of those
next above them, but they are arranged in four tolerably
regular lines, so as to give a squarish form to their branches.
The little fascicles of branches are for the most part level-
topped, those which bear spikes of fructification being
somewhat longer than the barren ones and twice dichoto-
mous ; the fruit spikes, which exceed half an inch in length,
are rather thicker than the branch.
The fructifications consist of the little spikes just men-
tioned, which terminate a portion of the branches, and are
erect, close, cylindrical, of a yellowish-green colour, and
sessile on the branches, that is, joined to the leafy portion
below, without any intermediate stalk-like contracted part.
The spike consists of a number of bracts closely packed
together, each having in its axil a capsule containing nu-
merous very minute pale yellowish spores. The bracts are
ovate, dilated at the base, drawn out into a longish point
at the apex, and having the margins toothed. The cap-
sules themselves, seated quite at the base of the bracts and
LYCOPODIUM. 189
close to the axis of the spike, are roundish kidney- shaped,
and of a yellow colour. The bracts become reflexed after
the spores have been dispersed. The plants are firmly fixed
to the soil, by means of tough strong wiry branched roots,
produced at intervals along the prostrate stems.
The head-quarters of this species is in elevated mountainous
tracts. It occurs very abundantly in Scotland and "Wales ;
frequently in the hills of the north of England ; and is less
common in Ireland. It also occurs throughout the alpine
districts of Europe and Northern Asia.
The Savin-leaved Club -moss is a bitter plant, with a
somewhat aromatic flavour, and possesses emetic properties ;
it is, however, seldom applied to any use. Sir W. J.
Hooker mentions having seen it used in Iceland as a dye
for woollen cloths, to which it gives a pale and pleasant but
not brilliant yellow. The process is simply that of boiling
the cloth in water, along with a quantity of the Lycopodium,
and some leaves of the Bog Whortleberry.
LYCOPODIUM ANNOTINUM, Linnceus. — Interrupted Club-
moss.
A very distinct plant, easily recognized by the inter-
rupted leafing of its stems, the leaves being at intervals
much diminished in size and less spreading in their direc-
190 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
tion, showing the points where annual growths have com-
menced and terminated. It is also known by its narrow
leaves spreading out from the stem on all sides, and ar-
ranged in five indistinct rows. It is a large-growing
species, often a foot high, with irregularly branched stems,
which, after they have produced fruit-spikes, or have reached
an equivalent age, become depressed, rooting at intervals, and
throw up another series of upright branches. Mr. Newman,
in his account of these plants, states that the spike is
usually on the sixth or seventh joint or annual growth of
the branches ; and this appears to be pretty, generally the
case, though the branches are by no means all fertile. The
annual increase of the stems is well marked by the closer
pressed and shorter leaves which occur at the upper part
of each growth, and this is what gives the interrupted ap-
pearance to the stems. The leaves, which do not decay for
several years, are linear-lanceolate in form, and have their
margins minutely serrulate, and their apex drawn out and
terminating in a rigid point ; they are attached directly to
the stems without stalks, and are arranged in an indistinctly
spiral or somewhat five- ranked order. The lower leaves,
that is to say, those remaining on the older portions of the
stem, are more spreading than those on the younger
LYCOPODIUM. 191
growth, and indeed on the oldest portions often become
somewhat deflexed; they have a yellowish-green colour,
and are of a hard rigid texture; they have moreover a
stout midrib, prominent at the back.
The spike of fructification is in this species perfectly
stalkless, being seated directly on the termination of the
leafy branch. It is about an inch long, of an oblong form,
and consists of closely overlapping bracts, of a roundish-
ovate form, having a long narrow point and jagged mem-
branous margins. In the axil of the bracts is produced a
large reniform capsule, containing numerous minute pale
yellowish spores. The bracts become reflexed when these
spores have escaped from the burst capsule.
This a rare species, confined to wild mountainous locali-
ties, occurring in the Scottish Highlands, and formerly, if
not now, plentiful on Glyder, in Caernarvonshire. It is
not known to occur in England or Ireland, but is plenti-
ful in the pine-forests of the north of Europe, and in some
parts of North America.
LYCOPODIUM CLAVATUM, Linnaeus. — Common Club-moss.
(Plate XX. fig. 6.)
This sort of Club-moss is of procumbent habit, having
vigorous creeping stems often many feet in length, much
192 HISTOllY OF BRITISH FERNS.
branched, and attached to the soil here and there by means
of tough pale-coloured wiry-looking roots. The young
branches, which are very thickly clothed with leaves, grow
rather upwards at first, but soon all become prostrate, and
cross and interlace, forming a close matted tuft, whence
comes, in fact, the name it bears in Sweden — Matte-grass,
or mat-grass.
These stems are densely clothed with small, narrow lan-
ceolate, flattish leaves, which remain fresh through the
winter; they are smooth on the margin, or very slightly
toothed, and terminate in a long white filamentous point,
which gives the branches a somewhat hoary appearance.
The upright stalks supporting the spikes are bare of leaves,
but have at intervals whorls of smaller bodies closely pressed
to the stalk, and tipped with shorter but broader membra-
nous chaffy processes; they are also of a pale yellowish-
green colour.
The spikes of fructification are usually over an inch in
length, and are supported by a stalk of about twice their
own length. They are commonly produced in pairs, though
sometimes singly, and occasionally three together on the
same stalk. These spikes are cylindrical, and supported
on a short pedicel at the top of the common stalk ; they are
LYCOPODIUM. 193
erect, white in front, but afterwards become more or less
curved. The spikes themselves consist of crowded trian-
gular-ovate acuminate bracts of a pale yellow colour, and
having membranous serrated margins; in their axils the
spore-cases are produced, and these are subreniform,
two-valved, and filled with innumerable sulphur-coloured
powdery spores. The bracts become reflexed after the
spore-cases have shed their contents.
This is a common species, growing in moors and heathy
places in mountainous and hilly tracts of country through-
out England, Wales, and Scotland ; and frequent, though
less abundant, in Ireland.
The leafy stems of this species are used for dyeing pur-
poses, as well as to fix colours in the stead of alum. The
long slender stems, used under the name of Stages-horn
Moss, are formed into pretty ornaments for the decoration
of the houses of rustics, and for filling their fire-grates
during summer. Linnseus relates that in Lapland the boys
have their heads decorated with chaplets formed of it,
which — the twin spikes projecting on all sides — have the
effect of calling up the idea of groups of fauns and satyrs.
Indeed, the long flexible stems are not badly adapted
for various decorative purposes.
o
194 HISTORY OF BRITISH EERNS.
LYCOPODIUM INUNDATUM, Unnaus. — Marsh Club-moss.
(Plate XX. fig. 4.)
This is a diminutive and common plant, very frequent
on moist heaths and commons in the southern parts of
England, less common northwards, comparatively rare in
Wales and Scotland, and not found in Ireland. It prefers
to grow on spots from which the turf has been pared.
It is of prostrate habit, with simple stems two or three
inches long, growing close to the surface of the ground, to
which they are firmly attached by a few short stout roots.
They are thickly clothed with narrow linear-lanceolate
leaves, which have an acute point, and are entire on the
margin ; those on the barren horizontal stems being curved
upwards. The plant extends itself at the point throughout
the growing season, the other end meanwhile undergoing
a process of decay, so that in winter, when the growth is
arrested, the decay still going on, the living stem is mucli
reduced, and a small portion only remains over to produce
new foliage the following season. The direction of the older
portions may often be traced by means of a black Hue,
caused by the decayed matter left on the surface of the
soil where the stem has perished.
The spike of fructification, which is produced towards
LYCOPODIUM. 195
autumn, is seated at the top of an erect branch-like peduncle,
clothed throughout with leaves of the same shape as those
on the horizontal stems ; the peduncle and spike are nearly
of equal thickness throughout, the spike about an inch
long, the peduncle rather more. The spike is green, and
is formed of narrow linear-lanceolate bracts, rather dilated
at the base, and sometimes having one or two shallow teeth
on each side. The spore-cases are in the axils of these
bracts, and are nearly spherical, of a pale yellowish-green,
containing numerous minute pale yellow sporules.
LYCOPODIUM SELAGINOIDES, Linnaus. — Prickly Club-
moss.
This interesting species has a slender, procumbent, often
branched stem, the barren branches short and sinuous, the
fertile ones ascending or erect, and from two to three inches
high. They are clothed with lance-shaped leaves, of a deli-
cate texture, jagged along the margins with spiny teeth ;
those on the decumbent stems being shorter, as well as more
distant and spreading, than those of the fertile branches.
The inflorescence, as in the other species, is a terminal
spike of about an inch in length, consisting of lance-shaped
jagged-edged bracts, larger and more closely pressed than
the leaves of the stem. These bracts produce from their
196 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
axils two kinds of fructification. The lower bracts bear in
their axils large three-celled spore-cases, containing three
globular oophoridia, or four-celled cases containing four of
these bodies. The upper bracts bear subreniform spore-
cases, containing the minute pulverulent pollen-like sporules.
This is the only native species which produces the two sepa-
rate kinds of spore-cases.
Though hardly to be considered a rare species, this is one
of the less common ; it is found in the north of England,
Wales, and Scotland, in which latter country it is pretty
generally distributed. In Ireland it is more common. The
localities which it prefers are wet boggy places by the side
of mountain rills.
LYCOPODIUM SELAGO, Lmnam. — Pir Club-moss. (Plate
XX. fig. 5.)
The Fir Club -moss is one of our commoner kinds, and
in its parts is the most massive of any. It is, moreover,
usually of upright growth, the others being decumbent,
though of this there is a variety or mountain form some-
times met with, in which the stems are constantly prostrate.
Indeed, in the commoner forms the upright habit, which is
evidently natural to it, often gives way before the force of
gravity, and in such cases the lower part of the stems is
LYCOPODIUM. 197
found to be somewhat recumbent, while the upper parts
retain their upright position. The stems vary from three or
four to six or eight inches high, and are branched two or
three times in a two-forked manner ; they are stout, tough,
rigid, nearly level-topped, and thickly clothed with imbri-
cated leaves arranged in eight rows. These leaves are lance-
shaped and acute, of a shining green, rigid and leathery in
texture, and smooth on the margin ; in plants which have
grown in exposed places they are shorter and more closely
pressed to the stem ; while in plants developed in more
confined and humid situations they are longer, less rigid,
and more spreading.
The fructification is in this species not borne in terminal
spikes as in the other kinds, but is produced in the axils of
the leaves along the upper branches of the stem. The spore-
cases are rather large, sessile, kidney-shaped, two-valved, and
filled with minute pale yellow sporules.
Besides the ordinary sporules, the plant is furnished with
other means of propagation in the shape of deciduous buds,
produced for the most part in the axils of the leaves, about
the apices of the branches. These buds separate spontane-
ously, fall to the ground, and there vegetate, first producing
roots, and then elongating into a leafy stem. They are
198 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
formed by an altered leaf, which, becoming somewhat
swollen on the outside, protrudes from its inner margin five
smaller lanceolate leaves or teeth, the whole being elevated
on a short hardened footstalk. Mr. Newman describes
these changed leaves as becoming transformed into irregular
six-cleft calyces or cups, the outermost lobe of the six being
longer and larger than the rest, and of the pair on each side,
one being generally incumbent on the other so as to nearly
conceal it. Within this is a whorl of five parts representing
a gemma, or bud; the three inner lobes of this series are
large and prominent, and of an ovate oblong acute form,
the two outer lobes are very small, scale-like, one closely
appressed to the anterior, the other to the posterior surface
of the bud. In the centre of the three inner lobes, in due
time, appears a thickish oblong body, which is in reality the
undeveloped stem, and eventually elongates, puts out small
leaflets, and becomes a plant.
These buds are capable of growth either while attached to
their parent stem or when detached and in contact with the
soil ; and they appear to be the chief means of propagation
possessed by this species, for the statements which have
been made respecting the germination of the sporules of the
Fir Club-moss are open to much doubt. Probably it was
LYCOPODIUM. 199
these buds which were caused to germinate. The buds
themselves offer much analogy to the larger spores or oopho-
ridia produced by some other species, and afford an addi-
tional argument in support of the view which regards these
oophoridia as gemmse, or buds.
There is no doubt this plant possesses some medicinal
properties, though it is not now used in regular practice.
It is powerfully irritant, and is used by country people, in
the form of an ointment, as a counter-irritant in parts near
the eye, as a remedy for diseases of that organ ; it appears
to be also sometimes employed as an emetic and cathartic,
but not without danger. A decoction is, on the authority
of Linnseus, used in Sweden to destroy vermin on cattle.
It is also employed for dyeing purposes, and to fix the colour
of woollen cloths.
The Lycopodiums are not frequently seen in cultivation, but
they nevertheless, equally with the Ferns, would become a
source of much interest if brought constantly under the eye
in a living state ; and in an equal degree the study of them
in this condition — the watching of their progress and deve-
200 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
lopment day by day — would contribute to the thorough
understanding of them and their differences.
We venture to hope, therefore, that some of our readers
may be induced to fit up a Wardian case for the Club-
mosses ; and with a view to assist them in so doing we offer
a few suggestions and hints as to their cultivation.
A small Wardian case, a northern aspect, a few blocks
of sandstone, and some peat soil, are the materials that
would be required.
No contrivance could be better adapted to their wants
than a Wardian case, which, while it would protect them
from the changes of temperature incidental to a lowland
climate, would secure to them a calm and moist atmosphere,
which they all prefer. The interior should be fitted up with
an artificial mound of " rock-work," made of lumps of soft
sandstone, in the disposal of which there will be an oppor-
tunity for the display of much taste. At the base of the
" rock- work " there should be a little pond of water, in
which Isoetes and Pilularia might be cultivated. A por-
tion of the peaty soil should be introduced into the inter-
stices of the rock-work, and about its base on the margins
of the water. In the former situations the smaller and
alpine species, such as alpinum, annotinum, and selagi-
LYCOPODIUM. 201
noides, should be planted ; while on the lower and damper
parts should be placed such as inundation and clavatum.
The soil employed should be peat earth intermediate in
texture between the spongy and the unctuous kinds ; that
used among the rock-work may have in addition a portion
of the sandstone pounded and intermixed with it. That used
for inundatum in the lower part of the case will not require
this intermixture, and, in fact, will be the better as it ap-
proaches the unctuous texture just referred to, which the
presence of a good supply of water will soon give to it.
All parts of the soil should be kept rather moist than
otherwise, by the application of fresh water occasionally ;
but as the confinement of the atmosphere in the damp
state, in a close case, might tend to produce decay in some
parts of the vegetable tissues, the little door or hinged sash
may from time to time be left open for a few hours, in
order that the stagnant moisture may be carried off, when
a fresh supply will be doubly grateful to the plants.
It must be recollected, that the soil will be exposed to
very slight drying influences, and can, therefore, never re-
quire to be very copiously supplied at any one time ; the
proper course being, rather to ventilate frequently, say
once a week, in order to carry off the accumulated damp-
202 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
ness, and then by a moderate fresh supply to produce a
continued change of the watery element. For the same
reason, and to prevent the souring of the soil, which always
takes place more or less when it is in contact with stagnant
water, an outlet at the bottom of the case should be care-
fully provided, by which all the free water at least, which
drains through after the soil has been irrigated, may be
removed as it accumulates.
As to aspect, the northern is decidedly the best, princi-
pally for the reason, that in such a situation the sun has
less influence on the temperature of the interior of the
case ; and extremes of confined heat would be anything but
favourable to these plants.
The appearance of the case would, no doubt, be improved
by covering the soil entirely with living green Sphagnum
moss, which, if neatly packed on the surface with the tops
of its stems uppermost, would continue to grow and retain
its verdure. Most of the species of Club-moss would prefer
to grow amongst the Sphagnum, which, as it made fresh
growth, should, to prevent its being drawn up and smother-
ing the plants, be neatly clipped down occasionally with a
pair of scissors.
The interest of such a collection, so far as their appear-
LYCOPODIUM. 203
ance is concerned, would depend of course upon the taste
with which the rock-work was designed and executed, and
the plants distributed about it ; but whatever the result as
a matter of taste, the study of the living plant might be
prosecuted without inconvenience, and — which could never
happen in their wild localities — all the species might be
brought under the eye at one time, for the purpose of con-
trasting them, and studying their differences.
204
THE BRITISH PEPPERWORTS.
THE group of plants to which the name of Pepperworts has
been given, is technically called Marsileac&z, and contains
but a few genera, these being of very curious structure. It
has only two representatives in the British flora. These two
plants belong to different genera, and are both submerged
aquatic plants of small size, agreeing in having grassy or
quill-like foliage, but differing materially in habit, the one
being a creeping grower and the other tufted; the fruc-
tification also presenting some material differences. Isoetes
is sometimes classed with the Club -mosses instead of the
Pepperworts.
Genus XX. ISOETES.
Isoetes, which takes its scientific name from the Greek
words isos, equal, and etos, the year, from its retaining its
fronds throughout the year, is commonly called Quillwort.
The genus differs from Pilularia, its nearest ally, and with
which it is associated in the order of Pepperworts, in having
ISOETES. 205
its spore-cases enveloped by the dilated bases of its hollow
leaves ; some of the spore-cases containing large, and some
much smaller pollen-like sporules. It may also be known
by its hollow leaves being composed of four rows of elon-
gated cells, which give it a bluntly quadrangular section;
but this peculiar construction of the stems is not always
to be observed, except in fresh specimens, the pressure to
which they are subjected in the process of drying breaking
up the partitions of the cells, so that the stem appears to
be composed of one series of large elongated cells. There
is but one species, the I. lacustris, a stemless quill-leaved
submerged plant, which gives the appearance of a green
turf to the bottom of the water where it occurs.
ISOETES LACUSTRIS, Linnaeus. — The European Quillwort,
or Merlin's Grass. (Plate XIX. fig. 1.)
This is a very curious plant, growing at the bottom of
our mountain lakes, and having, as has been remarked,
the appearance of a submerged grass, so that the unexpe-
rienced eye would probably pass it by unnoticed. It has a
fleshy tuber, of a nearly globular form, white, and of compact
texture internally, but spongy and of a dark brown colour
externally. In the centre is a small nearly pellucid part,
which appears to be the growing point, since it is from this
206 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
point that the leaves appear to have their origin. Some
botanists have held the opinion that it continues to die at
the circumference while it grows in the interior, and the
appearances presented by the exterior and interior of the
tuber seem rather to confirm this view. Prom these tubers
are produced the long semipellucid tubular roots, which are
either simple or forked near their extremity, and naturally
strike downwards almost perpendicularly. Mr. Newman
describes the taste of the tubers as being earthy, but not
otherwise remarkable.
The leaves spring from the crown of the tuber, and grow
erect to the height of four or six inches, or more. They
are persistent, and of an olive-green colour, and their gene-
ral form is awl-shaped. The basal portion is dilated and
furnished with membranous margins; above this dilated
base they are nearly round, or, more exactly, bluntly qua-
drangular, being formed of four parallel hollow tubes, which
tubes are subdivided at irregular distances by transverse
partitions : towards the apex they taper off and terminate
in a sharp point. The transverse partitions above men-
tioned, being visible through the texture of the leaf, give
it a jointed appearance. Owing to their brittleness, they
not unfrequently break off at one of these joint-like points,
ISOETES. 207
their basal parts and the decaying remains of the older
leaves continuing to encircle the base of the young vigorous
leaves springing from the centre.
The fructification is contained within the dilated bases of
the leaves, and consists of roundish, hard, membranous spore-
cases. Some of these spore-cases contain roundish bodies
or spores, marked with a triangular suture on the top, and
a transverse annular one in addition ; these spores separate
at the sutures into three triangular valves, exposing an
interior subglobose semi-gelatinous substance; externally
they are opake, whitish, and rough with minute prominent
points. The other set of spore-cases— usually said to occur
at the base of the inner leaves, while the former occupy the
bases of the outer ones, but, according to Mr. Newman, not
following any law in their relative position — contain minute
angular sporules, which are very numerous, and of a pale
yellow colour. These different kinds of spores have been
sometimes called anthers and ovules, as have the similar
bodies in the Club-mosses ; but it is rather to be considered
that the smaller grains are the imperfect representatives of
the larger ones, since as yet we possess no good evidence of
the sexuality of this race of plants.
Two distinct-looking forms of the Quillwort have been
208 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
observed, the one having thicker, shorter, and more spreading
leaves than the other ; in the latter they are more slender and
erect. These have been thought distinct varieties or even
distinct species by some botanists, but are more probably
mere conditions of the plants brought about by external cir-
cumstances. Several theories have been propounded as ex-
planatory of the way in which this occurs. Sir J. E. Smith
says, the taller, more slender variety may, perhaps, be caused
by those sudden risings of the waters so frequent in moun-
tainous countries, which will account for all its peculiar
characters. Mr. Wilson believes the solitary plants with
short spreading leaves to be the first full development after
the seedling state, and before any lateral extension of the
rhizome has taken place ; and argues, that when the plants
become crowded, either by lateral increase or offsets, or by a
multitude of individuals in close contact, the fronds can only
grow erect. Mr. Newman thinks, that when the seeds arrive
at maturity, the leaf in whose base the spore-case is situated
decays and becomes torn or broken off, allowing free egress
to some of the spores, which become dispersed, and produce
the isolated dwarf spreading plants. Others and by far the
larger number of the spores do not become thus disengaged,
and are compelled to germinate in the capsule, throwing up
ISOETES. 209
most dense tufts of slender leaves, Without having made
any critical observations on this point, we decidedly prefer
Mr. Newman's explanation, which, as would be at once re-
cognized by horticulturists, is quite sufficient to account for
the observed differences in habit among the plants.
It is said that fish feed on the Isoetes ; and that, when
brought within the reach of cattle, it is greedily eaten by
them, and proves fattening.
The cultivation of the Quillwort presents few difficulties ;
in fact, water and a little soil are the only requisites. In
such a miniature lake as has been recommended to be in-
troduced in a Wardian case fitted up for Club-mosses, this
plant and the Pilularia might be made to thrive ; but the
most interesting way in which it could be grown would be
in an aquatic plant-case, with transparent sides, or in any
substitute for such a structure, such as a glass jar of suffi-
cient depth. Planted in this way, its growth could be
watched, and many interesting points of its economy could
not fail to reward a careful observer.
The aquatic plant-case, like the Wardian case, admits of
much variety of detail. The most useful form is probably
that of a rectangular glass cistern of the requisite size, held
together by a light metal frame, and closed in by a glass lid.
210 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
This is to be supported in the usual way on a mahogany or
other stand. On the bottom, or projecting from the sides,
proportionate-sized masses of coral or other rocks should be
introduced, among which a little soil introduced would serve
to fix and nourish the plants ; and these being planted, and
the case supplied with water, might, though in their proper
element, be examined without difficulty, and at all times.
Such a case might be placed in the inside of any con-
venient window, provided it were not too much exposed
to direct sun; for if placed where the sun would have
much influence on the temperature of the water, the plants
would probably suffer. Indeed, the best aspect would be
the north ; and in that case, by carrying a ledge of rock just
above the water surface, a situation would be provided
which would of all others suit the beautiful Bristle Fern and
the Eilmy Eerns (Trickomane* and Hymenopliyllurti) . Some
of the very small kinds of fish and the small aquatic mol-
lusks might be introduced with advantage, and they would
impart something like animation to the water.
A miniature Aquarium of this kind, planted with the Pal-
lisneria and other aquatics, and the TricJiomanes and other
Perns, and stocked with miniature fish, is no ideal thing,
but has been already constructed, and proves to be of the
PILULARIA. 211
deepest interest to those who are truly observers of nature.
The merit of the adaptation is entirely due to Mr. Waring-
ton, of the Apothecaries' Hall.
Genus XXI. PILULABIA, Linnaus.
OF this genus, there is one British species, Pilularia globu-
lifera, the Pillwort, or Pepper-grass, a creeping-stemmed
species, with filiform grass-like leaves, growing in clusters
at intervals along the thread-like stems, and bearing the
almost sessile fructification at their base. The parts of
fructification differ considerably in position from those of
the allied genus Isoetes, in which the spore-cases are en-
veloped in the thickened bases of the leaves, those of the
Pilularia being quite free, and attached directly to the
stem, though seated at the base of a small tuft of leaves.
They also differ in structure, the fructification of Isoetes con-
sisting of two different kinds of bodies, namely granular and
pulverulent bodies, occupying separate spore-cases ; while in
Pilularia the two kinds are produced within each spore-case,
the larger bodies occupying the lower, and the smaller ones
the upper parts.
212 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
The name comes from pilula, signifying a little pill, the
spore-cases having a nearly globular form.
PILULARIA GLOBULIFERA, Linncem. — The Pillwort, or
Pepper-grass. (Plate XYII. fig. 2.)
Pepper-grass is a small creeping plant with grassy leaves,
growing usually in the shallow margins of lakes and pools,
where it is occasionally overflowed ; but sometimes occurring
entirely submerged. The stem, or caudex, is thread-like,
composed of several longitudinal rows of hollow cells, rough
externally on the younger portions with hair-like scales, but
otherwise smooth, occasionally branched, and producing on
the lower side at intervals of about half an inch, less or
more, small tufts of fibrous roots, which are slender, simple
or slightly branched, hollow, being divided longitudinally,
and descending almost perpendicularly into the soil in which
they become fixed. On the upper part of the stem, opposite
the tufts of roots, occur tufts of about a similar number of
erect leaves, which are curled up in the incipient state, like
those of a Pern, but on unrolling assume the erect position.
These leaves are bristle- shaped, and of a bright green,
smooth externally, hollow within, but unlike those of Isoetes,
which are composed of four parallel lines of cells, the leaves
of the Pillwort are divided longitudinally into various cells,
PILULAEIA. 213
separated by partitions radiating from the centre ; they are
from one to four inches long.
The fructifications consist of small globular spore-cases,
attached by a very short stalk to the stem at the points
whence the leaves and roots proceed, being in fact seated at
the base, or in the axils of the leaves. They are densely
covered externally with pale brown jointed hairs, and are
about the size of a small pea or pepper-corn. These spore-
cases are typically four-celled,, and when quite mature, open
at the apex, and divide into quarters, the four parts re-
maining attached to the footstalk by their base. The spores
are attached to the interior of these valves along their centre,
forming four lines, the lower part of the spore-case being
occupied by the large, and the upper part by the small
powdery bodies already mentioned; the former are of a
greyish colour, and have a roundish-oblong form, with a con-
traction in the middle, and a terminal nipple-like point, the
latter consist of oblong pale yellow bodies filled with a
powdery matter resembling pollen; both are contained in
transparent gelatinous bags.
The larger spores have been regarded as pistils, and the
smaller ones as anthers, by those who have maintained the
sexuality of these plants ; but there is no evidence whatever
HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
to support the application of such names to the parts, at
least in their ordinary signification. It seems more pro-
bable that the larger bodies are the perfect spores, while the
smaller ones are merely abortive spores ; at least this is the
most reasonable explanation which has been offered. There
is, indeed, no doubt of the larger bodies being spores, since
they have been caused to germinate by different persons,
and a very detailed record of some experiments and observa-
tions on this subject has been given by Mr. Valentine.
According to Mr. Valentine's observations, the first ex-
ternal sign of germination is either the appearance of four
cells projecting through the apex of the nipple-like point of
the spore, or a gradual swelling of that part, in which case
the enlarging cellular mass distends the conical point, and
at length appears externally with four of its cells projecting
beyond the general mass, and compressed into a quadran-
gular form. Soon after the exposure of the entire germ,
little rootlets shoot out from one side ; they are simply ar-
ticulated tubes, or elongated cells applied end to end. The
germ now gradually points in two places, which points gra-
dually lengthen, and each on dissection is found to consist
of a closed sheath, one containing a leaf, the other a root.
The young leaf, when rather longer than the spore, bursts
PILTJLAEIA. 215
through its sheath, and the root protrudes before it is as
long as the spore. After this first leaf has grown to about
the length of a couple of lines,- another issues from the
germ close to the former, and then a bud begins to be de-
veloped from some indefinite part of the germ, but, like the
leaves and root, from within the sheath. Sometimes this
bud appears immediately after the first leaf, and without the
production of a second. The bud is the rudimentary stem,
the first growth from it being a leaf exhibiting, though
slightly, evidence of gyration, and this is followed by a root
furnished with its own sheath,
It is one of the doctrines of botanists, that in what are
called Acrogenous plants — a group including Mosses, Club-
mosses, Scale-mosses, Horsetails, and Perns — germination
takes place at no fixed point, but from any part of the
surface of the spores; indeed this is one of the leading dif-
ferences between what are called spores, and the reproduc-
tive organs of flowering plants, called seeds. But Mr.
Valentine maintains, that it is incorrect to say this of the
germination of Pilularia, for he is quite certain that in this
instance germination invariably takes place at a fixed
spot, which may be pointed out before germination has com-
menced. It is at a part of the spore, indicated by three ra-
216 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
diating lines, which appear to have been produced by the
pressure of the three other spores that originally helped to
constitute the quaternary union. The spores of some of
the other tribes being apparently developed in similar unions,
it is probable that similar lines, indicating a mode of
opening by valves, also exist on them, and this is certainly
the case in some instances, as in Isoetes, Lycopodium, and
Osmunda ; and in those cases in which such a structure is
not visible, it is probably owing to a thickening of the mem-
brane, or a deposition of opake matter on its surface, as in
Pilularia, in the mature spores of which they can only be
discovered by dissection, and in the abortive ones they can-
not be discovered at all after the earlier stages of growth.
It, however, does appear that in these plants, after the pro-
trusion of the germ, it is immaterial from what part of that
body the first leaves, root, or stem shall arise.
The Pillwort is widely distributed throughout the United
Kingdom, but is apparently more abundant in England and
Wales, than in Scotland and Ireland. It usually grows on
the margins of lakes or pools, where it is covered by the
water in winter, and more or less exposed during the sum-
mer; but it is also sometimes, though rarely, met with
entirely submerged.
217
THE BRITISH HORSETAILS.
THIS race of plants bears an aspect altogether different from
that of the groups in whose company they are placed in
books, and indeed they have no very obvious affinity to any
existing order of plants. In their mode of growth they
have a certain resemblance to a small group of plants known
by the name of Ephedra, and belonging to the order Gneta-
cecEj and also to another limited set called Casuarina ; but
this resemblance is confined to their general aspect, and is
in great measure owing to the peculiar jointing of the stems
and branches. With Perns and Club-mosses they have
little in common, though so frequently associated with them
in books. Their most direct relationship is probably with
a small group called Liverworts (Marchantiac&z) ; and they
have also some analogy with the aquatic group, Characece.
The Horsetails are distinguished from other plants by the
following characteristics. They are leafless, branching plants,
with fistular jointed stems, separable at the joints, where
they are solid, and at these points surrounded by membranous
218 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
toothed sheaths : each joint in fact terminates above in one
of these sheaths, into which the base of the next joint fits.
The sheaths seem to represent abortive leaves. The fruc-
tification consists of terminal cone-like heads, made up of
peltate, usually hexagonal scales, to the lower face of which
the spore-cases are attached in a series around the margin.
The stems consist chiefly of cellular matter, but towards
the circumference there is a layer of woody fibre, from
which a series of plates of a similar nature project towards
the centre. The centre, as already mentioned, presents a
hollow cavity ; and between the outer and inner cuticle of
the cylinder-like stem, occur one or more circles of hollow
tubes, or air-cavities, differing in size and position, and in
fact affording, by their comparative size, number, and ar-
rangement, excellent auxiliary marks for the recognition of
the species. Around these cavities, especially towards the
exterior surface of the stem, occur numerous spiral vessels of
small size.
The cuticle abounds in siliceous particles secreted in the
form of more or less prominent little warts, which impart to
the surface a greater or less degree of roughness in proportion
to their prominence. In some species this deposit of siliceous
matter is so great, that it is said, the whole of the vegetable
HORSETAILS. 219
substance may be destroyed by maceration, the form of the
plant being preserved entire in the flinty coating. It has
been found that the ashes contain half their weight of silica.
Some very interesting observations of Dr. Brewster, on the
microscopic structure of this siliceous coating in K hyemale,
first published by Dr. Greville, we may quote.
" On subjecting a portion of the cuticle to the analysis of
polarized light under a high magnifying power/' writes Dr.
Greville, " Dr. Brewster detected a beautiful arrangement
of the siliceous particles, which are distributed in two lines
parallel to the axis of the stem, and extending over the
whole surface. The greater number of the particles form
simple straight lines, but the rest are grouped into oval
forms, connected together like the jewels of a necklace by a
chain of particles forming a sort of curvilinear quadrangle ;
these rows of oval combinations being arranged in pairs.
Many of those particles which form the straight lines, do
not exceed the five-hundredth part of an inch in diameter.
Dr. Brewster also observed the remarkable fact, that each
particle has a regular axis of double refraction. In the straw
and chaff of wheat, barley, oats, and rye, he noticed analo-
gous phenomena, but the particles were arranged in a dif-
ferent manner and displayed figures of singular beauty.
220 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS,
Prom these data Dr. Brewster concludes that the crystalline
portions of silex and other earths which are found in vege-
table films are not foreign substances of accidental occur-
rence, but are integral parts of the plant itself, and probably
perform some important function in the processes of vege-
table life."
Numerous stomates exist in the hollows of the fluted sur-
face of the stems, the depressed part of each channel having
two longitudinal series of these minute openings.
Beyond their employment in the arts, the Equisetums are
of little importance in an economical point of view. They
are useless as fodder, and exploded as physic, though they
have had some reputed astringent virtues. The underground
stems, however, contain in winter, when the plants are in-
active, a considerable quantity of starch, and they may be
occasionally eaten by animals. In the cells of these under-
ground stems, during the month of October, the particles of
starch may be seen in active motion, passing up one side and
down the other, as is observed in the stems of Cham. Dr.
Lindley mentions having often noticed this phenomenon in
the stems of the great Water Horsetail.
The order of Horsetails consists of the one genus Equise-
tum, of which nine species are recognized as British.
221
Genus XXII. EQUISETUM, Linnaus.
THE jointed tubular stems, and terminal cones of fructifica-
tion, are marks by which the Eguisetums may always be
readily distinguished from all other plants. The species are,
however, not so easily recognized among themselves, owing
to the great sameness which occurs among certain groups of
them. The chief features relied on for their discrimination,
are the similarity or otherwise of the fertile and barren stems,
the number of ridges or striae which occur on the exterior
surface of these sterns, and the structure of the sheaths
which surround the joints. By means of the peculiarities
which these parts present, the species may be certainly iden-
tified, and after a little experience has been had, several of
them may be at once known by means of those jprima facie
appearances, which it is probable will become associated
with the plants, in the mind of the attentive student. One
peculiarity of the Equisetums is, that they have no leaves,
these organs being represented by the tubular sheaths which
are produced at every joint.
The name Equisetum is compounded from equus, a horse,
and seta, a hair or bristle ; whence comes the English name
222 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
of Horsetail, a not inapt comparison with the barren fronds
of some of the species.
EQUISETUM ARVENSE, Linncsus. — The Corn-field Horsetail.
This is the most common of the species, and in many
places is an injurious weed, very difficult to eradicate. It
occurs, here and there, almost everywhere in fields and
waste places, especially where the soil is inclined to be
sandy, and more abundant in moist than in dry places.
It has long, creeping, underground stems, which are a good
deal branched, and are cylindrical and jointed in the same
way as the stems which rise above ground. At the joints
they throw out whorls of tough, branching, fibrous roots.
The aerial stems are of two kinds, the one simple and
bearing the fructification only, the other branched and per-
fectly barren.
The fertile stems are quite without branches, and grow
up early in spring, arriving at maturity and perishing long
before the barren ones have completed their growth. They
reach maturity in April and May. The stems vary, ac-
cording to the locality where they grow, from three to eight
or ten inches in height. They are hollow, succulent when
fresh, and of a light brown colour, nearly smooth, and ap-
parently without the siliceous coating common to the stems
EQUISETUM. 223
of this race of plants. They are divided at intervals into
joints of variable length, the number of joints being also
variable, from six on stems of about four inches in length,
to eight on those which measure eight inches, though some-
times specimens of equal length have but five or six joints.
From this cause they are much more distant on some stems
than on others ; a space measuring three-quarters of an
inch being sometimes interposed between the top of one
sheath and the base of the next above it. On the other
hand, they are sometimes so close as nearly to touch ; but
we have seen no instance in which the base of a sheath is
covered by the sheath below it, except at the very lowest
part of the stem, where they become much reduced in size,
and are sometimes crowded. It is usual for each succeeding
joint upwards to be somewhat more distant than the one
beneath it. The sheaths are large and loose, widening up-
wards ; they are pale-coloured, somewhat yellowish at the
base, and are divided above into about ten dark brown teeth,
which often adhere together in twos and threes. The teeth
are very narrowly lance-shaped and sharp-pointed, and are
the terminations of the ribs, about ten in number, by which
the sheaths are marked.
These stems are terminated by cone-like heads, bearing
224 HISTOIIY or BRITISH TEENS.
the spore-cases, attached to peltate scales, arranged in
crowded whorls, the cones being rather more than an inch
long, tapering somewhat above and below, and terminating
in a blunt point. Below this is a bare portion of the stem,
seldom less than an inch in length in fully developed speci-
mens, but sometimes measuring as much as two inches.
The peltate scales are arranged in whorls around the axis of
the cone, as is the case generally in this family. The scales
in one of these cones, according to Mr. Newman's computa-
tion, vary in number from one hundred to two hundred and
fifty. At a right angle with their margin are ranged the
spore-cases, four to seven in number, oblong, membranous,
parallel, white cells, bursting finally into two longitudinal
valves, and discharging an abundance of very minute glo-
bular spores, of a beautiful blue-green colour.
The barren stems are either erect or decumbent in their
mode of growth, and are from one to two feet or more in
height; they are often branched from the bottom to the
top, but sometimes only the central and upper parts are
branched. They spring up after the fertile stems have
withered, and are of a pale green colour ; at first crowded
with short appressed branches, which, by degrees, become
elongated, and assume a spreading or somewhat drooping
EQUISETUM. 225
position, sometimes becoming again branched. The main
stem has from ten to sixteen distinct shallow furrows, with
corresponding ridges, and is, as well as the branches, studded
over with minute siliceous warty particles. The sheaths,
which fit somewhat closely to the stem, are furrowed like it,
and terminate in an equal number of acute wedge-shaped
dark-coloured teeth, which are often margined by a narrow
brown membrane. Immediately below these sheaths spring
out, from other short sheaths with obtuse brown segments, the
whorls of branches, which are of variable number and length;
they are four-ribbed, and their sheaths are four-toothed, the
teeth being long and acute, of one colour, with a single rib
extending to the extreme point of each tooth. The branches
are four-angled.
The section of the stem often affords a good mark of recog-
nition among the species of Equisetum. In that of E. arvense
it is seen that the interior cavity occupies only about one-
third of the diameter. The exterior surface is varied by
about a dozen blunt ridges, having corresponding shallow
depressions ; within this, occupying about the centre of the
ring, and alternating with the ridges, are a series of large
roundish-oblong or obovate cavities, the narrow end of which
is turned inwards ; alternating again with them, and conse-
Q
226 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
quently opposite to the external ridges, occurs an annular
series of small circular cavities, which are placed near the
inner surface of the tube.
This plant is not, as far as we are aware, applied to any
use ; and the harshness of its stems renders it by no means
agreeable to cattle, although it often occurs abundantly
among their pasturage ; and in cultivated ground becomes
a troublesome weed.
EQUISETUM HYEMALE, Linnaus. — The Great Bough
Horsetail. (Plate XX. fig. 1.)
The underground stems of this species of Horsetail are
branched, and creeping to a considerable extent ; they are
black, and furnished with whorls of branched, black, fibrous
roots. The aerial stems are in this species all alike in
structure, those which bear fructification differing in no
other particular from those which do not. They grow up-
right, and are scarcely ever branched : when this does occur
a solitary branch is produced, and this protrudes from below
the base of one of the sheaths of the stem. Their colour is
a deep glaucous green.
These stems, which grow from two to three feet high, are
cylindrical, tapering off at the apex, and marked on the
thicker parts with from fourteen to twenty ridges, formed
EQUISETUM. 227
of a double row of elevated points. Their surface is very
rough from the presence of these points, which consist of a
coating of crystallized siliceous particles. In this species
the sheaths fit closely around the stems, so that they are
nearly cylindrical ; they are marked by ridges of the same
number as those on the stem, but less prominent, and they
terminate in a series of teeth equal in number to the ridges,
the teeth being black, membranous, and bristle-shaped, soon
falling off, and leaving the margin crenated. The sheath
immediately below the cone of fructification has, however,
its teeth persistent, and it is somewhat funnel-shaped. The
sheaths are at first pale green with a black margin ; from
this they change to be entirely black ; and finally they be-
come whitish in the middle, leaving a narrow ring of black
at the base and margin.
In this species a section of the stem shows on the exterior
a series of distinct ridges, formed of twin projections, and
varying in number, as has been already explained ; opposite
to the furrows, between them, and occupying about the cen-
tre of the solid cylinder, is a ring of moderate-sized cavities.
The central cavity is comparatively large.
The cones of fructification are comparatively small, and
are seated on the apices of a number of the stems ; they are
228 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
at first ovate and apiculate, subsequently becoming elliptical ;
when young sessile in the sheath, but afterwards acquiring
a short footstalk. They are dark-coloured, consisting of
about forty to fifty scales, and abounding in light-coloured
powdery spores. Each of the scales is impressed with two
or three vertical lines.
This plant is found naturally growing in boggy shady
places, and is much more abundant northwards than south-
wards, where it is rarely met with. Though distributed
sparingly over the United Kingdom, its occurrence is strictly
local.
The stems of this Equisetum are now and have been long
employed in the arts as a material for polishing, the im-
ported stems being known under the names of Dutch Eush
and Shave-grass. They are obtained from Holland, where
this species is planted to support the embankments, which
it does by means of its branching underground stems. It
has been suggested that our own sandy sea-coasts might be
profitably planted with it.
The property which gains for it its commercial value is
due to the presence of a very hard coating of silex, which is
deposited in the form of little crystals, rendering the surface
rough like a rasp or file, and hence not only woods, but
EQUISETUM. 229
metals and stones may be polished by it. This siliceous
coating is so entire, and of such density, that it is stated the
whole of the vegetable matter may be removed by macera-
tion, or, according to others, by burning, without destroy-
ing the form of the plant. The minute crystals of silex, of
which the flinty coating consists, are arranged with a degree
of regularity which, under a microscope, has a very beauti-
ful appearance ; they form a series of longitudinal elevated
points, and in the furrows between them are cup-shaped
depressions, at the bottom of each of which is placed a
stomate or pore.
All the species of Equisetum have a flinty coating to their
stems, and may be, and are, more or less employed in polish-
ing ; but the stems of the E. Jiyemale are much preferable
to those of the other kinds, in consequence of their rougher
and more hardened surface.
EQUISETUM LIMOSUM, Linnaeus. — The Water Horsetail,
or Smooth Naked Horsetail.
This is a common species and generally distributed,
occurring principally in pools, ditches, and marshy places,
though occasionally in running streams. It is rather a
tall-growing plant, the stems rising from two to three feet
or more in height, springing from the joints of the dark
230 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
brown underground stems, which also produce whorls of
black fibrous roots.
The stems are, though firmly ribbed, very smooth to the
touch, their furrows being very shallow ; their smoothness
no doubt arising from the presence of a very slight coating
of the siliceous particles, which, when more abundant, give
their peculiar harshness to some of the species ; probably,
also, the particles themselves are in this species much
finer and less prominent. Sometimes the stems are quite
unbranched ; sometimes furnished with irregular whorls of
branches along all their central portion ; and between these
two extremes there occurs every conceivable degree of
branching, from the single shoot produced here and there,
through every gradation of imperfect whorls up to whorls
of short branches almost complete. The branches, which
are simple, nearly erect, and never acquire much length,
are smooth like the stem. There is no material difference
between the barren and fertile stems, except the presence
of the fructification in the one case and not in the other ;
they are, therefore, said to be similar in structure.
The surface of the stem is marked with from sixteen to
twenty very slight ridges, and the sheaths, which are short,
rather closely fitted to the stem, and of the same colour in
EQTJISETUM. 231
the lower part, terminate in an equal number of dark-
coloured awl-shaped teeth, which sometimes have a pale
membranous margin. The branches are four- to eight-
angled.
Owing to the shallowness of the ridges and furrows, the
section of the stem shows a nearly smooth exterior outline,
and the cylinder of the stem is furnished only with a row
of minute cavities near the inner margin ; this cylinder is
very thin, compared with the diameter of the stem, the cen-
tral cavity being unusually large. The present plant, there-
fore, though it has been considered a variety of K palustre,
is most strikingly distinct from that species in the structure
of its stem.
The fructification is produced by a portion of the
branches, in cones, at their apex; these cones are ovate
obtuse, and very frequently sessile in the uppermost sheath.
The scales are black, exceeding a hundred in number ; the
spore-cases are pale-coloured. Usually only the termina-
tion of the central stem bears fructification, but it some-
times happens, though rarely, that some of the uppermost
branches are also fertile.
This plant is the most fodder-like of any of the Equise-
-Sj owing to its less flinty cuticle, but in this point of
232 HISTOEY OF BRITISH FEENS.
view, it is, at least in this country, of very small importance.
It is, however, stated to be used in Sweden as food for
cattle, "in order that the cows may give more milk;" and
in Lapland, it is, even when dry, eaten with avidity by the
rein-deer, though they will not touch common hay. Linnaeus
censures the improvidence of the Laplanders, in not pro-
viding during summer a supply of this plant and of the
Rein- deer Moss, for winter use; thus making some provision
for their herds at a. time when the ground is covered with
frost-bound snow, so as not to risk the loss of their most
valuable or entire possessions. An instance is related by Mr.
Knapp, in which a colony of the short-tailed water-rats
made this plant their food, and in the evening might be
heard champing it at many yards' distance.
EQUISETUM MACKAYI, Newman. — Dr. Mackay's Eough
Horsetail.
This plant, on its discovery in the United Kingdom
being first make known, was named K elongatum by Sir
W. J. Hooker. Mr. Newman has, however, since shown
that it is not the species to which that name belongs, and
he has given it that which we employ, it being applied in
compliment to one of the original discoverers of the plant.
It is one of those species in which the stems that pro-
EQUISETUM. 233
duce the fructification, and those which are barren, do not
differ in any other respect, and are, therefore, said to be
similar ; and in which, also, the stems are almost branchless,
the branching being mostly confined to the production of
one or two erect lateral stems from near the base, and this
lateral branching is by no means common. Sometimes,
indeed, the upper part of the stem is also sparingly
branched, but the branches are produced singly from the
whorls ; in very luxuriant plants, the branches are now and
then themselves branched upon a similar plan.
Like the other species, this has a branching underground
creeping stem, which is black, and produces whorls of
branched fibrous roots from its joints. The above-ground
stems are slender, and erect in their mode of growth ; from
two to three or four feet high ; deeply furrowed, with a
double row of elevated points along the ridges, which are
usually from eight to twelve, but sometimes fourteen in
number. The sheaths are close, cylindrical, and striated
like the stem, terminating in a number of teeth equalling
the striae ; these teeth are long, slender, awl-shaped, black
with pale membranous margins, and usually, but not al-
ways, persistent. The sheaths are, for the most part,
entirely black, but here and there they occur with a narrow
234 HISTORY OF BRITISH TERNS.
greyish ring, variable in position, being sometimes central,
arid at other times near the base or near the margin ; it
is, however, we believe always, much less decided and
clearly defined than the pale-coloured band on the sheaths
of E. hyemale.
The section of the stem differs from that of E. hyemale,
to which it presents a general resemblance, in being smaller,
showing fewer ridges, and having the cavities placed rather
nearer the inner margin ; the central cavity is also propor-
tionally smaller. It has, consequently, on the exterior, a
series of ridges formed of twin projections representing the
double row of siliceous particles which extends along each
ridge ; and a series of cavities rather nearer the inner than
the exterior surface of the ring.
The fructification consists of small black cone-like heads,
of an oblong form, terminating in an apiculus. In our
specimens they appear sessile in the upper sheath, but they
are said to become elevated on a short pedicel. The scales,
in one of these cones, number about thirty.
Equisetum Mackayi is found on the moist banks of the
mountain glens of Scotland and the north of Ireland. It
was first found in Ireland, and apparently by two botanists
in company, Mr. (now Dr.) Mackay, and Mr. Whitla ; this
EQUISETUM. 235
was in 1833. It lias subsequently been met with in other
parts of Ireland,, as well as in Scotland,
EQUISETUM PALUSTRE, Linnaus. — The Marsh Horsetail.
A common species in boggy places and by the sides of
ditches and water-courses. It has a creeping underground
stem, which is black and shining, and from the joints of
this are produced whorls of slender roots. The part of the
stem which rises above ground is erect, growing from a
foot to a foot and a half in height. The presence of fructi-
fication alone distinguishes the fertile stems from those
which are unfruitful ; both being erect, and bearing whorls
of numerous branches.
The stems are somewhat rough on the surface, but less
so than in many of the other kinds. They are marked on
the exterior by prominent ribs, with intervening broad
deep furrows, the number being variable, from six to eight.
The joints are invested with nearly cylindrical sheaths,
which are quite loose, being almost twice the diameter of
the stem in the upper parts of the plant ; the lower sheaths
are smaller and rather more funnel-shaped. The sheaths
terminate in as many acute wedge-shaped teeth as there
are ridges on the stem ; they are pale-coloured, tipped with
black or dark brown, and have membranous margins.
236 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
The stems are usually, except at the base, furnished with
whorls of numerous simple branches, the number of the
branches generally corresponding with the furrows of the
stem. These are slender, four- or five-ribbed, and their
sheaths set nearly close, and terminate in pale brown lance-
shaped teeth, having a membranous border.
In this species, when a section of the stem is examined,
it shows a series of prominent ridges on the outer face;
just within these, and over against the furrows, occur a
circle of moderate sized cavities; and alternating with
these, and near the inner margin, is a series of much
smaller circular cavities. The central cavity of the stem
is comparatively very small, not very much larger than the
series of openings near the outer surface. The resemblance
is considerable between its section and that of E. arvense.
The fructification is a blunt oblong cone, more than an
inch long, terminating the main stem, and supported on a
stalk about equal to its own length above the uppermost
sheath. The whorls of scales in the mature cone are quite
separated, and expose the white spore-cases attached to the
margin. The scales in this species exceed a hundred in
number. The fructification is mature about June.
Besides the more usual form just described, there are
EQUISETUM. 237
some curious variations to which this plant is liable. One
of the most remarkable has been called the variety poly-
stackion. It is remarkable in having more or less of the
branches of the two upper whorls terminating in cones of
fructification; the usual habit of the plant being to pro-
duce only one cone, and that on the central stem. The
cones produced by the branches are, we believe, always
much smaller than the ordinary cone of fructification pro-
duced by the main stem, and they are darker-coloured and
more compact. It has been suggested, that the production
of these lateral fructifications is accidental, owing to the
destruction of the top of the main stem, but this explana-
tion is quite insufficient, since they are sometimes produced
along with the central head, which moreover varies when
accompanied by them, being sometimes of the usual size,
and sometimes reduced in size like the lateral heads. The
lateral heads are usually later in their appearance than the
central ones. Occasionally we have seen some of the
branches of the lowest whorl become elongated, and termi-
nate in one of these small cones.
Another form is called nudum, and a very similar variety
is sometimes called alpinum. There appears to be no ad-
vantage in attempting to distinguish these, both being de-
238 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
pauperated forms, depending, no doubt, on the circumstances
of their growth. They differ from the ordinary plant in
being altogether smaller, the height ranging from two to
four or five inches, the lower part of the stems being de-
cumbent, and the whole stem almost devoid of branches ;
a few being developed only at their very base. In some
states, this form has much resemblance to the prostrate
E. variegatum, but is distinguishable by means of its
sheaths and fructification.
The variety, or form, called polystachion, is probably
rather accidental than constant, and is to be regarded as
the result of peculiar and changeable circumstances which
may influence its growth. The variety nudum, or aljsinum,
seems clearly a depauperization of the plant, either through
elevation or lack of food, both producing the result of a
dwarf stunted growth. "We have had no opportunity of
testing their constancy in cultivation, neither are we aware
of any experiments having been made on this point, but
we should expect they would both revert to the common
form under the influences of domestication.
EQUISETUM SYLVATICUM, Linn&us. — The Wood Horsetail.
(Plate XX. fig. 3.)
Perhaps this may be called the most beautiful of the
EQUISETUM. 239
Equisetums ; certainly it is extremely elegant in almost
all stages of its growth, and perhaps never more so than
shortly after the fertile stems, with their fructification still
perfect, have begun to develope their lateral branches.
Later in the season, these branches, which have from the
first a pendent tendency, droop around with exquisite grace
on all sides. Mr. Newman, in recording his impressions on
seeing it growing luxuriantly on a wooded hill-side near
Loch Tyne, observes : — " Each stem had attained its full
development, and every pendulous branch its full length
and elegance. Altogether I could have fancied it a magic
scene, created by the fairies for their especial use and plea-
sure, and sacred to the solemnization of their moon-lit
revels. It was a forest in miniature, and a forest of sur-
passing beauty. It is impossible to give an adequate idea
of such a scene, either by language or illustration."
But descending to sober realities. — The creeping under-
ground stem of this Wood Horsetail is, like that of the
others, dark-coloured and branched, and produces from
its joints the slender fibrous roots which draw up nourish-
ment to the plant. The above-ground stems are erect,
and, in a certain sense, those of them which produce fructi-
fication, and those which are barren, are similar, except as
240 HISTORY OP BRITISH PERNS.
regards this one point. Their resemblance consists in both
growing up at the same time, and both putting out whorls
of deflexed branches, less numerous certainly on the fertile
stems ; but in other respects they differ, as, for instance,
in the growth of the apices of the fronds. The fertile ones,
terminating in a catkin which soon perishes, become blunt-
topped, while the barren ones continue to elongate at the
point and so become somewhat pyramidal. The barren
stems are also more slender than the fertile ones, and have
less inflated sheaths. It will thus appear, that this species,
in its habit of growth, holds a middle rank between that
group in which the fertile and barren stems are successive
and quite dissimilar, and that group in which they are
simultaneous and present no appreciable difference of struc-
ture. Something of the same kind occurs in E. umbrosum,
as will be found noticed under that species.
The fertile stems, when they first shoot up, are almost quite
simple, and a few of them remain so, perfecting their cone-
like head, and then perishing. More usually, by the time
the catkin has become fully grown, the whorls of branches
from the upper joints will be seen protruded to the length of
from half an inch to an inch or rather more. Two, three,
or four, rarely more, whorls of branches are thus produced
ra. 241
from the uppermost joints of the stem, and above these the
oblong-ovate blunt cone is seated on a bare stalk-like portion
of the stem, one to two inches long. The stems are round,
succulent, pale-coloured, with about twelve slender ridges,
and corresponding shallow furrows, nearly smooth, the
siliceous particles which coat the surface being too minute
to impart much roughness. The sheaths are large and loose,
and are divided at the margin into three or four bluntish
lobes; their lower half or tubular portion is pale green,
their upper half or lobes bright russet ; they have an equal
number of ribs, with the ribs on the stem. The slender
branches, which are deflexed, grow to about a couple of
inches in length, and produce from their joints a series of
secondary branches, which grow from about half an inch to
an inch in length. The average height of the fertile stems
is about one foot.
The barren stems are more slender and less succulent
than the others ; they also produce more numerous whorls
of branches. These grow from fifteen to eighteen inches
high, and are ribbed like the others, only somewhat more
prominently. The sheaths fit closer than those of the
fertile stems, but in colour and in the division of their
margin they resemble them exactly. The whorls of branches
242 HISTORY OF BRITISH FEKNS.
are very dense, being compouridly branched. The side
branches, which measure about four inches in length, are
constantly branched at every joint with a whorl of branch-
lets averaging two inches in length, and sometimes these
branchlets put out another series of short branches. The
outline of the frond would be nearly pyramidal, were it not
that the extreme point becomes so slender as to be unable
to retain itself erect ; the lateral branches are all droop-
ing or deflexed, and hence the elegant appearance of the full-
grown fronds. The ultimate branches are three-ribbed,
which gives them a triangular form ; their joints terminate
in three long pointed teeth, one of the ribs extending undi-
vided to the apex of each tooth. The teeth are of the same
colour as the branch.
The section of the stem shows a series of shallow ridges
and furrows ; opposite the latter a ring of largish cavities ;
and alternating with these on the inner side, another ring of
very minute cavities, these latter again alternating with a
circle of angular cavities close to the inner margin of the
tube. The central cavity measures about half the diameter.
The fructification is an oblong-ovate cone-like head, con-
sisting of eighty or more pale brown peltate scales ranged
in whorls, and to which white spore-cases are attached.
EQUISETUM. 243
These, on bursting, disperse a great number of greenish-co-
loured spores.
This species grows naturally in moist shady woods ; and
though local, owing apparently to the conditions necessary
to its growth, namely, shade and moisture combined in a
peculiar way, it is, nevertheless, a widely distributed plant,
and can hardly be considered as uncommon throughout the
United Kingdom. Its fertile stems are in perfection about
the middle of April, and its barren stems in June.
EQUISETUM TELMATEIA, Ehrkart. — The Great Horsetail,
or Great Water Horsetail, of some ; Great Mud Horsetail
of others. (Plate XX. fig. 2.)
This is one of those species in which the ordinary fertile
and the barren stems are perfectly dissimilar, the former
being short and quite simple, the latter tall and compoundly
branched. Occasionally a third sort of stem is produced,
late in the season, which may be called a kind of com-
promise between the two. Mr. Newman describes such
steins as reaching maturity about August, and bearing a
very small proportion to the exclusively barren or fertile
steins. They are smaller, though with longer joints, have
shorter, less spreading sheaths, and bear catkins which
f<re smaller than usual. This state of the plant has been
244 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
attributed to drought ; and seems to be one of those occa-
sional and inconstant variations to which plants are liable,
as they are influenced by the external circumstances of soil
or climate, or the peculiarities of the seasons.
The barren stems of this species are very stately objects
when in a luxuriant condition of growth. They grow erect,
and are from six to seven feet or more in height, clothed
nearly to the bottom with spreading proximate whorls, those
on the stouter parts consisting of thirty to forty branches,
which are sometimes again branched. The upper whorls
have many fewer branches. The whorls are most crowded
towards the top of the stem, and there also the branches
are about the full length — six or eight inches ; lower down
the stem the branches become shorter, and the whorls more
distant. The stems measure about an inch and a half in
diameter at the stoutest part, and from this point decrease
upwards, becoming very slender at the point. The surface
is smooth, with mere indications of about thirty faint lines
extending into the sheaths, and there becoming more appa-
rent. The sheaths set close to the stem, or nearly so, and
are half an inch long, green below, with a dark brown ring
at top, and divided at the margin into slender bristly teeth,
about half an inch long, dark brown, with paler membranous
EQTJISETUM. 245
edges ; the teeth frequently adhere together at the summit
in twos and threes. The branches have eight or ten ribs
united in pairs, and their sheaths terminate in four or five
teeth, each extended into a slender black bristle, and having
two denticulated ribs. The branches very frequently pro-
duce a series of two to five secondary branches at their
second joints. The colour of the main stem is very pale,
scarcely tinged with green, that of the branches a delicate
green. The sheaths of the branches, in this and some other
species, furnish excellent marks for discrimination.
The fertile stem is erect, simple, from nine inches to a foot
or more high, succulent, pale brown, and smooth. From
each of the numerous joints arises a large loose funnel-
shaped sheath, the upper ones being largest ; they are dis-
tinctly striated, and terminate in thirty to forty long, slen-
der, and, according to Hooker, two-ribbed, teeth. The
sheaths are pale greenish-brown below, darker brown above.
The catkins are large, between two and three inches long ;
the scales, often numbering four hundred, are arranged in
whorls, of which the lower ones are usually very distinct.
The scales and spore-cases resemble those of the allied kinds.
A section of the barren stem of this species shows an outer
surface without ridges and furrows, and in the very narrow
HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
cylinder of the stem occur two circles of cavities, the outer
one consisting of large openings, those of the inner minute,
and alternating with the larger. The central cavity is very
large, the tissue of the stem being reduced to a very narrow
ring.
This is a widely-dispersed and rather common plant, oc-
curring on moist banks and in muddy places, by the sides
of streams and the margins of muddy pools. The nature of
the soil would seem to be of small importance provided it
has its necessary degree of moisture, for it is recorded as
occurring both in sandy and in clayey soils, as well as in
muddy pools. It is frequent in Ireland ; and is found both
in Scotland and Wales.
EQUISETUM UMBROSUM, Willdenow. — The Shady Horsetail.
This species of Horsetail was formerly named E. Drum-
mondii by Sir W. J. Hooker, after Mr. T. Drummond, who
first discovered it as a native of Britain, but it proves to be
the same which Willdenow had previously called E. urn-
brosum. It is a very interesting and distinct plant, inter-
mediate in its general characteristics between E. arvense and
E. sylvaticum, but perfectly distinct from both.
Prom its long, dark-coloured, creeping, underground stem
are produced, at the joints, whorls of slender fibrous roots,
EQUISETUM. 247
and from buds organized at the same points arise the aerial
stems. These are quite dissimilar in their appearance, some
being short, quite simple, and terminating in a cone-like
head of spore-cases; others being without fructification,
taller, and producing several whorls of long, crowded, slen-
der branches ; whilst a third kind, of ' common though not
constant occurrence/ produce whorls of branches and cones
also. In the production of these three kinds of stems it
serves to connect, through E. sylvaticum, that group in
which the fertile and barren stems are successive and alto-
gether unlike, with that in which any of the stems indif-
ferently— at least as to external appearances — bear the fruc-
tification, all being of similar habit.
The fertile stems grow about six inches high, and are
quite branchless ; they are of a pale yellowish-green, having
numerous joints, the large loose funnel-shaped sheaths pro-
duced at these points, almost covering the stem, as usually
described and figured, but in our specimens they are much
less crowded, a space of from half an inch to an inch oc-
curring between the adjoining sheaths. These sheaths are
still paler- coloured than the stem, often almost white, with a
dark ring below the teeth, which are awl-shaped, pale brown,
with pale-coloured membranous margins; the teeth are
48 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
about twenty — from twelve to twenty — in number, equalling
the ribs on the sheath. These fertile stems are very slightly
striated.
The barren stems grow erect to the height of eighteen
inches or more, and have their surface disposed in about
twenty sharp ridges, with corresponding furrows, the ridges
being coated with prominent siliceous warty particles, so
that the stems become very rough. The few lower joints
are without branches, but in all the upper part of the stem
they produce whorls of from ten to sixteen branches, which
are simple, and at first drooping, but eventually take a spread-
ing or slightly ascending direction. The sheaths of these
barren stems are much smaller than those of the fertile, less
funnel-shaped, and more closely set to the stem, and their
teeth are also fewer, shorter, and blunter ; but in respect of
colour they do not materially differ. The branches, which are
slender, and about four inches long, are three- or four-ribbed,
and have loose sheaths, which terminate in three or four short,
acute, membranous- edged, faintly brown-tipped teeth; the
ribs of the stem extend upwards into the teeth, one entering
each, but they do not quite reach the apex.
The fructification forms a moderate-sized, terminal, oval,
cone-like head; at first sessile in the uppermost sheath, but
EQUISETTJM. 249
becoming elevated on a short stalk. The scales are from
forty to fifty in number, and are of a pale brown colour,
bearing numerous whitish spore- cases.
The branched fertile stems have their sheaths smaller
than the simple fertile ones, but larger than the barren ones.
Several of the uppermost joints produce whorls of branches,
and the stem is terminated by a cone of fructification. In
these cases, however, the number of branches is less than
that produced by the ordinary barren stems, and the cone is
smaller than those produced by the ordinary fertile stems.
In fact, the parts seem intermediate.
The section of the stem of this species is very different
from that of any other, though having most resemblance to
those of JE. arvense and K sylvaticum. The exterior shows
a series of sharp ridges with angular furrows ; the central
cavity rather exceeds a third of the whole diameter; the
cylinder of the stem is then pierced by three circles of ca-
vities— one of longish oblong openings opposite the furrows,
one of minute pores exterior to these and opposite the ridges,
and another of minute pores on their inner side also oppo-
site the ridges.
Probably this species is tolerably plentiful in moist shady
woods, which are the situations it affects, but it has as yet
250 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
been met with only in a limited number of localities in
Ireland, Scotland, and the north of England.
EQUISETUM VARIEGATTJM, Weber and Mohr. — The Va-
riegated Bough Horsetail.
This species is found on the banks of rivers and lakes, and
in sandy places near the sea. There is considerable variation
among the plants classed under this name, and met with in
these different localities, the differences appearing to be
permanent under cultivation, but we have not yet sufficient
evidence to treat them as distinct species. We, therefore,
include as varieties or forms of variegatum,'$\Q dwarf pro-
cumbent plant sometimes called JEJ. arenarium, and the tall
stout erect form which has been named E. Wilsoni.
This is one of the species whose stems are all similar, and
almost quite unbranched. It extends by means of a widely
creeping underground stem, rooting in whorls like the other
species, and producing numerous above-ground stems, often
springing from joints in such close proximity, that they
appear in dense tufts. Though so numerously branched
just beneath or at the surface of the soil, it is not usual that
any branches are produced on the exposed part of the stems,
but this sometimes does occur, such branches not growing
in whorls, but springing singly from the joints, and having
EQUISETUM. 251
much similarity to the stem itself; it is the erect form of
the species, chiefly, which thus becomes branched. The
stems grow about a foot high, and, in what is taken as the
typical plant, their surface is very rough, and impressed
with from four to ten furrows, with alternating, rather pro-
minent ridges, each ridge margined on both sides, with a
line of minute siliceous points, which give it the appearance
of being grooved, and impart the peculiar roughness to the
steins. The sheaths are slightly enlarged towards their
margin, ribbed like the stem, green in the lower part, black
above, and terminating in a fringe of black teeth, equalling
the ribs in number ; in form ovate, with a broad white
membranous border, and tipped by a deciduous bristle.
Sometimes the contrast between the black ring and teeth,
and the white border to the latter, is very conspicuous.
A certain number of the stems, usually the most vigorous,
terminate in a cone of fructification. This is small, elliptic,
crowned by a prominent point or apiculus. It is usually
black, and sessile in the uppermost sheath, but sometimes
elevated on a short stalk. All the stalked cones we have
seen have been much paler in colour than the sessile ones.
The scales are about twenty in number, and the spore-cases
are whitish.
252 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS,
The section of the stem shows a small central cavity, an
exterior surface of rather prominent ridges, each channelled
so as to form two projecting angles, and a circle of moderate-
sized cavities occurring about the centre of the tissues.
Insensibly merging into the form just described appears
to be another, that sometimes called U. arenarium, which,
in its extreme state, is smaller and more slender, its stems
always procumbent, and not having more than six furrows ;
in this form the teeth of the sheaths are said to be wedge-
shaped, but we do not detect any differences in respect to the
teeth between specimens having the erect and the prostrate
habit of growth.
Another form, which is perhaps at least a permanent
variety, and may prove to be specifically distinct, is the
plant called K Wilsoni by Mr. Newman. With this we
are entirely unacquainted, except through books, in which
it is described as being stouter, taller — three feet high — and
smoother than the larger form of E. variegatum. The sec-
tion of its stem also differs materially; the central cavity
and the ring of cavities occurring in the cylinder of the stern
being much larger, and the latter differing in form from
those of E. variegatum. This variety grows in water, at
Mucruss, in the immediate vicinity of the Lakes of Kil-
EQUISETUM, 253
larney. The stems are generally simple, but sometimes
sparingly branched; they have about ten furrows, with
broad intermediate ridges, on which the siliceous particles
are far less prominent, so that the stems are not nearly so
rough as in the allied E. variegatum, Mackayi, &c. The
sheaths are scarcely larger than the stem, and are entirely
green, except a narrow, black, sinuous ring at the margin ;
the teeth are short, generally blunt, and have obscure mem-
branous margins. No mention is made of the deciduous
bristle which occurs in the allied plants. The cone is
small, black, terminal, and apiculate, and, as occurs in the
allied kinds, its sheath is larger and looser than the rest,
the teeth also longer, and their membranous edges dilated
and conspicuous. Such is the substance of Mr. Newman's
account of it in his ' History of British Perns/
The present species is rather a local plant, but is widely
dispersed in the three kingdoms, the larger forms growing
on the margins of lakes, canals, rivers, ditches, &c., the
smaller prostrate examples occurring on the sandy sea-coasts.
The Equisetums appear to submit readily to cultivation ;
at least we have found no difficulty in inducing those of
254 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
which we have from time to time procured the subterranean
stems, to grow with freedom. The plan we have adopted
has been to pot them in loamy soil, and simply to place the
pots in a cold frame, among a collection of hardy Ferns ;
or, in the case of some of the aquatic species, to sink the
pots just beneath the surface of a tank of water.
There are, it should be remarked, two sets of Equise-
tumSy which may be called the evergreen and the deciduous
groups ; and this is a distinction of some importance in re-
ference to their cultivation. Under the head of evergreen
should be classed the " rough " group, consisting of K
hyemale, Mackayi, and variegatum. All the remaining
species come under the head of deciduous, by which is
meant that the fronds die down annually in autumn, and
are renewed from the underground stems in spring.
The evergreen species are desirable plants for damp,
shady rock-work, requiring no peculiar care or culture ; and
though they cannot lay claim to any considerable elegance
of growth or habit, yet, from their peculiar form and cha-
racter, they must be looked upon as interesting plants, no
less for their own sakes, than for the mere pictorial effect
which their distinct appearance may help to bring out in
such situations. ' .
EQUISETIJM. 255
Of the deciduous kinds most desirable for a similar pur-
pose, we should select E. sylvaticum and E. umbrosum ;
these being among the most elegant of the race, and of mode-
rate size. Both of them would require shade, but nothing
else beyond what well constructed rock-work would supply.
Perhaps the most interesting way of cultivating these
plants would be as a group on a shady border, or in a
separate bed. In damp cool soil they would be certain to
succeed. The smaller delicate sorts, such as the procum-
bent E. variegatwiij should be rather elevated between three
or four rough stones, over which it would hang ; and for
the aquatic species, earthenware pans might be sunk, and
these, half-filled with mud, and the remainder with water,
would provide all that would be necessary for their well-
being.
All the other species would grow in the ordinary soil,
provided it were sufficiently moist and cool in summer ;
but the rambling propensities of the underground sterns
should be checked by planting them in pots sunk in the
ground.
The raising of the Eqnwetum* from the spores, too, would
be very interesting employment, and withal very instructive.
The spores are very curious bodies, of roundish or somewhat
256 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
oval form, having four elastic filaments, thickened at the ends,
coiled around them. These, when the spore has become
ripe, unroll; and their elasticity, no doubt, contributes to
burst the case in which the spores are contained, as well as to
assist in the dispersion of these minute reproductive bodies.
They are, indeed, so irritable, that a change of temperature
or moisture, such as that produced by breathing on the
spores, is sufficient to produce this forcible uncoiling. The
spores themselves are very interesting microscopic objects ;
indeed, it is only under a high magnifying power that their
nature can be examined.
The germination of the spores has been made the sub-
ject of experiment by several inquirers, whose observations
have been published. Agardh states, that from three to
fourteen days after the spores are sown, they send down a
thread-like transparent root somewhat thickened at the end,
and protrude a confervoid, cylindrical, obtuse, articulated,
torulose thread, which is either two-lobed or simple at the
apex. Some days after this, several branches are produced,
and become agglutinated together, forming a body resem-
bling a bundle of confervoid threads, each of which pushes
out its own root. Bischoff finds these confervoid threads
go on growing and combining until a considerable cellular
EQTJISETUM. 257
mass is formed. Then, this mode of development ceases,
and a young bud is formed, which produces the stem of an
Equisetum, at once completely organized, with its air-cells,
its central cavity, and its sheaths, the first of which is formed
before the elongation of the stem, out of the original cel-
lular matter.
To watch the minute atoms thus springing into life, de-
veloping by degrees their tiny stems, and gaining strength
and bulk day by day until they reach maturity, could hardly
fail, one would think, to lead a sensitive mind to pure and
wholesome thought, and to call up the contemplation of
the wise and beneficent plans and the all-sufficiency of the
Creator, by whose ordaining providence life interminably re-
newable had thus been made to spring from the dust-like
spore, as well as to produce a just appreciation of the un-
certainty and insufficiency of human agency; for though
man may plant and water, yet it is God alone that giveth
the increase.
258
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE BRITISH FERNS, CLUB-MOSSES,
PEPPERWORTS, AND HORSETAILS.
THE limits of this little volume will neither allow of a very
complete nor very detailed record of the situations in which
the various Perns and Pern allies are severally found to
grow ; nor is it indeed necessary that their habitats should
be so fully and minutely stated in a book such as the pre-
sent. Instead, therefore, of attempting a full enumeration
of the localities where they have been found, we shall make
a selection, with the special view of indicating the districts
in which the various kinds have been known to occur, and
to which those who may desire to find them should more
especially direct their attention. The facts thus selected
will also afford some insight into the geographical range of
the species in the British Isles.
Such a record of facts, even though thus abridged, would,
however, have a very chaotic character if it were not sys-
tematized in some way. The most obvious modes of arrange-
ment seem to be the alphabetical and the geographical ; and
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 259
of these we prefer the latter, under the impression that the
former would be far less suggestive and useful.
In reference to this subject it has been well remarked by
Mr. Watson, in his 'Cybele Britannica/ that the county
divisions are too numerous, and the ancient political divi-
sions too few, to express, with anything like completeness
and precision, the actual distribution of species ; the first,
because our information is imperfect ; the second, because
the areas are too extensive. He has, therefore, in treating
of the more extended subject of the distribution of the
flowering plants, proposed another set of divisions, of in-
termediate extent, which he calls provinces; and as Mr.
Watson is to be considered our standard authority on this
question, we shall give his provinces, adding, however,
Ireland, which he has omitted, to our list, and severing the
western from the northern isles, as a connecting link with
that country. We shall thus have the United Kingdom and
Ireland divided in the following manner : —
Commencing at the south coast of England, a mesial line
is traced northwards, into the Highlands of Scotland, the
line corresponding with the boundaries of counties, and
being traced in that course which best divides the counties
whose rivers flow to the east coast, from those whose waters
260 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
are emptied into the western ocean. These two longitu-
dinal divisions are subdivided transversely into provinces or
groups of counties, which together constitute the basin of
a principal river, or have some other physical peculiarity in
common. The mesial line is not continued northward of
Inverness, where Scotland becomes very narrow ; and the
portion of Inverness itself, eastward^ of Loch Erricht, is
united with the East Highland province. In like manner,
the extreme north of Lancashire is united with the Lake
province. The accessible information with reference to
Ireland is very imperfect.
The facts embodied in the following pages are derived
from the principal published lists of localities (among which
it is hardly needful to say that the ' Phytologist' and Mr.
Newman's ' History ' stand pre-eminent in this respect) ;
from the habitats preserved in the herbariums of the Bo-
tanical Societies of Edinburgh and London (the contents of
the former having been obligingly communicated by Mr.
Lawson) ; from our own herbarium and observations ; and
from several local lists kindly furnished by the gentlemen
whose names are quoted. We are also indebted to H. C.
Watson, Esq., for many valuable notes, corrections, and
suggestions, by the aid of which our list is rendered much
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 261
more complete and perfect than it would otherwise have
been.
Our space would not permit the insertion of authorities,
except in a few rare instances, for habitats which have been
previously published. B. S. E. refers to the Herbarium of
the Edinburgh Botanical Society ; B. S. L. to that of the
London Society. The use of the signs [ ] implies some
doubt as to the correctness of the enclosed statements.
The names given to the Provinces, and the counties they
severally include, are shown below. The arrangement of
the Eerns is alphabetical, as in the preceding descriptions ;
and they are followed by the Club-Mosses, &c.
1. PENINSULA. — Cornwall, Devon, Somerset.
2. CHANNEL. — Hants, Sussex, Dorset, Wilts.
3. THAMES. — Herts, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Berks, Ox-
ford, Bucks, Essex.
4. OUSE. — Huntingdon, Bedford, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cam-
bridge, Northampton.
5. SEVERN. — Warwick, Gloucester, Monmouth, Hereford,
Worcester, Stafford, Salop.
6. S. WALES. — Eadnor, Brecon, Glamorgan, Carmarthen,
Pembroke, Cardigan.
262 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
7. N. WALES. — Anglesea, Denbigh, Flint, Montgomery,
Merioneth, Carnarvon.
8. TRENT. — Leicester, Eutland, Lincoln, Notts, Derby.
9. MERSEY. — Cheshire, Lancashire.
10. HUMBER. — York.
11. TYNE. — Durham, Northumberland.
12. LAKES. — Westmoreland, Cumberland, and N. of Lan-
cashire. Isle of Man.
13. W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfries, Kircudbright, Wigton, Ayr,
Renfrew, Lanark.
14. E. LOWLANDS. — Peebles, Selkirk, Roxburgh, Berwick,
Haddington, Edinburgh, Linlithgow.
15. E. HIGHLANDS. — Stirling, Clackmannan, Kinross, Fife,
Perth, Porfar, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Banff, Nairn,
Elgin or Moray including^' the N. E. of Inverness or
that part E. of Loch Erricht.
16. W. HIGHLANDS. — Inverness W. of Loch Erricht,
Argyle, Dumbarton, and the Isles adjacent from Bute
and Arran to Skye.
17. N. HIGHLANDS. — Ross, Cromarty, Sutherland, Caith-
ness.
18. N.. ISLES. — Orkney, Shetland.
19. W. ISLES. — Outer Hebrides.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 263
20. ULSTER (N.). — Antrim, Londonderry, Donegal, Tyrone,
Down, Armagh, Monaghan, Fermanagh, Cavan.
21. CONNAUGHT (W.). — Leitrim, Sligo, Galway, Boscom-
mon.
22. LEINSTER (E.). — Longford, Westmeath, Meath, Louth,
Dublin, Kildare, King's, Queen's, Wicklow, Wexford,
Carlow, Kilkenny.
23. MUNSTER (S.). — Waterford, Tipperary, Clare, Limerick,
Cork, Kerry.
24. CHANNEL ISLES. — Guernsey, Jersey.
ADIANTUM CAPILLUS-VENEBIS, linnaw.
PENINSULA. — Carclevv; on the east side of Carrach Gladden,
between St. Ives and Hayle, in low dripping caves and on
rocks by the coast, Cornwall. Ilfracombe ; Watermouth ;
Brinham ; Mewstone Bay, Devonshire. [Clevedon, Somer-
setshire.]
SEVERN . — [Staffordshire.]
S.WALES. — Dunraven; East Aberthaw, F. Brent; Swansea,
J. Eiley, B.S.E. (probably an error) ; Port Kirig ; Barry
Island, Glamorganshire.
264 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
TRENT.— [Derbyshire.]
HUMBER. — [Yorkshire.]
LAKES. — Isle of Man.
E. HIGHLANDS. — [Banks of the Carron, Kincardineshire, accord-
ing to Professor Beattie, but probably erroneous.]
W. HIGHLANDS. — [Argyleshire. Arran.]
CONNAUGHT. — Lough Bulard, near Urisbeg ; Roundstone, Con-
nemara, Galway ; Arran Isles.
MUNSTER. — Cahir Conree, near Tralee, Kerry.
ALLOSORUS CEISPUS, Bernhardi.
PENINSULA. — Exmoor near Challicombe, Devonshire, N. TFard,
B.S.E. Simmonsbath, Somersetshire. (Perhaps these
two descriptions refer to one locality.)
SEVERN. — Titterstone Glee hill, Shropshire. Malvern hills,
Worcestershire. [" Stowe " (? Staffordshire), B.S.E.}
S. WALES. — Glamorganshire. Cardiganshire.
N. WALES. — Cerig-y-Druidion, Denbighshire. Dolgelly ; Cader-
Idris, Merionethshire. Breiddin hills, Montgomeryshire.
Cwm-Idwal ; Clogwyn-du-Yrarddu, Snowdon ; Glyder-
vawr ; Mynidd-Mawr ; Llanberis ; and elsewhere in Carnar-
vonshire.
TRENT.— Fairfield ; Chinley Hills, Derbyshire. [Rutland.]
MERSEY. — Tag's Ness near Macclesfield, Cheshire. Lancaster ;
Ch'viger near Todmorden ; !Fo-edge near Bury, Lancashire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 265
HUMBEB. — Settle; Saddleworth; Fountain's Tell; Halifax;
Wensley Dale ; Cronkley Scar ; Ingleborough, &c., York-
shire.
TYNE.— Falcon Glints, Teesdale, Durham. Cheviot above Lang-
ley Ford ; Crag Lake ; Haltwhistle, Northumberland.
LAKES. — Ambleside; Casterton; Morland; and the hill-sides
of Westmoreland, abundant. Borrowdale ; Winlatta, W.
Christy, B.S.E. ; Keswick ; Skiddaw ; Helvellyn ; Grass-
mere ; Scawfell ; Martindale, &c.5 Cumberland. Conistone,
Lancashire.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfries ; Jardine Hall ; George Town ;
Queensbury hill ; Eae hill ; hills above Loch Skew ; Mor-
ton hills ; MofFat-dale, P. Gray ; Dumfriesshire. Sandy
hills and Douglass hall, Colvend ; Carsethorn, P. Gray ;
Criffel, Kircudbrightshire. Cuif-hill and Beith, Ayrshire.
Eenfrewshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Eildon hills; Winchope, Walter Scott, B.S.E.,
Roxburghshire. South bank of the Whiteadder, Berwick-
shire. [Edinburghshire.]
E. HIGHLANDS.— Fifeshire, T. B. Bell, B.S.E. Ben Lawers;
Killin; Glen Tilt; Blair Athol, &c., Perthshire. Clova
mountains ; Debris on the Sidlaw hills, G. Lawson, B.S.E. ;
Glen Isla, W. Brand, B.S.E., Forfarshire. Glen CaUater,
W. Christy, B.S.E. ; Castleton ; Loch-na-garr, H. M. Sal-
four, Aberdeenshire. Kingussie, A. Rutherford, B.S.E. ;
266 HISTOEY OF BEITISH PERNS.
Stone walls near Dalwhinnie, and on the neighbouring
mountains, Morayshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Ben Nevis; Gnarrow; Ben Aulder, Western
Inverness-shire. Argyleshire. Loch Lomond, Dumbarton-
shire. Ben-na-Caillich, Skye. Isle of Mull.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Eoss-shire. Sutherlandshire.
W. ISLES. — Eoddal, Harris.
ULSTEE.- — Carrickfergus, Antrim. Sleive Bignian; Mourne
mountains, Down.
LEINSTEE. — Carlingford mountain, Louth.
ASPLENIUM ADIANTUM-NIGEUM, Linnaus.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Devonshire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Dorsetshire.
Wiltshire. Sussex.
THAMES. — Hertfordshire. Middlesex. Kent. Surrey. Berk-
shire. Buckinghamshire. Oxfordshire. Essex.
OUSE. — Bedfordshire. Suffolk. Norfolk. Cambridgeshire.
Northamptonshire.
SEVEEN. — Warwickshire. Gloucestershire. Herefordshire. Wor-
cestershire. Staffordshire. Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Glamorganshire. Carmarthenshire. Pembrokeshire.
Cardiganshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire. Merionethshire. Flint-
shire. Carnarvonshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 267
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Eutland. Nottinghamshire, Derby-
shire.
MERSEY. — Cheshire. Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Durham. Northumberland.
LAKES. — Westmoreland. Cumberland. North Lancashire.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. Earcudbright shire. Ayrshire.
Lanarkshire. Eenfrewshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Eoxburgh shire. Berwickshire. Edinburgh-
shire. Linlithgowshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clackmannanshire. Kinross-shire. Fifeshire.
Perthshire. Forfarshire. Kincardine shire. Aberdeenshire.
Banffshire. Moray shire. Nairn shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Inverness-shire. Argyleshire. Dumbarton-
shire. Isles of Islay, Cantyre, Arran, and lona. Ailsa
Craig.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Cromarty. Sutherlandshire. Caithness.
N. ISLES. — Orkney.
W. ISLES. — Tarbet, Harris.
ULSTER. — Antrim. Down (the acute form).
CONNAUGHT. — Galway. Arran Isles.
LEINSTER. — Meath.
MUNSTER. — Kerry (the acute form). Cork (also the acute form
at Tralee).
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
268 HISTORY OP BRITISH PERNS.
ASPLENIUM FONTANUM, E. Brown.
THAMES. — On an old garden-wall at Tooting, Surrey, D. Haigh.
(The wall has recently been cleaned, and the plants
perhaps destroyed.)
TRENT. — Matlock, Derbyshire, H. Shepherd.
LAKES. — [Formerly at Wybourn, Westmoreland; or Wiborn,
Cumberland.]
E. HIGHLANDS. — Shady rocks near Stonehaven, Kincardine-
shire, D. Hutcheson.
ASPLENIUM GEEMANICUM, TFeiss.
N. WALES. — Bocks near Llanrwst (Bwlch-y-Bhyn), Denbigh-
shire, H. Wilson.
LAKES. — Borrowdale, Cumberland, ZT. E. Smith.
E. LOWLANDS. — Eocks near Kelso on the Tweed, Eoxburgh-
shire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Dr. Dewar. Sten-
ton rock near Dunkeld, Perthshire.
ASPLENIUM LANCEOLATUM, Hudson.
PENINSULA. — St. Michael's mount, and other places about Pen-
zance, abundant; very fine on rocks at Hot Point, and
other stations near the Land's End; St. Ives, Cornwall.
Morwell rocks, by the Tamar ; by the Tavy ; by the Plym ;
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 269
near Cann Quarry; Brickland Monachorum; Tavistock;
Salcombe ; Torquay ; Bickleigh vale, W. S. Hore, -B.S.E. ;
Devonshire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — High rocks, Tunbridge Wells, Sussex.
THAMES. — [Near Tunbridge Wells, Kent.] [Oxfordshire.]
SEVERN. — Pennant rocks, near Stapleton; Beechly; Oldbury
and Court woods, Gloucestershire. [Shropshire.]
S. WALES. — Ramsay Island, Pembrokeshire. Glamorganshire.
N. WALES. — About Barmouth, Merionethshire. Tremadoc ;
Pwlheli ; Beddgelert ; about Aberglaslyu, Carnarvonshire.
Near Llanrwst, Denbighshire.
HUMBER. — [Yorkshire.]
CHANNEL ISLES.— Guernsey. Jersey.
ASPLENIUM MARINUM, Unnaus.
PENINSULA. — Cornish coast generally, very fine at Lamorna.
Dawlish ; Ilfracombe ; Salcombe ; Torquay ; Babbicombe ;
Teignmoilth; Lynton, N. B. Ward; and other parts of
Devonshire. Clevedon; Portishead, Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Isle of Portland ; Purbeck ; Lyme Regis, Dorset-
shire. Isle of Wight, beyond Knowle towards Blackgang.
Castle rock at Hastings, Sussex.
S. WALES. — Rocks by the Mumbles Lighthouse, Swansea ;
Dunraven ; Neath ; Oystermouth ; Barry Island, &c.,
Glamorganshire. CliiFs between Tenby and Saundersfoot ;
270 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Fishguard ; St. Davids ; St. Catherine's Island, &c., Pem-
brokeshire. Aberystwith and elsewhere, Cardiganshire.
N. WALES. — Llanddwyn ; South Stack Lighthouse, Holy head,
&c., Angiesea. Towyn, Merionethshire. Carnarvon Castle ;
Orme's head ; Bangor, Carnarvonshire.
MERSEY.— -Eed Noses rocks, New Brighton, at the mouth of
the Mersey ; Hilbre island, mouth of the Dee, Cheshire.
Win wick stone-quarry near Warrington ; Newton ; near
Liverpool ; rocks near Hey sham, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Cliffs north of Scarborough, Yorkshire.
TYNE, — Marsden rocks ; Black-hall dean, west of Hartlepool ;
Teesdale, Durham. Howick, Northumberland, T. Wilcke.
Holy Island, B.S.E. N. Durham.
LAKES. — Sea cave near Silverdale, Westmoreland. Whitehaven ;
St. Bee's head, Cumberland. Head of Morecambe bay,
North Lancashire. Isle of Man.
W. LOWLANDS. — Colvend cliffs, Kircudbrightshire, P. Gray.
Port Patrick, Wigtonshire. Ayrshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Near Eyemouth, and elsewhere on the Ber-
wickshire coast. Near Queensferry, Edinburghshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Weems, and elsewhere on the coast of Fife-
shire. Eed Head, A. Croall, B.S.E. ; east of Auchmithie,
G. Lawson ; Montrose ; Dysart, Forfarshire. Kincardine-
shire. Coast of Aberdeenshire. Morayshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Isles of Bute, Islay, Cantyre, Arran, Staffa,
Ion a, and Skye ; Ailsa Craig.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 271
N. HIGHLANDS.— Nigg, Ross-shire. rarr,Satheiiandshire,J5.-S'.J^.
Eocks near Wick ; near Thurso, Caithness, T. Anderson.
N. ISLES. — Hoy and Mainland, Orkney, T. Anderson, who found
it growing on the inside of St. Magnus3 Cathedral, from
whence it is now eradicated by repairs.
W. ISLES. — Little Barve, Harris ; Sheant Isles.
ULSTER. — Newcastle, Down. Isle of Eathlin. Mullaghmore,
Cavan.
CONNAUGHT. — Abundant along the coast.
LEINSTER. — Howth ; Killiney bay, G. Lloyd, B.S.L., Dublin co.
MUNSTER. — Killarney ; Derrynane, &c., Kerry. Eocks on the
south coast, Clonmel, Cork, /. Sibbald. Abundant along
the coast.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Guernsey. Jersey.
ASPLENIUM EUTA-MUEAEIA, Lmnceus.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Devonshire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL, — Dorsetshire. Wiltshire. Isle of Wight. Hamp-
shire. Sussex.
THAMES. — Hertfordshire. Middlesex. Kent. Surrey. Berk-
shire. Buckinghamshire. Oxfordshire. Essex.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Norfolk. Cambridgeshire. Bedfordshire.
Northamptonshire .
SEVERN. — Warwickshire. Gloucestershire. Herefordshire. Shrop-
shire. Worcestershire. Staffordshire.
272 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
S. WALES. — Glamorganshire. Carmarthenshire. Pembrokeshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire. Merionethshire. Car-
narvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Nottinghamshire. Derbyshire. Eut-
land.
MERSEY. — Cheshire. Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Durham. Northumberland.
LAKES. — Cumberland. Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. Kircudbright shire. Eenfrew-
shire. Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Berwickshire. Edinburghshire. Linlithgow-
shire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Stirlingshire. Clackmannanshire. Fifeshire.
Perthshire. Porfarshire. Kincardineshire. Aberdeen shire.
Banffshire. Morayshire. Nairnshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Argyleshire. Dumbartonshire. Ailsa Craig ;
Isles of Islay and Cantyre.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Cromarty. Sutherlandshire. * Caithness.
N. ISLES. — Orkney.
W. ISLES. — N. Uist. Harris. Lewis.
CONNAUGHT. — Arran Isles. Galway.
MUNSTER. — Cork.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 273
ASPLENIUM SEPTENTBIONALE, Hull.
PENINSULA. — Near Culbone on the borders of Somersetshire,
N. Ward.
THAMES. — [Kent.]
N. WALES. — Llan Delhyla, near Llanrwst, Denbighshire. Craig
Du near Llanberis ; Llyn-y-cwm ; Capel Curig ; Carnedd
Llewellyn, &c., Carnarvonshire.
HUMBER. — Ingleborough, Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Kyloe crags, Northumberland.
LAKES. — Honister crags ; Scaw-fell; Patterdale ; Keswick; ra-
vine near Wastwater ; Borrowdale ; vale of Newlands,
Cumberland. Ambleside, Westmoreland.
E. LOWLANDS. — Minto crags; Jedburgh, Eoxburghshire. Ar-
thur's Seat and other places in the neighbourhood of Edin-
burgh.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Stenton rocks, near Dunkeld, Perthshire,
where occurs a variety with wedge-shaped pinnules some-
times mistaken for A.germanicum. [Forfarshire.]
N. ISLES. — [Orkney.]
ASPLENIUM TEICHOMANES, TAnnem.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall ; very fine in Baven's Hugo, C. A. Johns.
Devonshire; the incised form is also found. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Isle of Wight. Hampshire. Wiltshire. Dorset-
shire. Sussex.
T
274 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
THAMES. — Hertfordshire. Kent. Isle of Sheppey. Surrey.
Buckinghamshire. Oxfordshire. Essex.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Norfolk. Cambridgeshire. Bedfordshire.
SEVERN. — Warwickshire. Gloucestershire. Herefordshire. Wor-
cestershire. Staffordshire. Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Glamorganshire. Carmarthenshire. Pembroke.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire. Montgomeryshire. Me-
rionethshire. Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Nottinghamshire. Derbyshire. Eut-
land.
MERSEY. — Cheshire. Lancashire. The var. incisum is found at
Kant Clough near Burnley.
HUMBER. — -Yorkshire.
TYNE . — Durham . Northumberland.
LAKES. — Westmoreland. Cumberland. Isle of Man.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire, P. Gray. Kircudbrightshire,
P. Gray. Eenfrewshire. Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Eoxburghshire. Berwickshire. Edinburgh-
shire. Linlithgowshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Stirlingshire. Clackmannanshire. Pifeshire.
Perthshire. Eorfar shire. Kincardineshire. Aberdeenshire.
Morayshire. Nairnshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Argyleshire. Dumbartonshire. Isles of
Islay and Cantyre.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Eoss-shire. Cromarty. Sutheiiandshire.
N. ISLES. — Orkney, T. Anderson.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 275
W. ISLES. — Tarbet, Harris.
ULSTER.— -Antrim.
CONNAUGHT. — Arran Isles. Galway.
• Common in Ireland.
LEINSTER.
MUNSTER. — Cork. Kerry.
CHANNEL ISLES, — Jersey.
ASPLENIUM VIRIDE, Hudson.
SEVERN. — Ham Bridge, Worcestershire. Staffordshire.
S. WALES. — Brecon Beacon and Trecastle Beacon, near Brecon;
Chapel-y-Fin ; rocks near Capel Colbren, Brecknockshire.
Merthyr-Tydvil ; Cilhepste waterfall, near Pont Nedd
Vechn ; Darran yr Ogof near Ystradgunlais, Glamor-
ganshire.
N. WALES. — Cader Idris, Merionethshire. Cwm Idwal ; Twll-
du; Llyn-y-cwm; Clogwyn-du-Yrarddu ; Clogwyn-y-Gar-
nedd, T. Butler-, Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Buxton ; Cavedale ; Castleton, Derbyshire. Charley
forest, Beacon hill, Leicestershire.
MERSEY. — Carr-edge, Cheshire. Dulesgate ; Staley, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Settle ; Craven ; Ingleborough ; Gordale ; Widdal
Fell, Wensley Dale ; Ogden Clough, near Halifax ; Beeth
Moor, Swaledale ; and other parts of Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Falcon Glints, Teesdale ; Weardale, TF. C. Tremlyan,
Durham. Banks of the Irthing, Northumberland.
276 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
LAKES. — Bocks above Patterdale; Kendall Tell, W. Christy,
B.S.E. ; Hutton Boof ; Farlton ; Arnside ; Casterton
Fell ; Mazebeck Scar, Westmoreland. Ashness Gill ;
Borrow Force ; Gilsland, Cumberland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Bold Craig, near Moffat, W. A. Little; Grey
Mare's Tail, W. Stevens, Dumfriesshire. Palls of the
Clyde, Lanarkshire.
E. HIGHLANDS.-— Stiiiingshire. Ben Chonzie, near Crieff ;
Blair Athol ; Ben Lawers, Perthshire. Canlochen;
Clova, Porfarshire, A. Croall, B.S.E. Cawdor woods,
Nairnshire. Aberdeenshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Inverness-shire. Dunoon, and other parts of
Argyleshire. Ben Yoirlich, Dumbartonshire. Ben More,
Isle of Mull.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Assynt, Sutherlandshire. Boss-shire.
ULSTER. — Near Lough Eask, Donegal.
CONN AUGHT. — Ben Bulben, Sligo.
MUNSTER. — Bandon, Cork. Turk mountain, Killarney, Kerry.
ATHYBIUM PILIX-PCEMINA, Roth.
A common species, the distribution of which is very imperfectly
recorded.
PENINSULA. — Trevenna (var. convemm as rTiaeticum)^ &c., Corn-
wall. Devonshire ; also Salterton (a monstrous state,
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 277
approaching latifolium), H. B. M. Harris, B.S.E. So-
mersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Isle of Wight. Hampshire. Dorsetshire. Wilt-
shire. Tunbridge Wells (var. convexum), Miss Bower,
and elsewhere, Sussex.
THAMES. — Hertfordshire. Kent. Portnall Park Virginia
Water and Shirley (var. convexum) ; Mayford (var. molle),
and other parts of Surrey. Oxfordshire. Essex.
OUSE. — Suifolk. Norfolk. Cambridgeshire. Bedfordshire.
SEVERN. — Arbury Park (with the vars. convexum and molle),
and in other parts of Warwickshire. Gloucestershire.
Newport, Monmouthshire. Worcestershire. Staffordshire.
Shrewsbury, &c., Shropshire (var. convexum as irriguum).
S. WALES. — Brecknockshire. Glamorganshire. Carmarthen-
shire. Pembrokeshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire. Flintshire. Aber (var.
convexum as irriguum) , &c., Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Nottinghamshire. Derbyshire. Rutland.
MERSEY. — Cheshire. Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Yorkshire ; also Mickley Barrows (var. convexum).
TYNE. — Northumberland. Durham.
LAKES. — Keswick, Cumberland (with var. latifolium), Miss
Wright. Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. Kircudbrightshire. Ren-
frewshire. Lanarkshire.
278 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
E. LOWLANDS. — Edinburghshire. Jedburgh, Koxburghshire
(var. convexum as irriguum). Berwickshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clackmannanshire. Fifeshire. Ben Lomond,
Stirlingshire. Sidlaw hills, and other parts of Eorfarshire.
Near Dalnacardoch (var. convexum as irriguum), Dr. Graham,
B.S.E., &c., Perthshire. Corymulzie Linn, Braemar (var.
crispum), W. C. Trevelyan ; also sea-cave near Aberdeen (var.
marinum), Dr. Dickie ; and elsewhere, Aberdeenshire.
Banffshire. Morayshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Inverness-shire. Argyleshire. Dumbarton-
shire. Isles of Islay, Canty re ; Arran (var. convexum) ;
Brodick (var. molle).
N. HIGHLANDS. — Cromarty. Sutherlandshire. Caithness.
N. ISLES. — Orkney, common, T. Anderson.
W. ISLES. — N. Uist. Harris. Lewis.
ULSTER.— The hill "Orah," Antrim^
(var. crispum), A. Smith.
CONNAUGHT.
LEINSTER. — Wicklow (var. multifldum -r7
Yery common in Ireland.
oicfurcatum), D. Moore.
MUNSTER. — Cork. Kerry; also Mu-
cruss, Killarney (var. convexum as
irriguum) .
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION . 279
BLECHNUM SPICANT, Both.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Devonshire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Hampshire. Isle of Wight. Dorsetshire. Wilt-
shire. Sussex.
THAMES. — Hertfordshire. Kent. Surrey. Middlesex. Berk-
shire. Oxfordshire. Essex.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Norfolk. Cambridgeshire. Bedfordshire.
Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — Warwickshire. Gloucestershire ; Nailsworth (fronds
partially fertile), G. F. Playne. Monmouthshire. Here-
fordshire. Worcestershire. Staffordshire. Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Brecknockshire. Glamorganshire. Carmarthen-
shire. Pembrokeshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire. Flintshire. Merio-
nethshire. Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Eutland. Lincolnshire. Notting-
hamshire. Derbyshire.
MERSEY. — Cheshire. Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Yorkshire.
TYNE. — TanfieldDean (segments of barren frond cut), T. Wilcke.
Blaydon Burn (segments bifid), T. WilcJce, Durham.
Northumberland.
LAKES. — Westmoreland. Cumberland. Conistone, Lancashir
(fronds partially fertile), Miss Beever.
280 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. Kir cudbright shire. Renfrew-
shire. Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Roxburghshire. Berwickshire. Edinburgh-
shire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clackmannanshire. Fifeshire. Kinross-shire.
Perthshire. Forfarshire. Kincardineshire. Aberdeen-
shire. Banffshire. Morayshire. Inverness-shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — W. Inverness-shire. Argyleshire. Dum-
bartonshire. Isles of Islay and Cantyre.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Ross-shire. Cromarty. Sutherlandshire.
Caithness.
N. ISLES. — Orkney.
W. ISLES. — N. Uist. Harris. Lewis.
ULSTER. — Not likely to be absent from this province, but we do
not find its occurrence mentioned.
CON NAUGHT. — Arran Isles.
LEINSTER. — Wicklow.
MUNSTER. — Cork. Clare.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
BOTRYCHIUM LUNARIA, Linnceus.
PENINSULA. — Cardynham, Cornwall. Near Barnstaple ; by the
Dart ; Haldown hill, Devonshire. Bath ; King's Weston ;
Hampton Cliffs, &c., Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Titchborne ; New Alresford ; Petersfield ; Somborne
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 281
near Winton ; Hinton, &c., Hampshire. Luccomb ; Shank-
lin, Sec., Isle of Wight. Patching ; Storrington ; Croboro'
Warren, &c., Sussex. Alderbury common ; near Bath,
within Wiltshire. Sturminster Newton, Dorsetshire.
THAMES. — Dartford; Chiselhurst; Foot's Cray, and the south
part of Kent. Beigate; Shere; Albury; Dorking; Shirley;
Highdown heath near Godalming ; Farnham Park, Surrey.
Shotover hill ; Winchwood forest, Oxfordshire.
OUSE.— Oakley Westfield, Bedfordshire. Bury, Suffolk. He-
veringham heath; Stratton heath; Seething, Norfolk.
Little Linton; Balsham; Chippenham, Cambridgeshire.
Halston heath ; Would field, &c., Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — Moxhall ; near Coleshill Pool, Warwickshire. Glou-
cestershire. Duncumb and elsewhere, Herefordshire. Ab-
berly hill; Oversley hill near Ancester; Stourbridge,
Worcestershire. Cheadle ; Farley, Staffordshire. Stollerton ;
Titterstone Clee hill ; Ludlow, Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Glamorganshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Wrexham, Denbighshire. Near Eod-
ney's Pillar, Montgomeryshire. Penmaen Mawr, Carnar-
vonshire.
TRENT. — Rutland. Loughborough ; Market Harborough ; Ashby
de la Zouch ; Twycross, &c., Leicestershire. Lincolnshire.
Sutton on Trent ; Newstead ; Clifton; Paplewick; Norton;
Sherwood Forest, Nottingham. Buxton; Masson near
Matlock, Derbyshire.
282 HISTORY OF BRITISH TERNS.
MERSEY. — Near Over ; between Egremont and New Brighton ;
Macclesfield, &c., Cheshire. Chilburn, near Todmorden;
Newton ; Oldham ; Bootle, &c., Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Teesdale; Cronckley Fell; Hambleton hills; Hali-
fax ; Eichmond ; Settle ; Sheffield, and various other parts
of Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Near Shewing Shields; Hexham; Horsley, /. Bigge;
Tynemonth; Newcastle Town Moor, Northumberland.
Near Marsden rocks ; Beamish, Durham.
LAKES. — Keswick; Castle Sowerby; Daleton; Flimby; As-
patria, &c., Cumberland. Eigmaden, and elsewhere, West-
moreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — About Dumfries; Drumlanrig; Barhill, Tin-
wald, P. Gray, Dumfriesshire. Dalscarith ; Glen of Ter-
regles; Douglas Hall, Colvend; and elsewhere, Kircud-
brightshire, P. Gray. Portpatrick, Wigtonshire. Ayr-
shire. Cathkin hills, Lanarkshire. Gourock, Eenfrew-
shire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Bernerside hill; Blackburnrigg Dean; Col-
dingham Moor, Berwickshire. Pentland hills and else-
where, Edinburghshire. Linlithgowshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clackmannanshire. Kinross-shire. Fifeshire.
Ben Lawers ; S. of Loch Tay ; Blair Athol ; Craig Chal-
liach, Perthshire. Kingoldrum, G. Lawson; Clova moun-
tains ; Sands of Barry ; Montrose ; Arbroath, 8cc., Forfar-
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 283
shire. Kincardineshire. Belhelvie Links ; Corsehill, &c.,
Aberdeenshire. Mortlock, Banffshire, B.S.E. Morayshire.
Auldean, Nairnshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Glen Croe, Argyleshire, B.S.L. Mugdock,
Dumbartonshire. Eothesay, Bute. Breeze hill, Skye.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Eoss-shire. Wick, Caithness, rare, I7. Anderson.
N. ISLES. — Orkney. Shetland.
ULSTER. — Eoughfort ; Belfast ; Altmore glen near Cushendall ;
Black mountain, Antrim. Benyvena mountains near Ma-
gelligan, Londonderry. Scrabo, Down.
LEINSTER. — Luggelaw, Wicklow.
MUNSTER. — Clonmel, Cork, J.Sibbald.
CETEEACH OmCINAEUM, Willdenow.
PENINSULA. — Trevenna; Truro; Newlyn; Calstock; Pentillie
Castle, Cornwall. Topsham ; Torquay ; Babbicombe ;
Plymouth, &c., Devonshire. Bristol ; Bream down ;
Clevedon ; Cheddar ; Weston-super-mare, &c., Somerset-
shire.
CHANNEL. — Winchester Cathedral; Pitt near Winchester ; Netley
Abbey; Selborne; Botley, &c., Hampshire. Brading;
Carisbrooke Castle, &c., Isle of Wight, Sherborne, Dor-
setshire. Corsham, B.S.E., and other parts of Wiltshire.
Pulborough; Enfield; Hurstpierpont ; Stopham; Harden;
Chailey, &c., Sussex.
284 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
THAMES. — Hertfordshire. [Middlesex.] Biverhead; Maidstone,
and various parts of Kent. Westbrook and Catteshall near
Godalming; Haslemere; Farnhain, Surrey. [Berkshire.]
Cowley, Oxfordshire. Essex.
OUSE. — Heveringham church ; Heydon church, Norfolk. North-
amptonshire.
SEVERN. — Tachebrook; Coventry, Warwickshire. Stapleton;
Chepstow; Cheltenham; Cirencester, &c., Gloucestershire.
Tintern Abbey ; Pont-y-pool, &c., Monmouthshire. Here-
ford; about Boss; Leominster, &c., Herefordshire. Mal-
vern ; Badsey near Evesham ; Wychwood forest, Worces-
tershire. Wetton ; Berresford ; Beeston-tor, &c., Stafford-
shire. Ludlow, Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Brecon; Talgarth; Crickhowel, Brecknockshire.
Aberdare ; Cardiff, F. Brent ; Swansea ; Gower ; Pennard
Castle, &c.j Glamorganshire. Carmarthenshire. Tenby;
Pembroke and Manorbeer castles ; Haverfordwest priory,
Pembrokeshire.
N. WALES. — Holyhead, Anglesea. Denbighshire. Barmouth,
Merionethshire. Trebroth ; Bangor ; near Carnarvon,
Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Colwick park; Paplewick, Nottinghamshire. Dove-
dale ; Newton near Melbourne ; Lath-kill dale, Derbyshire.
MERSEY. — Carr-edge, Cheshire. Lancaster; Club-moor near
Liverpool ; West Houghton ; Kellet north of Manchester,
Lancashire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 285
HUMBER. — Eocks behind Malharn ; Kirklees park near Halifax ;
about Settle, Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Northumberland.
LAKES. — ArnsideKnot; Milnthorpe; Kendal; Castleton; Am-
bleside, Sec., Westmoreland. Sandwith ; St. Bees ; Gow-
barrow park, Ulswater, Cumberland. Silverdale, N. Lan-
cashire, T. Simpson, B.S.E.
W. LOWLANDS. — Drumlanrig, Dumfriesshire. Orchardton Buit,
Kircudbrightshire, /. Fraser. Paisley, Eenfrewshire. Glas-
gow, Lanarkshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Kinnoul hill; near Annat Cottage, G.Lawson;
Dens of Balthayock and Pitroddie, Perthshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Kilfinnan, Argyleshire.
ULSTER. — Galgorm; Cave-hill, Antrim. Bryansford, Down.
Florence Court, Fermanagh.
CONNAUGHT. — Drumahore, Friarstown Abbey near Sligo, /. T.
Syme, B.S.E. Eound tower of Eoscommon between Gal-
way and Oughterard ; near Mohir ; Oughterard ; and many
other parts of Galway. Arran Isles.
LEINSTER. — Marlay, co. Dublin (on granite), S. Foot, B.S.E.
Glendalough, Wicklow. Marble quarries at Kilkenny.
MUNSTER. — Between Clonmel and Waterford, and many parts
of Waterford. Castle-Connel and elsewhere, Clare. Cork ;
Clonmel, &c., Cork. Limerick. About Killarney, Kerry.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
286 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
CYSTOPTEBIS ALPINA, Desvaux.
THAMES. — Wall at Low Lay ton, Essex.
TRENT.— Derbyshire, Mr. H. Shepherd, | who tas sent speci.
HUMBER. — Yorkshire, Mr. H. Shepherd, / mens thus located.
CYSTOPTEEIS FRAGILIS, Bernhardi.
PENINSULA. — Exwich near Exeter, Devonshire. Cheddar cliffs
(with var. dentata) ; Hampton cliffs, Bath, R. Withers,
&c., Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Dorsetshire. Box, Wiltshire, Dr. Alexander, B.S.E.
(var. dentata). Tunbridge Wells, Sussex, Miss Bower (var.
dentata).
THAMES. — Albury, Surrey.
OUSE. — Yoxford ; Bungay, Suffolk. Norfolk. [Northampton-
shire.]
SEVERN. — Near Arbury Hall (var. dentata) ; Compton Yerney,
Warwickshire. Near Bristol, &c., Gloucestershire. Skirrid
Vawr, near Abergavenny (with var. dentata) ; Wyndcliff
woods, TF. H. Purchas, Monmouthshire. Downton (var.
angustatd) ; The Dowards on the Wye (var. dentata), Here-
fordshire. Breedon hill ; Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.
Staffordshire (with var. dentata). Whitcliff near Ludlow,
Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Radnorshire. Brecknockshire. Pont-nedd-Vechn,
&c., Glamorganshire (with var. dentata). Cardiganshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 287
N. WALES. — Anglesea (var. dentatd). Llangollen (var. dentatd) ;
near Wrexham (with var. dentatd}, Denbighshire. Castle
Dinas, Flintshire (var. dentatd). Craig Breiddin, Mont-
gomeryshire (var. dentatd), W. A. Leighton, B.S.E. Bar-
mouth, Merionethshire. Llanberis (vars. dentata and an-
gustatd) ; Cwm-Idwal, Clogwyn-y-Garnedd, Penmaen Mawr
(var. dentata\ and elsewhere, Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Oxton and Bulwell churches ; Work-
sop, Nottinghamshire. Fairfield (with var. dentatd) ; Dove-
dale (var. dentatd) • Matlock baths (with vars. dentata and
angustatd) ; Castleton ; Lover's leap near Buxton, Derby-
shire.
MERSEY. — Eostherne church, Cheshire. Lancashire. Var.
dentata in both counties.
HUMBER. — About Settle (with vars. dentata and angustatd) ; Rei-
vaulx Abbey, Helmsley ; Egglestone bridge on the Greta ;
Dropping well, Knaresborough ; Castle Howard Park ;
Halifax ; Ayrsgarth bridge, Wensley dale (var. angustatd),
and many other parts of Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Cauldron snout (var. dentatd), &c., Durham. Halt-
whistle ; Mitford church near Morpeth (with var. dentatd),
. B.S.E., Northumberland.
LAKES. — Lamplugh, /. Dickinson, B.S.E. ; and elsewhere, Cum-
berland. Kendal (with var. dentatd), and other parts of
Westmoreland. Silverdale, -N. Lancashire (var. dentata).
288 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
W. LOWLANDS. — Near Hobb's Linn, Moffat dale, Dumfriesshire
(var. dentatd), P. Gray. [Formerly on Cluden hills, Kir-
cudbrightshire (var. dentatd), P. Gray.'] Calderwood,
Lanarkshire, T. B. Sell, B.S.E.
E. LOWLANDS. — Coldstream; near Mains, Berwickshire. Pent-
land hills (var. angustatd), and elsewhere, Edinburghshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Banks of Loch Lomond, Stirlingshire (var.
dentatd). Castle Campbell near Dollar, Clackmannanshire.
Den of Balthayoch ; Glen Queich in the Ochils ; Pass of
Killiecrankie ; Killin, Perthshire. Glen Clova and Glen
Isla, Eorfarshire. Kincardineshire coast. Sea cave-near
Aberdeen (var. Dickieana) ; and elsewhere, .Aberdeenshire.
Cawdor Castle, Nairnshire. Kingussie (var. dentatd), Mo-
ray shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Ben Nevis, Inverness-shire (var. dentatd).
Dunoon, Argyleshire. Dumbartonshire.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Coul, Eoss-shire, J. Fraser, B.S.E. Suther-
laudshire. Morven, Caithness (var. dentatd), T. Anderson.
N. ISLES. — Hoy, Orkney (with var. dentatd), T. Anderson.
W. ISLES. — Langa, Harris, Dr. Balfour.
ULSTER. — Eocks at Carrickfergus, Antrim (vox.dentata). Black
mountain, Down.
CONN AUGHT. — Leitrim. Connemara, Galway. Sligo, near the
town.
MUNSTER. — Brandon hill ; cliifs above Mangerton, Kerry.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 289
CYSTOPTEEIS MONTANA, Link.
N. WALES. — [Found in this province (Plukenet), H. 0. Stephens.]
E. HIGHLANDS. — Ben Lawers, W. Wilson, 1836 ; Corrach
DhJ Oufillach, in the Mhiel Oufillach mountains, between
Glen Dochart and Glen Lochay, W. Gourlie and others
in 1840, and subsequently, Perthshire.
HYMENOPHYLLTJM TUNBBIDGENSE, Smith.
PENINSULA. — Bough tor near Camelford ; near Penryn, Corn-
wall. Bickleigh Vale ; Vixen tor, Staple tor, and Shaugh,
Dartmoor, Devonshire. Shepton Mallett, Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Kent. Tunbridge Wells ; Cockbush near Chi-
chester ; West Hoathly ; Ardingley ; Handcross ; Tilgate
forest, J.A. Brewer, Sussex.
SEVERN . — [Staffordshire .]
S. WALES. — Melincourt waterfall; Pont-nedd-Vechn, Glamor-
ganshire. Brecknockshire.
N. WALES. — Crofnant near Harlech; Dolgelly ; Barmouth;
vale of Eestiniog, Merionethshire. [Anglesea.] [Car-
narvonshire.]
MERSEY. — Near Croyden brook ; hills from Macclesfield to
Buxton, Cheshire. Cliviger ; Greenfield near Saddleworth ;
Eake Hey common near Todmorden, Lancashire.
HUMBER, — Eskdale near Whitby; near Halifax, &c., Yorkshire.
u
290 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
LAKES. — Ennerdale, Cumberland, J. Dickinson, B.S.E. West-
moreland. Conistone, North Lancashire.
W. LOWLANDS. — Drumlanrig, Dumfriesshire. Banks of the
Clyde, Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Peeblesshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — [Stirlingshire.] [Perthshire.]
W. HIGHLANDS. — Bullwood; Dunoon, Argyleshire. Banks of
Loch Lomond, Dumbartonshire. Isle of Bute, Dr. Balfour.
N. HIGHLANDS. — [Ross-shire.]
CONNAUGHT. — Connemara, Dr. Graham ; Ballynahinch, Dr.
Balfour, Galway.
LEINSTER. — Dublin co., rare, B.S.E. Powerscourt ; Glencree,
and elsewhere, Wicklow.
MUNSTER. — Clonmel, /. Sibbald-, Glengariff, Bantry, C. C. Ba-
Ungton, B.S.E., Cork. Glen Carnn, W. Andrews, B.S.E. ;
about Killarney, and elsewhere in the co. of Kerry.
HYMENOPHYLLUM UNILATEEALE, Willdenow.
PENINSULA. — Bodmin; Carn Brea near Eedruth; Eough tor
near Camelford ; Granite tor, Cornwall. Moreton, R. J.
Gray, West Lynn, N. R. Ward; Vixen tor, Westman's
wood, and Shaugh bridge, Dartmoor; Tynemouth; Bick-
leigh wood, Devonshire.
SEVERN. — Gradbitch near Flash, Staffordshire. Treflach wood,
- Shropshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 291
S. WALES. — Mountains of Brecknockshire. Pont Breu ; Devil's
bridge; Hafod, Cardiganshire. Carmarthenshire.
N.WALES. — Dolgelly ; Ehaidr Du near Maentwrog; Ehaidr-
y-Mawddach ; Festiniog, Merionethshire. Cwm Idwal and
throughout the Snowdon district ; Ehaidr Mawr, near
Llanberis, &c., Carnarvonshire.
MERSEY. — Near Bury ; Lancaster ; Greenfield ; Thevilly near
Burnley, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Tamer Clough, Eishworth ; Hawl Gill near Mickle-
ton ; Lower Harrowgate, Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Jurionside, Northumberland, B.S.E.
LAKES. — Patterdale; Stock Gill force; Langdale Pikes, Amble-
side, Sec., Westmoreland. Keswick ; Bow Fell ; Scaw-Fell ;
Borrowdale ; Ennerdale, J. Dickinson ; Scale force near
Buttermere ; Honister Crag, &c., Cumberland. Xear
Conistone, Miss Beever ; Old Man mountain ; Silverdale,
N. Lancashire.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dalvene Pass ; Nithside ; near Penpont ; Grey
Mare's Tail, Moffat dale, P. Gray, Dumfriesshire. Kircud-
brightshire. Glen Ness, W. Dalmellington, Ayrshire,
Dr. M'Nab, B.S.E. Eocks above Gourock, Renfrewshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Peeblesshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — By the Eeeky Linn on the Isla, Forfarshire.
Dollar, Clackmannanshire. Glen Queich in the Ochils ;
Ben Lawers ; Pass of Loney, B.S.E. ; Finlarig Burn, near
292 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Killin; rocks in the Trosachs; shores of Loch Katrine,
Perthshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Crinnan; Glen Moray; Dunoon ; Glen Fin-
nart, Argyleshire. Banks of Loch Lomond ; Bowling
hills, Dumbartonshire. Ben More; Loch Spelire; Taber-
morey, Isle of Mull. Isles of Islay and Arran.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Sutherlandshire.
N. ISLES. — Hoy, Orkney, E. Heddell. Near Ska, Unst, Shetland.
W. ISLES. — Langa, Harris.
LTLSTER. — By the Glenarve river near Cushendall ; Colin Glen,
Belfast, Antrim. Londonderry. Ennishowen mountains.
Donegal. Tullaghmore park ; Mourne mountains, Down.
Florence Court, Fermanagh.
CONNAUGHT. — Connemara, Oughterard, &c., Galway. Mountains
of Mayo, J. Ball, B.S.L.
LEINSTER. — Dublin, S. loot, B.S.E. Glendalough ; Hermitage
Glen ; Powerscourt waterfall, and other parts of Wicklow.
MUNSTER. — Glens near Youghal, Cork. Great Blanket Island ;
Killarney, and among the mountains of Kerry.
LASTEEA CEISTATA, PresL
PENINSULA. — [Devonshire.]
THAMES. — Epping forest, Essex (uliginosa), E. Newman. [Ox-
fordshire.]
OUSE. — Westleton; Bexley decoy near Ipswich, H. Bidwell,
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 293
Suffolk. Bawsey heath near Lynn (with uliginosd) ; Der-
singham ; Edgefield near Holt (with uliginosd) ; Eritton
near Yarmouth ; Surlingham broad near Norwich (appa-
rently with uliginosd), TT. S. Hore ; Wymondham (uliginosd),
Norfolk. Huntingdonshire. Bedfordshire.]
SEVETIN. — Near Madeley, Staffordsmre. [Worcestershire.]
TRENT. — Oxton bogs (with uliginosd) ; Bull well marshes, Not-
tinghamshire.
MERSEY. — Wybunbury bog, Cheshire (with uliginosd). Wool-
ston moss near Warrington, Lancashire (uliginosd), W.
Wilson, B.S.L.
HUMBER.— [Plumpton rocks near Knaresborough, Yorkshire,
according to Baines's Elora of Yorkshire, but there is
probably some mistake.]
E. HIGHLANDS. — [Aberdeenshire.] [Kincardineshire ; uliginosa.']
MUNSTER. — Mucruss, Killamey, Kerry (var. uliginosd), Dr.
Mackay. [The plant from Eathronan near Clonmel seems
to be rather a state of L. Filix-mas.~\
LASTEEA DILATATA, Presl.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Lynmouth ; Torquay ; Walkhampton,
Sec., Devonshire. Inglishcombe wood, Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Hampshire. Ninham near Hyde, Isle of Wight.
Dorsetshire. Wiltshire. Hastings ; Tunbridge Wells,
Sussex.
294 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
THAMES. — Hertford heath; Broxbourne ; Aldenham; Hitchin,
&c., Hertfordshire. Eridge rocks, Kent. Chertsey ; Bag-
shot ; Virginia Water, and other parts of Surrey. Hamp-
stead, Middlesex. Epping, Essex.
OUSE. — Norwich, Norfolk. Cambridgeshire. Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — Stoke heath; Stinchall; Whitley; and other parts of
Warwickshire. Gloucestershire. Howie hill, Eoss ; Col-
wall, Herefordshire. Worcestershire. Staffordshire. Shrop-
shire.
S. WALES. — Brecknockshire. Glamorganshire. Cardiganshire.
Pembrokeshire.
N. WALES. — Denbighshire. Flintshire. Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Black rock, Cromford moor, near
Matlock, Derbyshire (var. dumetorum). Lincolnshire. Not-
tinghamshire.
MERSEY. — Lindon moss near Mobberley, Cheshire. Eisley moss
near Warrington ; Clough near Manchester, and elsewhere
on the hills (var. collina) of Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Leckby Carr ; Heckfall wood; Sheffield moor;
Settle ; Halifax ; Ingleborough (var. collina), and elsewhere,
Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Morpeth, Northumberland. Durham.
LAKES. — Near Elter water (var. collina), and elsewhere (var.
dumetorum), Westmoreland. Red house, Cumberland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. Aryshire. Lanarkshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 295
E. LOWLANDS. — Roxburghshire. Berwickshire. Edinburgh-
shire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Stirlingshire. Clackmannan shire. Kinross-
shire. Eifeshire. Mountains near Crieff (as var. montana),
Dr. Balfour, &c., Perthshire. Eorfarshire. Kingcausie,
Kincardineshire, /. T. Syme. Ben-na-Baird, Aberdeenshire.
Banffshire. Morayshire. E. Inverriess-shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Appin, Argyleshire, /. T. Syme. Dumbarton-
shire. W. Inverness-shire. Goat-fell mountain, Arran (as
L. maculata). Dr. Deakin. Isles of Islay and Cantyre.
Ailsa Craig.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Ross-shire. Sutherlandshire. Caithness,
T. Anderson.
N. ISLES. — Hoy and other Islands of Orkney, T. Anderson.
W. ISLES. — N. Uist. Harris. Lewis.
ULSTER. n
CONN AUGHT- !> Not likely to be absent from all these provinces.
LEINSTER. J
MUNSTER. — Clonmel, Cork, /. Sibbald.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
LASTKEA EILIX-MAS, Presl.
One of our most common Eerns, dispersed over the whole of
England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and found in the
Northern and Western Isles, and in Jersey.
296 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS,
The var. incisa has been reported or seen from Combe Mar-
tin, Devonshire, C. C. Babington, B.S.E. ; Wiltshire ; Bridport,
Dorsetshire, B.S.L. ; Sturry, Kent ; Eeigate, Virginia Water,
Bagshot, May ford, St. Martha's near Guildford, and Button
Park, Surrey ; Barnet, Hertfordshire ; King's Cliffe, North-
amptonshire ; Cathcart hills near Glasgow, Lanarkshire ; Ben
Chonzie mountain near Crieff, Perthshire ; Kingcausie, Kincar-
dineshire, /. T. Syme.
The var. abbreviata is recorded from Ingleborough, Yorkshire,
6r. Pinder ; and Conistone, Lancashire, Miss Beever.
At Rathronan, Cork, occurs a small forked variety somewhat
resembling cristata.
LASTREA FCENISECII, Watson.
PENINSULA. — Penzance ; St. Michael's mount ; Helston ;
Lostwithiel ; Truro, and throughout Cornwall. Chamber-
combe ; Ilfracombe ; Lynton ; Barristaple ; Clovelly, &c.,
Devonshire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Tunbridge Wells ; West Hoathly, Sussex.
SEVERN . — Herefordshire .
N. WALES. — Merionethshire.
HUMBER. — [Yorkshire.]
TYNE . — [Northumberland.]
LAKES. — St. Bee's head, Cumberland.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Baldovan, Kinnordy, Forfarshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 297
W. HIGHLANDS. — Banks of Loch Lomond, Dumbartonshire.
Wooded rocks between Brodick and Corrie, and between
Lamlash and Whiting Bay, Arran, Dr. Balfour.
N. ISLES. — Hoy, Orkney, rather common, T. Anderson.
W. ISLES. — N. Uist, Dr. Balfour.
ULSTER. — Fairhead, Antrim. Near Coleraine ; Eushbrook ;
Garvagh, Londonderry. Banks of Lough Svvilly ; Milroy
bay ; Arregal hill near Donegal ; about Lough Derg,
Donegal.
CONNAUGHT. — Sligo. Foot of Nephin ; Coraan Achill ; New-
port ; Westport, &c., Mayo. About Clifden ; about Eound-
stone and Ballynahinch ; near Oughterard, Galway.
LEINSTER. — Seven Churches, abundant, D. Moore, B. S. E. ;
Glendalough, abundant and luxuriant, Wicklow.
MUNSTER. — Near Loop-head, Clare. Near Cork ; woods about
Glengarriff ; Clonmel, /. Sibbald, Cork. On the mountains
and in the woods of Kerry, especially about Killaraey,
Dinis Island, Cromauglan, and O'Sullivan's cascade.
LASTEEA OEEOPTEEIS, Presl.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Lynmouth, Devonshire. Near Keyn-
sham, &c., Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — New Forest near Lyndhurst; near Southampton,
Hampshire. Apse Castle, Isle of Wight. Dorsetshire.
Wiltshire. Tilgate Forest ; Tunbridge Wells, and else-
where, Sussex.
298 HISTOKY OF BRITISH FERNS.
THAMES. — Bell wood, Bayford ; Tring ; Broxbourne, &c.,
Hertfordshire. Hampstead, Middlesex. Bexley ; Black-
heath ; Bailey's hill between Brasted and Tunbridge, Kent.
Witley ; Hindhead ; Cobham ; Wimbledon, and elsewhere,
Surrey. Shotover hill, Oxfordshire. Hartwell, Bucking-
hamshire. High Beech ; Little Baddow, A. Wallis, B.S.L.,
Essex.
OUSE.— Brad well, Suffolk, Near Crome, Norfolk, R. Wigliam,
B.S.L. Fulbourne, Teversham, &c., Cambridgeshire. Dal-
lington heath, Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — Allesley; about Arbury Hall ; Coleshill heath; Cor-
ley, Warwickshire. Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, W. If.
Purckas. Herefordshire. Malvern hills, Worcestershire,
E. Lees, B.S.L. Staffordshire. Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Kadnorshire. Brecknockshire. Swansea. Glamor-
ganshire, T. B. Flower, B.S.E. Carmarthenshire. Cardi-
ganshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Wrexham, Denbighshire. Flintshire.
Dolgelly, Merionethshire, B.S.L. Near Llanberis and
other parts of Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Near Twycross, Leicestershire. Kutland. Lincoln-
shire. Oxton and Eddingley bogs, Nottinghamshire. De-
thich moor ; Hiley, Derbyshire.
MERSEY. — Birkenhead and Oxton, Cheshire. Near Warrington ;
Eochdale ; llainhill ; Gateacre, Lancashire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 299
HUMBER. — Valley of the Don, near Doncaster ; Melton wood
near Adwick ; Escrick, near York ; Whitby ; Eichmond ;
Halifax ; Everley near Scarborough, Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Chapel Weardale ; Cawsey Dean near Newcastle ; by
the Tees, Durham. Northumberland.
LAKES. — Keswick ; near Lodore waterfall ; Patterdale, Cumber-
land. Langdale and other parts of Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS, — Moffat dale, Dumfriesshire, P. Gray. La-
narkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Ruberslaw, Roxburghshire. Pentland hills.
Edinburgh. Dye at Longformacus ; Banks of Whiteadder,
Berwickshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Ben Lomond, Stirlingshire. Clackmannan-
shire. Kinross-shire. Glen Isla ; Clova mountains ; Sid-
law hills, Eorfarshire. Craig Chailliach; by Loch Tay,
Perthshire. Aberdeenshire. Moray shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Argyleshire. Dumbartonshire. Isles of Islay
and Cantyre.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Sutherlandshire.
W. ISLES.— N. Uist.
ULSTER. — Milroy bay, Donegal. Deny.
CONNAUGHT. — Lough Corril, Galway.
LEINSTER. — Glencree, 8. Foot, B.S.E. ; Seven Churches, D.
Moore, B.S.E. ; Glendalough ; and Powerscourt, Wicklow.
MUNSTER. — Mangerton, Killarney, 8. P. Woodward, B.S.L.,
Kerry.
300 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
LASTEEA EIGIDA, Presl.
MERSEY. — [Lancashire.]
HUMBER. — Ingleborough ; Wharnside ; Attermine rocks near
Settle, Yorkshire.
LAKES. — Arnside Knot ; Hutton Eoof crags ; Farlton Knot,
Westmoreland. Silverdale ; by the Lancaster and Kendal
Canal, N. Lancashire.
LASTEEA SPINULOSA, Presl.
The habitats of this species are not recorded sufficiently dis-
tinct from those of L. dilatata.
PENINSULA. — About Penzance, Cornwall. Devonshire. Somer-
setshire.
CHANNEL. — Hampshire. Tinker's hole, Apse Castle, and else-
where in the Isle of Wight. Dorsetshire. Tunbridge
Wells, Sussex.
THAMES. — Ball's woods, Hertford ; N. Mimms ; Hatfield, &c.,
Herts. Chiselhurst; Canterbury, Sec., Kent. Middlesex.
Wimbledon, * Portnall park, Virginia Water, &c., Surrey.
Fulmer, Buckinghamshire. Epping ; Danbury ; Cogges-
hall, Essex.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Surlingham broad near Norwich, Sec., Nor-
folk. Eoulbourne, Cambridgeshire. Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — North wood, Arbury Hall ; Binley ; Eugby, War-
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 301
wickshire. Ankerberry hill, Forest of Dean (L. glandulosa),
W. H. PurcJias, &c., Gloucestershire. The Horls near
Boss, Herefordshire. Worcestershire. Needwood, Staf-
fordshire.
S. WALES. — Brecknockshire. Glamorganshire. Carmarthen-
shire.
N. WALES. — Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Paplewick ; Oxton bogs, Nottinghamshire. Nether-
scall, Leicestershire, A. Bloxam, B.S.L. Derbyshire.
MERSEY. — Delamere Forest, Cheshire. Chat-moss ; Lowgill ;
Eisley moss near Warrington, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Sheffield ; Bichmond ; Ingleborough ; Doncaster ;
Leckby Carr ; Terrington Carr, Yorkshire.
TYNE.— [?]
LAKES. — Eed-house, Cumberland. Westmoreland. Isle of Man.
W. LOWLANDS. — [Dumfriesshire, P. Gray.]
E. LOWLANDS. — [Edinburghshire.]
E. HIGHLANDS. — [Forfar shire.]
W. HIGHLANDS. — [Argyleshire.]
N. HIGHLANDS. — Dingwall, Boss-shire, W. C. Trevelyan.
W. ISLES. — North Uist. Harris. Lewis.
LASTBEA THELYPTEBIS, Presl.
PENINSULA. — Devonshire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Portsea ; Winchester, Hampshire. West Medina ;
302 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Willderness ; Cridmore, &c., Isle of Wight. Tunbridge
Wells ; Albourne ; Amberley ; Waterdown forest ; Ore near
Hastings, Sussex.
THAMES. — North Cray; Bexley ; Ham ponds near Sandwich,
Kent. Leith hill ; near Godalming ; Wimbledon common ;
Pirbright common, Surrey. Windsor Park and Sonning-
hill Wells, Berkshire. Epping; Little Baddow, Essex.
OUSE. — Belton; Bungay ; Hipton; Bradwell common, Suffolk.
Horning; St. Faith's; Upton; Filby; Holt; Edgefield,
Felthorpe ; Wroxham ; Dereham ; Lound near Yarmouth ;
about Norwich, Norfolk. Wicken and Whittlesea fens ;
Feversham moors ; Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire. Potton
marshes, Bedfordshire. Huntingdonshire.
SEVERN. — [Formerly near Allesley, Warwickshire.] Hereford-
shire. Staffordshire. Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Sketty bog; Cwmbola, Glamorganshire.
N. WALES. — Llwydiart lake, Pentraeth ; Beaumaris, Anglesea.
[Near Llanberis, Carnarvonshire.]
TRENT. — Oxton and Bullwell bogs, Nottinghamshire. [Leices-
tershire.]
MERSEY. — Newchurch bog ; Knutsford moor ; Over ; Wybun-
bury bog ; Harnicroft wood near Wernith, Cheshire.
HUMBER. — Potterie Carr ; Askham bog ; Terrington Carr ;
Buttercrambe near York ; Heslington ; Doncaster ; Settle ;
Fens at Askern, Yorkshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 303
TYNE. — Lear mouth bogs, Northumberland.
LAKES. — Keswick ; Ulleswater ; Glencoin, Cumberland. [Ha-
mersham bog, Westmoreland.]
E. HIGHLANDS. — Eescobie ; Eestenet, Forfarshire.
N. ISLES. — [Shetland.]
ULSTER. — Portmore park by Lough Neagh, Antrim ; Boggy
wood at Portumna, Galway, I). Moore.
CONNAUGHT. — Near Lough Carra, Mayo.
LEINSTER. — Marshes at Glencree, Wicklow.
MUNSTEE. — Marsh near Mucruss, Killarney, Kerry.
OPHIOGLOSSUM VULGATUM, Linnceus.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Slateford ; Barnstaple, Devonshire.
Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Strathfieldsaye ; Stoke ; Wanston, Hampshire.
Bembridge down ; Blackgang Chine ; West Cowes, &c.,
Isle of Wight. Box, Dorsetshire. Long-leat, Wiltshire.
Highlands, Eramfield, &c., Sussex.
THAMES. — Bury woods, Hitchin; Elstree; Essenden, and
other parts of Hertfordshire. Hackney marshes ; Sion
lane, Isleworth ; Osterley Park, Brentford ; near Turnham
Green, Middlesex. West Farleigh ; Greenhithe, &c., Kent.
Compton ; Beddington ; Cobham ; Keigate ; Dorking, Sec.,
Surrey. Banbury, Oxfordshire. Essex.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Upton broad; Ellingham fen, &c., Norfolk.
304 HISTORY OP BRITISH FEENS.
Wilburton ; Grant Chester ; Whit well, Cambridgeshire.
Bedfordshire. Huntingdonshire.
SEVEEN. — Foleshill; Wellesbourne, &c., Warwickshire. Glou-
cestershire. Howie hill, Ross; West Hope hill; Upton
Bishop, &c., Herefordshire. Needwood, Staffordshire.
West Felton, Shropshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Wrexham, Denbighshire.
TRENT. — Near Braunston ; Thringston ; Humberstone, Leices-
tershire. Paplewick ; Colwick, Nottinghamshire. Heanor ;
Breadsall, Derbyshire.
MEESEY. — Alderley, Cheshire. Warrington ; Bidston marsh,
&c., Lancashire.
HUMBEE. — Eichmond ; Settle ; Whitby ; Huddersfield, &c.,
Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Middleton, Durham. Hexham ; Hawthorn Dene ;
Halt whistle, Northumberland.
LAKES. — Westmoreland. Cumberland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Kircudbrightshire. Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Coldstream, Berwickshire. Dalmeny and Ar-
niston woods, Edinburgh. Linlithgowshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Dunfermline, Fifeshire, G. M'Nab, B.S.E.
Dunsinnane, Perthshire. Forfarshire. Burghead, Moray-
shire, G. Wilson, B.S.E.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Argyleshire.
N. ISLES. — Orkney. Shetland.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 305
ULSTER. — Knockagh, Carrickfergus ; near Belfast, Antrim.
CONN AUGHT. — Arran Isles, Galway.
LEINSTER. — Holly Park, Dublin, S. Foot, B.S.E. ; Dunsinsk,
Dublin.
MUNSTER. — Clonmel, Cork, " found several years since by Mr.
R. Davis."
OSMUNDA KEGALIS, Linnaus.
PENINSULA. — Common in the low boggy parts of Cornwall.
Dawlish ; Watermouth near Ilfracombe ; Holme Chase
near Ashburton, Devonshire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Frequent in the west of Hampshire. Isle of Wight.
Isle of Piirbeck, Dorsetshire, T. B. Salter, B.S.E. Wilt-
shire. Tunbridge ; U ckfield ; Buxton Park, Sussex.
THAMES. — [Formerly on Hampstead Heath, Middlesex.]
Thursley ; Hindhead ; Hambledon heath ; Ca?,sar's Camp,
Farnham ; Chobham ; Bagshot ; Frimley ; Esher ; Wim-
bledon ; Dorking ; Eeigate, //. M. Holmes, B.S.L., Sur-
rey. Berkshire. Buckinghamshire. Great Warley and
Little Warley ; Little Baddow ; Epping, Essex.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Caistor near Yarmouth, D. Stock, B.S.L. ;
Horning ferry, W. J. West, B.S.L. [Gamlingay, Cam-
bridgeshire.] Bedfordshire.
SEVERN. — Arbury ; Birmingham, and elsewhere, Warwickshire.
x
306 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Worcestershire. Staffordshire. Ellesmere Lakes ; West
Felton, Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Swansea, Glamorganshire, G. Lawson ; Fishguard,
Pembrokeshire, E. Lees, B.S.L. Carmarthenshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire. Barmouth ; Tails of the
Cynvael near Festiniog, Merionethshire. Loughton bog,
Flintshire, Dr. Bidwell, B.S.K Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Mansfield ; Bullwell, Nottinghamshire.
MERSEY. — Lindon moss near Mobberley, Cheshire. Speke
near Liverpool ; Chat moss ; Woolston moss, and else-
where near Warrington ; Poulton le Sand, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Pottery Carr, near Doncaster ; Leeds ; Askham bog ;
Whitby ; York, and other parts of Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Durham. Northumberland.
LAKES. — Windermere, T. Hi/lands, B.S.L. ; Col with, H. Ford-
ham, B.S.L. , Westmoreland. Cumberland. Isle of Man.
W. LOWLANDS. — By the Manse, or White Loch, Colvend, Kir-
cudbrightshire, P. Gray. By the Clyde, Lanarkshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Stirlingshire. Fifeshire. Kincardineshire.
Culross, Perthshire. Arbroath, G. Lawson ; Montrose ;
Kinnaird, &c., Forfarshire. Mill of Leys, G.Dickie, B.S.K,
and elsewhere, Aberdeenshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Glen Finnart; Dunoon; Loch Fine, N.E. of
Iriveravy, Argyleshire. By Loch Lomond, Dumbarton-
shire. Isles of Arran, Bute, Mull, and Islay.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 307
N. HIGHLANDS. — Inchnedamff, Sutherlandshire. Boss-shire.
N. ISLES. — Shetland.
W. TSLES. — N. Uist. Harris. Lewis.
CONNAUGHT. — Abundant in Connemara ; Oughterard, Galway.
Achill Island. Castlebar ; Mayo.
LEINSTER. — Kelly's Glen, co. Dublin.
MUNSTER. — Bandon ; Clonmel, frequent, /. Sibbald, Cork.
Letterfrack near Ballinaskellig's Bay ; Mucruss Abbey,
Killarney, Kerry.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
POLYPODIUM ALPESTEE, Sprengel.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Mountains near Dalwhinnie, Inverness-shire,
1841, H. C. Watson. Canlochen glen, Forfarshire, 1844,
H. C. Watson.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Great Corrie of Ben Aulder, Inverness-shire,
1841, H. C.
POLYPODIUM CALCAEEUM, Smith.
PENINSULA. — Bath; Cheddar cliffs; Mendip hills; Friary
wood ; Hinton Abbey, Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Box quarries; Corsham, Dr. Alexander, B.S.E.
Wiltshire.
THAMES. — Oxfordshire.
SEVERN. — Besborough common, W. H. Purckas; rocks by the
308 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
Wye, near Symond's Yat, and Colwall near Whitchurch ;
Lydbrook in the Forest of Dean ; Windlass hill near Chel-
tenham ; Cleave-cloud ; Postlip hill on the Cotswolds ;
Cirencester, J. BucJcman ; English Bicknor, A. T. Willmot ;
Leigh wood near Bristol, Gloucestershire. Herefordshire
(planted). Worcestershire. Staffordshire.
S. WALES. — Merthyr-Tydvil, Glamorganshire.
N. WALES. — Llanferris, Denbighshire. [Cwm-Idwal, Carnarvon-
shire.]
TRENT. — Matlock ; Buxtori ; Bakewell, T. Butler, Derbyshire.
MERSEY. — Lancaster; Shed din-dough near Barnley; Broad-
bank, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Ingleborough; near Settle; Anster rocks; Arncliffe;
Gordale; Ravenscar, Waldenhead, /. TFard, B.S.U., York-
shire.
TYNE. — Falcon Glints, Durham, T. Simpson.
LAKES. — Newbiggin wood; Gelt quarries ; Baron heath, Cum-
berland. Scout near Kendal ; Arnside knot ; Hutton roof;
Farlton knot ; Caskill kirk, Westmoreland.
POLYPODIUM DEYOPTEEIS, Unnaus.
PENINSULA. — Mendip hills ; near Bristol ; near Bath, Somer-
setshire.
CHANNEL. — [Petersfield, Hampshire, Dr. Bromfield.']
THAMES. — Cornbury quarry, Oxfordshire. Essex.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 309
SEVERN. — Berkswell, Warwickshire. Forest of Dean, Gloucester-
shire. Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire. Penyard park near
Boss; near Downton castle, by the Teme; Aymestree
quarry ; Shobden-hill woods, Herefordshire. Malvern hills ;
Shrawley wood, Worcestershire. Trentham park ; near Cot-
ton hall and Oakamoor ; Needwood, Staffordshire. Titter-
stone Glee hill ; Whitcliffe near Ludlow ; Froddesley hill,
Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Craig-Pwll-du, Eadnorshire. Brecon ; Trecastle ;
Pont Henryd, near Capel Colboen ; Ystrad Felltree, Breck-
nockshire, Pont Nedd-Vechn ; Scwd-y-Gladis ; Merthyr-
Tydvil, Glamorganshire. Ponterwyd ; Hafod, «/". Riley,
B.S.E., &c., Cardiganshire.
N.WALES. — Angiesea. Llangollen, Denbighshire. Craig-
Breidden ; Ph'nlymmon, Montgomeryshire. Merioneth-
shire. Near St. Asaph, Flintshire. Cwm-Idwal ; Llanberis ;
Bangor ; Ehaidr-y-Wenol, Twll-du, Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Chinley hill near Chapel-le-Frith; Pleasley forges,
Derbyshire. Lincolnshire.
MERSEY. — Hill Cliff, Cheshire. Warrington; Broadbank near
Colne; Dean-church Clough; Mere Clough; Cotteril Clough;
Lancaster; Ashworth wood, &c., Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Burley ; Brimham rocks ; Thirsk ; Ingleborough ;
Eeivaulx wood ; Teesdale ; Halifax ; Whitby ; Richmond ;
Settle, J.Talkam, B.S.L.; Brierley; Castle Howard park,
and many other parts of Yorkshire.
310 HTSTOEY OF BRITISH FERNS.
TYNE. — Walbottle Dene; foot of the Cheviot, near Langley
ford, Durham. Morpeth ; Hexham ; Shewing Shields ;
Scotswood Dene, Northumberland.
LAKES. — Lodore near Keswick; Borrowdale; Calder bridge;
Wasdale; Scale force; Gillsland, Cumberland. Amble-
side, Hutton roof; Casterton, &c., Westmoreland. Coni-
stone, N. Lancashire.
W. LOWLANDS. — Drumlanrig ; Maiden Bower craigs, &c., Dum-
friesshire. Cluden craigs ; hills above Dalscairth, Kircud-
brightshire, P. Gray. Tails of the Clyde; Calderwood,
T. B. Bell, B.S.E., Lanarkshire. Gourock, Eenfrewshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Wanchope, lloxburghshire, W. Scott, B.S.E.
Banks of the Whiteadder; Longformacus, Berwickshire.
Hosslyn and Auchindenny woods, and elsewhere about
Edinburgh.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clackmannanshire. Kinross-shire. Garden den,
Eifeshire, R. MaugJian, B.S.E. Culross ; Ben Lawers ;
Killin; Dalnacardoch ; Killicrankie, H. B. M. Harris,
B.S.E. ; Perthshire. Sidlaw hills ; Clova mountains ;
Clack of the Ballock, L. Carnegie, B.S.E. Eorfarshire.
Inglies Maldie, Kincardineshire, A. Croall, B.S.E. Braemar,
Aberdeenshire. Cawdor woods, Nairnshire, /. M'Nab,
B.S.E. Dalwhinnie, Morayshire.
AY. HIGHLANDS. — Ereuch Corrie, Strath Affarie, W. Inverness-
shire. By Loch Lomond ; Ben Voirlich, Dumbartonshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 311
Between Lochs Awe and Etive ; Brodick ; Dunoon, Argyle-
shire. Isle of Arran. Tobermorey, Isle of Mull, W. Christy,
B.S.E.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Ross-shire. Ferry house E. of Loch Erboll}
Sutherlandshire.
ULSTER, — Knockleyd, Antrim, very rare. Mourne mountains,
Down.
CONNAUGHT. — Mam Turk, Galway.
MUNSTER. — Mucruss, Killarney, Kerry.
POLYPODIUM PHEGOPTERIS, Linnau*.
PENINSULA. — Near Tintagel, Cornwall. Sheep's tor ; Dartmoor ;
Ilfracombe ; Becky falls, &c., Devonshire.
CHANNEL. — Forest row, Sussex.
THAMES. — [Near Brentford, Middlesex.] [Norwood, Surrey.]
SEVERN. — Forest of Dean; near Lydbrook, Gloucestershire.
Shobden hill woods ; Aymestree quarry, Herefordshire.
Ridge hill ; Madeley, &c., Staffordshire. Titterstone Glee
hill ; near Ludlow, Shropshire.
S.WALES. — Craig-Pwll-du ; Rhayader, Radnorshire. Pont
Henryd near Capel Colboen ; Brecon beacon, Sec., Breck-
nockshire. Pont Nedd Vechn ; Scwd-y-Gladis ; Cilhepste,
Glamorganshire. Glynhir, near Llandebie, Camarthenshire.
Hafod, &c., Cardiganshire.
N. WALES. — Plinlymmon, Montgomeryshire. Falls of the Cyn-
312 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
vael near Festiniog; Barmouth, &c., Merionethshire.
Llanrwst, Denbighshire. Cwm-Idvval; Llanberis; Aber-
glaslyn; Bangor, &c., Carnarvonshire,
TRENT. — Buxton, Derbyshire.
MERSEY. — Werneth, &c., Cheshire. Dean-church Clough, near
Bolton ; near Todmorden ; Philips wood, near Prestwich ;
Blackhay, Clitheroe, &c., Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Halifax; Beckdale Helrasley; Buttercrambe moor
near York; Settle; Sheffield; Ingleborough ; and many
other parts of Yorkshire.
TYNE. — By the Tees above Middleton ; rocks above Langley
ford ; Cawsey Dene, &c., Durham. Moors near Wallington ;
Shewing Shields ; Cheviot hills ; Hexham, Northumber-
land.
LAKES. — Wardale; Borrowdale; Ennerdale; Scaw-fell; Kes-
wick ; Tindall fell, &c., Cumberland. Ambleside ; Gras-
mere; Casterton fell; Hutton roof, &c., Westmoreland.
Conistone, N. Lancashire. Isle of Man. ,
W. LOWLANDS. — Drumlanrig ; Rae hills ; Jardine hall, Dumfries-
shire. Dalscairth ; Mabie, Kircudbrightshire, P. Gray.
Gourock, Renfrewshire. Falls of the Clyde ; Calderwood ;
Crutherland ; Campsie near Glasgow ; Corra Lyn, &c.,
Lanarkshire.
E, LOWLANDS. — Berwickshire. Jedburgh ; Ruberslaw, Eox-
burghshire. Pentland hills ; Arniston ; Hosslyn, and Auch-
indenny woods, near Edinburgh.
LOCAL DIST1UBUTION. 313
E. HIGHLANDS. — Castle Campbell, near Dollar, Clackmannan-
shire, /. T. Syme, B.S.E. Dunfermline; Inverkeithing ;
Garden den, Fifeshire. Kincardineshire. Glen Queich in
the Ochils ; Ben Lawers ; Dalnacardoch ; Tyndrum ; Killin ;
Bridge of Brackland, near Callender ; Craig Chailliach, Loch
Tay, &c., Perthshire. Canlochen, Clova, Forfarshire. Cas-
tleton, Braemar, Aberdeenshire. Dalwhinnie, Moray shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Aberarder; Ben Nevis; Eed Caird hill, &c.,
W. Inverness-shire. Dunoon ; Crinnan ; Inverary ; pass of
Glencroe, &c., Argyleshire. BenVoirlich; by Loch Lomond;
Tarbet; Arroquher, Sic., Dumbartonshire. Isles of Mull,
Islay, and Cantyre.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Kessock, Eoss-shire. Perry-house E. of Loch
Erboll, Sutherland. Morven, Caithness, rare, T. Anderson.
N. ISLES.— Hoy, Orkney, T. Anderson. North Marm, Shetland.
ULSTER. — By the Glenarve, near Cushendall, and other parts of
Antrim. Waterfall above Lough Esk, Donegal. Slieve
Bignian ; near Slieve Croob ; Black mountain, Down. Ness
glen, Londonderry.
LEINSTER. — Carlingford mountain, Louth. Powerscourt water-
fall, Wicklow.
MUNSTER. — Between Killarney and Kenmare; Mucruss, Kerry.
POLYPODIUM VULGAEE, Lmnceus.
This is one of our most common Ferns, dispersed throughout
314 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
the United Kingdom and Ireland, and found in Jersey, and in the
Western Isles, N. Uist, Harris, and Lewis. The varieties only are
enumerated below ; cambricum ? is intended for the Irish form, so
called, which appears distinct from the true cambricum.
PENINSULA. — Torquay, Devonshire (var. ? cambricum). Ched-
dar cliffs, Somersetshire (var. ? cambricum).
CHANNEL. — Bonchurch, Isle of Wight (var. ? cambricum).
THAMES. — Kent (var. serratum). Surrey (var. serratum).
SEVERN. — Warwickshire (var. serratum). Whitchurch and
Mordiford (var. serratum) ; Goodrich Castle, Eoss, E. T.
Bennett (var. ? cambricum), Herefordshire. Malvern, Wor-
cestershire (var. serratum).
N. WALES. — The var. cambricum in various parts of N. Wales.
W. LOWLANDS. — Kircudbrightshire (var. serratum).
E. LOWLANDS. — Braid hill near Edinburgh (var. cambricum).
CONNAUGHT. — Amin Isles (var. ? cambricum).
LEINSTER. — Wood near the Dargle, Wicklow (var. ? cambricum).
MUNSTER. — Killarney, Kerry (var.? cambricum).
CHANNEL ISLES. — [Guernsey : var. ? cambricum^]
POLYSTICHUM ACULEATUM, Roth.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Lynmouth ; between Totness and
Ashburton, &c. (with lobatum), Devonshire. Portishead,
&c. (with lobatum), Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Selborne, Miss Bower (with lobatum, T. B. Salter) ;
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 315
Alresford, &c,, Hampshire. Isle of Wight (with lobatum).
Dorsetshire. Box quarries, Wiltshire (with lobatum, as
loncJdtidioides) . Henfield ; Groombridge (lobatum), Sussex.
THAMES. — St. Albans; Totteridge; Hitchin; Essendon, &c.,
Hertfordshire. Middlesex. Kent (with lobatum). May-
ford and Dorking (lobatum) ; and elsewhere (with lobatum),
Surrey. Chalfont (lobatum):, Fulmer, Buckinghamshire.
Berkshire (with lobatum). Oxfordshire (with lobatum).
Near Ongar ; Brentwood ; Chingford, and Black Notley
(lobatum) , Essex.
OUSE. — Sudbury, &c. (with lobatum), Suffolk. Yarmouth (lo-
batum) ; Edgefield near Holt, Norfolk. Gamlingay, Cam-
bridgeshire. Bedfordshire. Northamptonshire (lobatum).
SEVERN. — Stoneleigh ; Allesley ; Hollyberry end and Wyken
lane (all with lobatum), and elsewhere, Warwickshire.
Herefordshire (lobatum as loncUtidioides) . Near Bristol,
Gloucestershire (with lobatum). Knightwick, Worcester-
shire, E. Lees, B.8.L. Staffordshire (lobatum as loncMti-
dioides). Mannington near Cherbury, Shropshire (lobatum
as loncJiitidioides) .
S. WALES. — Tenby, Pembrokeshire, JEJ. Lees, B.S.L. Carmar-
thenshire. Glamorganshire (lobatum).
N. WALES. — Anglesea (with lobatum). Wrexham, Denbighshire
(lobatum). Llyn-y-Cwm, Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire (with lobatum). Mansfield ; Paplewick,
316 HISTORY OP BRITISH FEKNS.
Nottinghamshire (with lobatum). Matlock, Derbyshire
(with lobatum). Lincolnshire (lobatum).
MERSEY. — Gateacre near Liverpool ; Hail wood (with lobatum),
&c., Lancashire. Prenston, Cheshire (with lobatum).
HUMBER. — Halifax ; Castle Howard woods ; Eichmond ; Stud-
ley ; Eoche Abbey, G. F. Young, B.S.L. ; Settle ; Eipon ;
Doncaster ; York ; Ingleborough (in most instances with
lobatum), Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Hexham and Scotswood Denes, Northumberland (lo-
batum). Cawsey Dene, &c. (with lobatum), Durham, R.
Bowman, B.S.L.
LAKES. — Airey Force, H.Fordham, B.S.L., &c. (with lobatum),
Cumberland. Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Drumlanrig ; Nithsdale ; and other parts of
Dumfriesshire (with lobatuin), P. Gray. Kircudbrightshire
(with lobatum), P. Gray. Eenfrewshire. Lanarkshire
(with lobatum).
E. LOWLANDS. — Edinburgh shire (with lobatwn). Pease Bridge,
&c., Berwickshire (with lobatuni).
E. HIGHLANDS. — Glen Phee, Clova mountains, and other parts
of Eorfarshire (lobatuni). St. David's Fifeshire, B.S.E.
Glenfarq near Perth, Perthshire. Kincardineshire (lobatuni).
Aberdeenshire (lobatum). Morayshire (lobatum).
W. HIGHLANDS. — Isles of Islay (with lobatum) and Cantyre
(with lobatum).
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 317
N. HIGHLANDS. — Ross-shire (lobatum).
ULSTER. — Glen Colin (with lobatum), Malone (with lobatum as
loncJiitidioides) , Belfast, Antrim.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE, Presl.
PENINSULA. — Lynmouth ; between Totness and Ashburton,
Devonshire. Near Bath, Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Stubbington ; Uplands ; Cattisfield, and elsewhere,
Hampshire. Isle of Wight. Dorsetshire. Wiltshire.
Patching ; Findon, &c., Sussex.
THAMES. — Panshanger ; Hatfield Wood side ; Colney ; Watford ;
Totteridge, Hertfordshire. Sturry, and elsewhere, Kent.
St. Martha's, near Guildford, Surrey. Epping, /. Ray,
B.S.L.', Springfield, Essex.
OUSE. — Norfolk. Huntingdonshire.
SEVEEN. — Bristol ; Forest of Dean, E. Lees, B.S.L., Glouces-
tershire, H. K. Tkwaites, B.S.L. Stoneleigh ; Berkeswell ;
Hearsall, &c., Warwickshire. Ross, Herefordshire. Eartham,
Worcestershire, E. Lees, B.S.L. Staffordshire. Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Tenby, Pembrokeshire, E. Lees, B.S.L. Gower,
Glamorganshire, C. Conway, B.S.L, Cardiganshire.
N. WALES. — Conway, Carnarvonshire. Denbighshire.
TRENT. — Matlock, Derbyshire. Leicestershire.
MERSEY. — Prescott ; Hail wood, Lancashire. Cheshire.
318 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
HUMBER. — Edlington Crags, near Adwick ; Roche Abbey, /. F.
Young, B.S.L. ; Halifax, R. Leylandy B.S.L. ; Bichmond ;
Heckfall woods ; Elland, and other parts of Yorkshire.
LAKES. — Loughrigg Pell; Ambleside, Westmoreland. Isle of
Man.
E. LOWLANDS. — Peasebridge, Berwickshire.
ULSTER. — Blackstaff lane ; Colin Glen, Belfast, Antrim.
CONNAUGHT. — Arran Isles, Galway.
LEINSTER. — Tinnahinch, Wicklow, (7. C. Babington, B.S.E.
MUNSTER. — Clonmel, Cork, J. Sibbald.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
POLYSTICHUM LONCHITIS, Roth.
OUSE. — [Cambridgeshire.] [Northamptonshire.]
S. WALES.— [Glamorganshire.]
N. WALES. — Clogwyn-y-Garnedd ; Cwm-Idwal; Twll-du; Gly-
der-Yawr ; above Llanberis, Carnarvonshire.
HUMBER. — Langcliffe near Settle ; Attermine Scar ; Giggleswick,
Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Palcon Glints, Teesdale ; Mazebeck Scar, Durham.
LAKES . — [C umbeiiand .]
W. LOWLANDS. — [Lanarkshire.]
E. HIGHLANDS. — Ben Lomond, Stirlingshire, F. Bossey, B.S.L.
Ben Lawers ; Craig Challiach ; Glen Lyon, G. Lawson ; Ben
Chonzie near Crieff, Dr. Balfour, B.S.E. Perthshire,
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 319
Canlochen ; Glen Isla ; Glen Phee ; Glen Dole, Sec., in the
Clova mountains, Forfarshire. Aberdeenshire. Moray-
shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Ben Voirlich, Dumbartonshire. Mountains
near Loch Erricht, Inverness-shire. Ben More, Isle of Mull.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Raven rock near Castle Leod, Boss-shire.
Ben Hope, B.S.E. ; Assynt, Sutherlandshire.
N. ISLES. — Hoy-hill, Orkney (1,600 feet), very rare, T. Anderson.
ULSTER. — Glen E. of Lough Eske ; Eosses and Thanet moun-
tain passes, Donegal.
CON NAUGHT. — Glenade mountain, Leitrim. Ben Bulben, Sligo.
MUNSTER. — Brandon mountain, Kerry.
PTERIS AQUILESTA, Linnaw.
The most common of our Ferns, dispersed over the whole
of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland; ascending to an
elevation of 1,470 feet. It is also common in the Orkneys ;
and is found in the Hebridean Islands of N. Uist, Harris,
and Lewis.
SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, Symons.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Devonshire. Nettlecombe (var. poly-
scUdes, and Sir W. C. Trevelyans var.), &c., Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Fareham (vars. undulatum and jpolysckides), Hamp-
shire. Isle of Wight. Sussex. Dorsetshire. Wiltshire.
320 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
THAMES. — Hertfordshire. Middlesex. Kent. Surrey. Berk-
shire. Buckinghamshire. Oxfordshire. Essex.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Norfolk. Cambridgeshire. Bedfordshire.
Huntingdonshire. Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — Warwickshire. Gloucestershire. Herefordshire. Wor-
cestershire. Staffordshire. Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Brecknockshire. Pembrokeshire. Glamorganshire.
Carmarthenshire .
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire. Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Nottinghamshire. Derbyshire.
MERSEY. — Cheshire. Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Yorkshire (with var. undulatum).
TYNE. — Northumberland. Durham.
LAKES. — Cumberland. Westmoreland. Isle of Man.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. Kir cudbright shire. Wigton-
shire. Ayrshire. Eenfrewshire. Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Edinburghshire. Berwickshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Eifeshire. Eorfarshire. Kincardineshire.
Aberdeenshire. Nairnshire. Morayshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Argyleshire. Isles of Islay, Cantyre, and
Skye.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Sutheiiandshire.
N. ISLES. — Isles of Bowsay, Orkney, rare, E. Heddell. Shet-
land.
CONNAUGHT. — Galway. Arran Isles. Sligo.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 321
LEINSTER. — Dublin.
MUNSTER. — Cork. Kerry.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
TEICHOMANES BADICANS, Swartz.
HUMBEE. — [Supposed to have been formerly found at Bellbank,
near Bingley, Yorkshire.]
LEINSTER. — Hermitage glen ; Powerscourt waterfall, Wicklow.
MUNSTER. — Glendine wood, and Glenbour, Killeagh, near
Toughal ; Temple Michael glen, and Ballinhasy glen, near
Cork. Turk waterfall, Killarney ; ravine of Cromaglaun
mountain ; Mount Eagle, near Dingle ; Gortagaree ; Black-
stones in Glen Caragh ; Inveragh ; Curraan lake, Water-
ville, C. C. Babington, B.S.E., Kerry.
WOODSIA HYPEKBOBEA, R. Rrown.
N. WALES. — Clogwyn-y-Gamedd, Snowdon, Carnarvonshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Ben Chonzie, near Crieif, Dr.BalfoM", Catja-
ghiammaii, Ben Lawers ; Mael-dun-Crosk ; Craig Challiach,
Perthshire. Glen Isla, Dr. Balfour ; Glen Phee, Clova
mountains, Dr. Balfour, Forfar shire.
WOODSIA ILYENSIS, R. Brown.
N. WALES. — Clogwynn-y-Garnedd ; Llyn-y-cwm, on Glyder
Vawr, (Carnarvonshire.
Y
322 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
HUMBER. — [Yorkshire.]
TYNE. — Falcon Glints, and Cauldron Snout, Teesdale, Durham.
LAKES. — Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Devil's Beef-tub, and hills north of Moffat,
P. Gray. Hills dividing Dumfries and Peeblesshires, abun-
dant, W. Stevens.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Ben Chonzie, near Crieff, Perthshire, Dr. Bal-
four. Glen Phee, Clova mountains, Forfarshire, /. Back-
LYCOPODIUM ALPINUM, Linnaeus.
PENINSULA. — Somerset, A. Southby.
CHANNEL. — Hampshire.
SEVERN. — [Shropshire.]
S. WALES. — Brecon beacon, Brecknockshire. Glamorganshire.
Plinlymmon, Cardiganshire.
N.WALES. — Flintshire. Denbighshire. Llanidloes, Mont-
gomeryshire. Cader Idris, Merionethshire. Cwm-Idwal ;
Glyder Yawr ; Carnedd David, Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Derbyshire.
MERSEY. — Micklehurst, Cheshire. Todmorden ; Fo-edge ;
Mottram ; Cliviger, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Ingleborough ; Sowerby ; Cronckley Fell ; Scar-
borough, Sec., Yorkshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 323
TYNE. — Falcon Glints, and elsewhere in Teesdale, Durham.
S.E. of Crag lake ; Cheviot, Northumberland.
LAKES. — Kirkston, and other parts of Westmoreland. Great
Gable ; Ennerdale, and other parts of Cumberland. Coni-
stone, N. Lancashire.
W. LOWLANDS. — Hills W. of the vale of Dumfries. Hills above
Dalscairth, Kircudbrightshire. Eenfrewshire. Lanark-
shire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Roxburghshire. Lammermuirs ; Lambertori
moor, Berwickshire. Pentland hills, Edinburgh.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clackmannanshire. Kinross-shire. Fifeshire.
Ben Lawers ; Blair Athol ; Killin, &c., Perthshire. Sidlaw
hills ; Glen Dole and Glen Phee, Clova, &c., Forfarshire.
Bay of Nigg, Kincardineshire. Invercauld, Sec., Aber-
deenshire (3,600 feet). Badenoch, Morayshire. Banff-
shire. Nairn shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Freuch Corrie, Strath Affarie; Ben Nevis
(3,450 feet), &c., W. Inverness-shire. Ben Voirlich, Dum-
bartonshire. Ben More ; Tobermorey, Isle of Mull ; and
other islands of the Inner Hebrides.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Ross-shire. Ben Hope (3,000 feet), Suther-
land. Morven, Caithness, T. Anderson.
N. ISLES. — Hoy, Orkney, common, T. Anderson. LTnst, Shet-
land.
W. ISLES. — Langa, Harris, Dr. Balfour.
324 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
ULSTER. — Belfast mountains, Antrim. Aghla ; Barnesmoor ;
Muckish, Donegal. Mourne mountains. Down.
MUNSTER. — Mangerton ; Bandon, Kerry.
LYCOPODIUM ANNOTINUM, linnets.
N. WALES. — Glyder-Vawr, above Llyn-y-cwm, Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Chamwood forest, Leicestershire, A. Bloxam.
MERSEY. — Eumworth moss, Lancashire, R. Withers.
TYNE. — [Teesdale, Durham.]
LAKES. — Bowfell, Cumberland, H. E. Smith. Langdale, West-
moreland, R. Rolleston.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Mountains of Perthshire, Aberdeenshire,
Morayshire, and BanfFshire ; as Loch-na-gar, Munth Keane,
Ben-na-Baird, and the Cairngorm mountains (elev. 1,500-
2,550 feet). Glen Dole; Clova mountains; by Loch Esk,
Forfar shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — French Corrie, Strath Affarie, West Inverness-
shire. Goat Fell, Isle of Arran. Isle of Mull.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Freevater, Eoss-shire.
N. ISLES. — Hoy hill; Eackwick, J. T. Syme, Orkney.
LYCOPODIUM CLAYATUM, Linnaus.
PENINSULA. — Exmoor, Devonshire. Brendon hill, and elsewhere,
Somersetshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 325
CHANNEL. — Hampshire. Dorsetshire. Wiltshire. Tilgate
forest, Sussex.
THAMES. — Tring, Hertfordshire. Hampstead, Middlesex. High-
down heath ; Caesar's Camp, Farnham ; Woking common ;
between Dorking and Leith hill; Addington hills, Croydon;
and other parts of Surrey. Oxfordshire. [High Beech,
Essex.]
OUSE. — Norfolk. Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire. Bedfordshire.
SEVERN. — [Coleshill, Warwickshire.] Worcestershire. Staf-
fordshire. Stiperstone, Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Glamorganshire. Plmlymmon, Cardiganshire.
N. WALES. — Cader Idris, Merionethshire. Denbighshire. Snow-
don, Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Charnwood forest, Leicestershire. Nottinghamshire.
Denbighshire.
MERSEY. — Todmorden ; Simmons-wood Moss, Lancashire.
Cheshire.
HUMBER. — Frequent in the N. and W. Eidings of Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Northumberland. Durham.
LAKES. — Mountains of Cumberland. Langdale, Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. Kir cudbright shire. Renfrew-
shire. Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Peeblesshire. Roxburghshire. Pentland hills,
Edinburghshire, Berwickshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clackmannanshire. Kinross-shire. Fifeshire.
326 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
Clova mountains, Forfarshire. Perthshire. Aberdeen-
shire. Mortlach, Banffshire. Badenoch, Morayshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — W. Inverness-shire. Argyleshire. Dumbarton-
shire. Tobermorey, Isle of Mull.
N. HIGHLANDS, — Ben Wy vis, Eoss-shire. Sutherlandshire. Mor-
ven, Caithness, T. Anderson.
N. ISLES. — Hoy and Eowsay, Orkney. [Shetland.]
LEINSTER. — Kelly's glen; Bally nascorney, Dublin co.
LYCOPODIUM INUNDATUM, Linnaus.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Bovey Heathfield, Devonshire. Somer-
setshire.
CHANNEL. — Titchfield ; Christchurch ; Selborne ; St. Jermyn's
near Eomsey, aud other parts of Hampshire. Poole, Dor-
setshire. Wiltshire. Sussex.
THAMES. — Keston heath; St. Paul's Cray; Chiselhurst, &c.,
Kent. Godalming; Witley; Bagshot; Chobham; Wimble-
don ; Esher, &e., Surrey. Hampstead, Middlesex. Berk-
shire. Essex.
OUSE.— Belton, Suffolk. S. Wootton; Norwich; Filby; Holt
heath ; Yarmouth, Norfolk. Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire.
Bedfordshire. Huntingdonshire.
SEVERN. — Coleshill, Warwickshire. Hartlebury, Worcester-
shire. Staffordshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Bogs by the Eainworth, Nottingham-
shire. Derbyshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 327
MERSEY. — Delamere forest; Thurtaston ; Bagueley moor ; Bid-
ston, Cheshire. Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Stockton forest ; Sandpit, Malton road near York ;
Norland Moor, near Halifax, Yorkshire.
LAKES. — Wastwater, Cumberland. Westmoreland.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clunie Loch; Blair Athol, Perthshire. Ar-
dorie wood, Eorfarshire. Cawdor Castle, &c.,Nairnshire.
Carse of Ardersier near Fort St. George, Morayshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Inverarnon; between Luss and Inverglass,
Dumbartonshire.
N. HIGHLANDS — Craig Darrock, Eoss-shire. Morven, Caithness,
rare, T. Anderson.
CONNAUGHT. — Connemara, Galway.
LYCOPODIUM SELAGINOIDES, Idnnaus.
PENIN SULA. — [Devonshire.]
N. WALES. — Aberffraw, Anglesea. Denbighshire. Cwm-Idwal;
Clogwyn-du-Yrarddu ; Llanberis; Capel Curig, Carnar-
vonshire.
TRENT. — Kinder Scout, Derbyshire.
MERSEY. — New Brighton, Cheshire. Near Southport ; Seaforth
common, Bootle, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Cronckley Pell ; Stockton forest ; Settle ; Eichmond ;
York ; Knaresborough ; WhitsunclifFe near Thirsk, &c.,
Yorkshire.
328 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
TYNE. — Middleton, Teesdale; Gateshead Fell, Durham. Prest-
wick Carr near Ponteland, Northumberland.
LAKES. — Loughrigg; P airfield; Kirkstone, Sec., Westmoreland.
Borrowdale ; Keswick ; Derwentwater ; Scaw Pell, &c.,
Cumberland. Conistone, N. Lancashire.
W. LOWLANDS. — Grey mare's tail, and elsewhere, Dumfriesshire,
P. Gray. Hills above Dalscairth; Port Ling, coast of
Colvend, Kircudbright shire, P. Gray.
E. LOWLANDS. — Lammermuirs; Lamberton moor, Berwick-
shire. Roxburgh shire. Haddingtonshire. Edinburghshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Stirlingshire. Clackmannanshire. Kinross-
shire. Pifeshire. Craig Challiach ; Breadalbane mountains
(3,000 feet), Perthshire. Caulochen; Glen Dole, Clova;
Sidlaw hills ; Sands of Barry, Dundee, Porfarshire. Glen
Callater ; Deanston, &c., Aberdeenshire. Kingussie ; Dal-
whynnie, Moray shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Prench Corrie, Strath Affarie, &c., W. Inver-
ness-shire. Dunoon, Argyleshire. Dumbartonshire. Banks
of Loch Sligachan, Isle of Skye. Isles of Islay and Cantyre.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Boss-shire. Sutherlandshire. Caithness, com-
mon, T. Anderson.
N. ISLES. — Hovvton head, and elsewhere, Orkney. Shetland.
W. ISLES. — N. Uist. Harris. Lewis.
ULSTER. — Belfast mountains; near Larne, Antrim. Arrigal;
Muckish, and other hills of Donegal. Slieve Donard;
Mourne mountains, Down.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION.
CoNNAUGHT.-Hills by the Killery; Leenane; Connemara,
Galway.
LEtNSTEB.-Carlingford mountain, Louth. Dublin co.
LYCOPODIUM SELAGO, Linnaius.
PENiNSULA.-Cornwall. Sidmouth; Dartmoor, Devonshire.
Somersetshire.
CHANNEL.-Near Aldershot, Hampshire. Dorsetshire. Wfl
shire. Waldron down ; Tilgate forest, &c., Sussex.
THAMES.— Highdown heath; near Cesar's Camp, Farnham,
Surrey. Shotover hill, Oxfordshire.
OUSE — Felthorp heath ; Holt heath, Norfolk.
SEVERN.-tColeshill; Birmingham, Warwickshire.] Worces-
tershire. Staffordshire. Titterstone Glee, Shropshire.
S WALES.-Glamorganshire. Plinlymmon, Cardiganshire.
N WALES.-Anglesea. Denbighshire. Cader-Idris; betwee
Festiniog and Llyn Cromorddyn, Merionethshire. Llai
beris- Cwm-Idwal, &c., Snowdon, Carnarvonshire.
TBENT.-Leicestershire. Rutland. Mansfield, Nottinghamsh
Above Edale Chapel, Derbyshire.
MEESEY.-Bidston, Cheshire. Woolston moss, near ^
ton; Todmorden, Lancashire.
HuMBEK-Settle; Halifax; Ingleborough ; Wensley
&c., Yorkshire.
TYNE._Falcon Glints, Teesdale, Durham. Prestwick Carr n
Ponteland; Haltwhistle ; Cheviot, Northumberland.
330 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
LAKES. — Skiddaw ; Ennerdale ; Helvellyn, Cumberland. West-
moreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Lochan moss, Dumfriesshire, P. Gray. Hills
above Dalscairth, and Mabie ; Criffel, Kircudbrightshire,
P. Gray, Renfrewshire. Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Roxburghshire. Belford ; Lamberton moor, &c.,
Berwickshire. Pentland hills, Edinburghshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clackmannanshire. Kinross-shire. Pifeshire.
Perthshire. Glen Callater ; Stocket moor ; Ben-na-muich-
Dhu (4,320 ft.) ; Loch-na-gar, Aberdeenshire. Nigg,
Kincardineshire. Banffshire. Badenoch, Kingussie, Mo-
ray shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Ben Nevis, W. Inverness-shire. Dunoon,
Argyleshire. Goat Fell, Isle of Arran. Ben More, Isle of
Mull. Ben Vigors, Islay. Cantyre. Skye.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Sutherlandshire. Ben Wyvis, Eoss-shire.
Morveii, Caithness, T. Anderson.
N. ISLES. — Kirk wall, Mainland, /. T. Syme -, Hoy, T. Anderson,
Orkney.
W. ISLES. — N. Uist. Harris. Lewis.
ULSTER. — Devis mountain, Antrim. Arrigal; Muckish, &c.3
Donegal. Slieve Donard, Down.
LEINSTER. — Dublin co.
MTJNSTEB. — Mangerton ; Bandon ; Carran-Tual ; Killarney,
Kerry.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 331
ISOETES LACUSTRIS, Linnxus.
SEVERN. — [Shropshire.]
S. WALES. — Lake below Brecon beacon, Brecknockshire. Gla-
morganshire.
N. WALES. — Lakes of Denbighshire. Merionethshire. Ogwen ;
Llyn-y-cwm ; Lakes of Llanberis, &c., Carnarvonshire.
HUMBER. — Castle Howard lake ; Foss reservoir near Coxwould,
Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Prestwick Carr, Northumberland.
LAKES. — Bydal, and other lakes of Westmoreland. Ulleswater ;
Eloutern Tarn, near Buttermere ; Crummock water ; Der-
went water ; Wastwater, &c., Cumberland. Conistone,
N. Lancashire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Stirlingshire. Eifeshire. Loch Tay ; Loch
Lubnaig, Perthshire. Loch Brandy ; Loch Whirrall, near
Kettin, Eorfarshire. Loch Callader, Aberdeenshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Loch Sloy, Ben Yoirlich, Dumbartonshire.
Lakes in the Isles of Skye and Bute.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Sutherlandshire.
N. ISLES. — Kirkwall (near the sea), Orkney, T. Anderson.
ULSTER. — Lakes in the Bosses, Donegal. Castle Blaney lake,
Monaghan.
CONN AUGHT. — Lakes of Connemara.
LEINSTER. — Upper Lough Bray ; Glendalough, Wickiow,
332 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
PILULARIA GLOBULIFERA, Linnaua.
PENINSULA. — Roche ; Marazion marsh, near Penzance, Corn-
wall. Blackdown ; Polwhele, Devonshii'e. Maiden down,
Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Lymington ; Holt forest ; Southampton ; Baddeiiey,
Hampshire. Between Corfe Mullein and Poole ; Sandford
bridge near Wareham, Dorsetshire. Warminster, Wilt-
shire. Piltdown ; Charley North, common ; Quaybrook
near Forest Row ; Chiltington, Sussex.
THAMES. — Northaw, Hertfordshire. Tver heath; Hounslow
heath ; Hillingdon, Middlesex. Esher common ; near
Reigate; Walton -on-the-hill ; Henley Park, Pirbright ;
Roehampton, Surrey.
OUSE.— Hopton, Suifolk. Filby ; St. Faith's Newton ; Yar-
mouth, Norfolk. Hinton bog, Cambridgeshire, J. PF. G.
Gutch, B.S.L. Fen near Peterborough, Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — Coleshill Pool, Warwickshire. Staffordshire. Bo-
mere pool, Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Rhos Goch near Llandegly, Radnorshire. Moun-
tain pool near Pont Nedd-Vechn, Glamorganshire. St.
David's head, Pembrokeshire.
N. WALES. — Near Llanfaelog, Anglesea. Llyn-Idwal; Llan-
beris lake, Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION, 333
MERSEY. — Bagueley moor ; Beam heath near Nantwich ; Bar-
lington heath ; Woove, Cheshire. Allerton, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Near Richmond ; Stockton forest ; Gormire pool
near Thirsk ; Terrington Carr, &c., Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Near Woolsingham ; Prestwick Carr, Ponteland, North-
umberland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. ^Kirkcudbrightshire. Rother-
glen, Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Pentland hills ; Braid hill marshes, Edinburgh-
shire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Perthshire. Slateford; Monroman moor;
Alyth ; near Eorfar, and other parts of Eorfarshire. Loch
of Drum, Kincardineshire. Morayshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Loch Lomond, Dumbartonshire.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Sutherlandshire.
ULSTER. — By the Blackwater near Lough Neagh ; by the Bann,
below Jackson's hall, Coleraine, Antrim.
CONNAUGHT. — Ballinahynch, Galway.
EQTJISETUM AEYENSE, Linncem.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Devonshire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Hampshire. Isle of Wight. Dorsetshire. Wilt-
shire. Sussex.
THAMES. — Hertfordshire. Middlesex. Kent. Surrey. Ox-
fordshire. Berkshire. Essex.
334 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Norfolk. Cambridgeshire. Bedfordshire.
Huntingdonshire. Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — Warwickshire. Gloucestershire. Herefordshire.
Worcestershire. Staffordshire. Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Glamorganshire. Pembrokeshire. Carmarthenshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire. Flintshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Eutland. Lincolnshire. Nottingham-
shire. Derbyshire.
MERSEY. — Lancashire. Cheshire.
HUMBER. — Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Durham. Northumberland. Isle of Man.
LAKES. — [No record.]
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. Kircudbrightshire. Lanark-
shire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Berwickshire. Haddingtonshire. Edinburgh-
shire. Linlithgowshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Stirlingshire. Clackmannanshire. Kinross-
shire. Fifeshire. Perthshire. Forfarshire. Kincardine-
shire. Aberdeenshire. Moray shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Argyleshire. Dumbartonshire. Isles of Islay
and Can tyre.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Ross-shire. Sutherlandshire. Caithness.
N. ISLES. — Orkney, T. Anderson. Shetland.
W. ISLES. — Eoddall, Harris.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 335
EQUISETUM HYEMALE, Linnaus.
PENINSULA. — [Somersetshire.]
CHANNEL. — [Near Broadstitch Abbey, Wiltshire.]
THAMES. — [Middlesex.] Kent. Wanborough near Guildford,
Surrey.
OUSE. — St. Faith's Newton ; Arming-hall wood, near Norwich,
Norfolk. Stretham ferry, Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire.
Potton marshes ; Ampthill bogs, Bedfordshire.
SEVERN. — Near Middleton, Warwickshire. Pencoyed, Here-
fordshire. Moseley bog, Worcestershire. Staffordshire.
Dell at Bitterley below the Clee hills, Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Swansea, Glamorganshire, /. W. G. Gutch, B.S.L.
N. WALES. — Wrexham, Denbighshire. Flintshire.
TRENT. — Grace Dieu wood, Charnwood forest ; Measham, Leices-
tershire. Nettleworth green, near Mansfield ; Kirklington,
Nottinghamshire.
MERSEY. — Near Arden hall ; Lally's wood, near Over ; Thurtas-
ton, Cheshire. Mere Clough near Manchester, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Halifax ; by the Derwent near Castle Howard ;
Goadland dale near WThitby ; Hackness near Scarborough ;
by the Skell near Ripon ; Conesthorpe ; Bolton woods,
Wharfdale ; Rigby woods near Pontefract, and many other
parts of Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Hawthorn Dene ; Castle Eden Dene, Durham. Scots-
336 HISTORY OF BRITISH PERNS.
wood Dene ; Mill green ; Heaton wood ; Felton ; W ark-
worth, Northumberland.
LAKES. — Sowgelt bridge, Cumberland. Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Barnbarrock, Colvend, Kircudbright shire. Ayr-
shire. Carra Lyn ; Calderwood, Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Eosslyn ; Lasswade ; Dalkeith, and elsewhere
about Edinburgh. Lamberton moor, Berwickshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Kenmore, Perthshire. Den of Airly, Forfar-
shire. Park ; Eanks of the Dee, Kincardineshire. Pitten-
driech ; Forres, Morayshire.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Eoss-shire.
ULSTER. — Antrim. Tyrone.
LEINSTER. — Powerscourt, Sec., Wicklow. Wood at Leislip Castle,
and elsewhere about Dublin.
EQUISETUM LIMOSUM, Linnceus.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Devonshire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Hampshire. Isle of Wight. Dorsetshire. Wilt-
shire. Sussex.
THAMES. — Middlesex. Kent. Surrey, Hertfordshire. Ox-
fordshire. Essex.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Norfolk. Cambridgeshire. Bedfordshire.
Huntingdonshire. Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — Warwickshire. Gloucestershire. Herefordshire.
Worcestershire. Staffordshire. Shropshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 337
S. WALES. — Glamorganshire. Carmarthenshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Rutland. Lincolnshire. Derbyshire.
Nottinghamshire.
MERSEY.- — Cheshire. Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Durham. Northumberland.
LAKES. — Cumberland. Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. Kircudbrightshire. Renfrew-
shire. Lanarkshire.
E, LOWLANDS. — Roxburghshire. Berwickshire. Edinburgh-
shire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clackmannanshire. Kinross-shire. Fifeshire.
Perthshire. Forfarshire. Aberdeenshire. Morayshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — Dumbartonshire. Loch Skyros, Islay (with
var. "simplex ").
N. HIGHLANDS. — Ross-shire. Caithness-shire.
N. ISLES.- — Kirk wall, Orkney, /. T. Syme.
W. ISLES. — N. Uist. Harris. Lewis.
ULSTER. i
CONNAUGHT.
> Common in Ireland.
LEINSTER.
MUNSTER. J
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
338 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS.
EQUISETUM MACKAYI, Newman.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Den of Airly, Eorfarshire. Banks of the
Dee, Aberdeenshire.
ULSTER.— Colin Glen, Belfast; "The Glens;" Calton Glen,
Antrim. Ballyharrigan Glen, Londonderry.
EQUISETUM PALUSTEE, Unnau*.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Brannton Burroughs, Devonshire (yar.
nudum). Weston-super-mare (var. polystacJiion) ; sands
at Bream (var. nudwri), Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Hampshire. Shanklin Chine and Cockleton (with
var. polystacJiion) ; Moor town, Brixton; Easton Fresh-
water gate, Isle of Wight. Dorsetshire. Spye Park (var.
polystackion) ; Purton, Wiltshire. Sussex.
THAMES. — Hertford; Stortford; Hitchin; St. Albans, Hert-
fordshire. Middlesex. Stoke; Woodbridge near Guildford,
and Richmond park (var. polystacJiion), &c., Surrey. Strat-
ford, Essex (var. polystacJdori). Oxfordshire. Essex.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Norfolk. Cambridgeshire. Bedfordshire.
Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — Harts-hill (var. polystacJiion)^ &c., Warwickshire.
Gloucestershire. Herefordshire. Staffordshire. Worces-
tershire. Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Glamorganshire. Carmarthenshire. Pembrokeshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 339
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire. Conway sands, Car-
narvonshire (var.polystackion).
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Eutland. Lincolnshire. Derbyshire.
Nottinghamshire.
MERSEY — Crosby (vars. polystachion and nuduni) ; Formby
(var. polystachion) ; Broadbank (var. nudum\ Lancashire.
Cheshire.
HUMBER. — Aldingham (var. nudum), and elsewhere, York-
shire.
TYNE. — Durham. Northumberland.
LAKE s . — Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Dumfriesshire. Kircudbrightshire. Lanark-
shire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Berwickshire. Eoxburghshire. Edinburgh-
shire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Stirlingshire. Clackmannanshire. Kinross-
shire. Fifeshire. Kincardineshire. Morayshire. Brea-
dalbane mountains, Perthshire (vars. polystachion and nu-
dum). Sands of Barry, Forfarshire (var. nudum). Braemar
(var. polystachion) , and elsewhere, Aberdeenshire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — W.Inverness-shire. Argyleshire. Isles of
Islay and Cantyre.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Caithness. Eoss-shire.
N. ISLES. — Orkney, common, T. Anderson.
W. ISLES. — Eoddal, Harris.
340 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
ULSTER. — Logan canal (var. poly >stacMori) ; near the Giant's
Causeway, Antrim. -|
CONNAUGHT. I Abundant in Ireland, especially
LEINSTER. in the north.
MUNSTER. j
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
EQUISETUM SYLYATICUM, Linnaus.
PENINSULA. — Devonshire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Parsonage Lynch, Newchurch ; Apse heath, Isle of
Wight. Dorsetshire, Wiltshire. Sussex.
THAMES. — Bell wood, and Bayford wood, Hertfordshire. High
gate, Middlesex. Kent. Burgate, Godalming, Surrey.
Bagley wood, Berkshire. High Beech, Essex.
OUSE. — Suffolk. Norfolk. Chesterton ; Madingley wood, Cam-
bridgeshire. Bedfordshire. Northamptonshire,
SEVERN. — Arbury; Mosely bog near Birmingham, Warwickshire.
Gloucestershire. Herefordshire. Worcestershire. Staf-
fordshire. Benthal Edge, Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Hafod, and about the Devil's bridge, Cardiganshire.
Carmarthenshire. Neath, Glamorganshire, E. Lees, B.S.L.
N. WALES. — Near Bala, Merionethshire. Denbighshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Eutland. Southwood near Calke
Abbey; Cromford moor, Derbyshire. Aspleywood; South-
well, Nottinghamshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 341
MERSEY. — Cheshire. Hurst Clough, Manchester; Egerton
near Bolton, and elsewhere, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Huddersfield ; Arncliffe woods; Castle Howard;
Settle; Richmond; Leeds; Whitby; Forge Valley near
Scarborough, &c., Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Morpeth; Hexham, Northumberland. Durham.
LAKES. — Ennerdale, &c., Cumberland. Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS, — Dumfriesshire. Kireudbrightshire. Renfrew-
shire. Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Houndwood; Langridge Dean, Berwickshire.
Eosslyn wood and elsewhere, Edinburgh. Roxburghshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Clackmannanshire. Kinross-shire. Banks of
Bruar, Blair Athol ; Vicar's bridge ; Breadalbane mountains,
Perthshire. Montrose ; Craig, &c., Eorfarshire. Eifeshire.
Woodstone hills, Kincardineshire. Aberdeenshire. Caw-
dor, Nairnshire. Moray shire.
W. HIGHLANDS. — W. Inverness-shire. By Loch Fine, Argyle-
sliire.
N. HIGHLANDS. — Ross-shire. Sutherlandshire.
N. ISLES. — Orkney. Shetland.
W. ISLES. — Roddal, Harris.
ULSTER. — Antrim. Londonderry, Donegal.
CONNAUGHT. — Oughterard, Galway.
LEINSTER. — Stagstown, Dublin co. Wicklow.
342 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
EQUISETUM TELMATEIA, Mrhart.
PENINSULA. — Cornwall. Undercliff near Sidmoutb, &c., Devon-
shire. Somersetshire.
CHANNEL. — Hampshire. Luccomb cliff, &c., Isle of Wight.
Dorsetshire. Wiltshire. Hastings, Sussex.
THAMES. — Hertfordshire. Hampstead, Middlesex. West Farleigh,
Kent. Eeigate; Norwood; Godalming, Surrey. Oxfordshire.
Berkshire. Buckinghamshire. Coggeshall, Warley, Essex.
OUSE. — Ipswich, Suffolk. Norfolk. Cambridgeshire. Bed-
fordshire. Northamptonshire.
SEVERN. — Woods near Arbury hall, Warwickshire. Glouces-
tershire. Worcestershire. Staffordshire. Shropshire.
S. WALES. — Glamorgan. Carmarthenshire. Pembrokeshire.
N. WALES. — Anglesea. Denbighshire. Bangor, Carnarvonshire.
TRENT. — Leicestershire. Derbyshire. Nottinghamshire.
MERSEY. — Poulton; Arden hall, Cheshire. Broadbank near
Coin ; Todmorden ; Manchester, Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Arncliffe wood and elsewhere, Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Hawthorn Dene, Durham. Morpeth, Northumberland.
LAKES. — Cumberland. Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Renfrewshire. Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Lamberton, between Berwick and Ayton, Ber-
wickshire. Eosslyn and various places about Edinburgh.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Montrose; banks of S. Esk, Forfarshire.
Kincardineshire. Aberdeenshire.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION. 343
W. HIGHLANDS. — Campbelton, Argyleshire. Islay. Arran.
N. ISLES. — [Orkney.]
ULSTER. ^
CONNAUGHT.
}• Frequent in Ireland.
LEINSTER.
MUNSTER.
CHANNEL ISLES. — Jersey.
EQUISETUM UMBEOSUM, Willdenow.
MERSEY. — [Near Mere Clough, Manchester, Lancashire.]
HUMBER. — Yorkshire.
TYNE. — Wynch bridge, Teesdale, Durham. Near Felton ;
Warkworth, Northumberland.
LA KE s . — Westmoreland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Bonnington woods ; woods near Corra Lyn ;
Finglen near Glasgow, Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Woods on the banks of the Esk below Auchin-
deuny, Edinburghshire. Woodcock dale ; Belleryde, W. H.
Campbell, B.S.E., Linlithgowshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Campsie Glen, Stirlingshire. Castle Camp-
bell woods, near Dollar, Clackmannanshire, J. T. Syme.
Woods near Dunfermline, Fifeshire. Glen Tilt ; Ballater ;
Lethen's dene, Ochils ; Glen Devon, Perthshire. Eavine
of the White-water, Glen Dole, Clova ; banks of the Isla,
Den of Airly, below Eeeky Lyn, G. Lawson ; Canlochen,
844 HISTORY or BRITISH FERNS.
Glen Isla; by the Caledonian Canal, near Eorfar, Eorfar-
shire. Aberdeenshire. Banffshire. Morayshire.
ULSTER. — Mountain glens of Antrim ; as at Wolf hill, and Glen-
doon near Cushendall.
EQUISETUM VABIEGATUM, Weber and MoJir.
PENINSULA. — Salcombe Cliff, Sidmouth, Devonshire. [So-
mersetshire.]
MERSEY. — New Brighton, and near the Magazines, Cheshire.
Bootle sands ; Southport ; Waterloo near Liverpool (var.
arenarium), Lancashire.
HUMBER. — Aysgarth force, Yorkshire, B.S.E.
TYNE. — Widdy bank ; Wynch bridge ; Middleton, Teesdale ;
and elsewhere near the Tees, Durham. Northumberland.
LAKES. — By the Irthing, at Gilsland, Cumberland.
W. LOWLANDS. — Lanarkshire.
E. LOWLANDS. — Near N. Berwick, Haddingtonshire.
E. HIGHLANDS. — Sands of Barry, Dundee, Forfarshire (var.
arenarium). Banks of the Dee, Kincardineshire (with var.
Wilsoni).
N. HIGHLANDS. — Tain, Eoss-shire, B.S.E.
LEINSTER. — Portmarnock sands; Royal canal (var. Wilsoni),
both near Dublin. Wicklow, D. Moore.
MUNSTER. — Ditch at Mucruss, Killarney, Kerry (var. Wilsoni).
APPENDIX.
FOLYPODIUM ALPESTRE, Sprengel. — The Alpine Polypody.
This plant has exactly the habit and appearance of AtTiyrium
Mlix-fcemina ; and hence Mr. Newman, in proposing to make it
the type of a new family group, has called it Pseudathyrium
alpestre. It is a very elegant plant, the fronds reaching from a
foot to a foot and a half high, and growing terminally from a
short creeping rhizome. The fronds are lance-shaped, narrowed
to the base, and twice pinnately divided. The pinnae are lan-
ceolate, acuminate; the pinnules lanceolate, acute, and deeply
pinnatifid, with oblong sharply-serrated segments. The son are
produced either at the sinus of the lobes of the pinnule, and
thus form two distinct and distant lines parallel to, and on
each side the midrib ; or the little lobes bear about four son,
disposed in a row, on each side their midvein, and so near
together as to become confluent into one mass.
This species, hitherto known as a native of Switzerland, has
been gathered by H. C. Watson, Esq., in the Highlands of
346 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Scotland. It was found so long since as 1841, but, from its
close resemblance to AtJiyrium Filix-fcemina, has not been till
just now recognized ; and it is probable that it may have been
gathered by many persons in many parts of the Highlands, and
passed by as the commoner species. The ascertained localities
have been thus obligingly communicated by Mr. Watson : —
Mountains near Dalwhinnie, Inverness-shire, 1841. Great Corrie
of Ben Aulder, Inverness-shire, 1841. Canlochen glen, Forfar-
shire, 1844.
This plant is no doubt the Aspidium alpestre of Hoppe ; and
is also the Aspidium rlicei/lcum of Swartz, and Polypodium rhteti-
cum of Woods, according to Newman. There is, moreover,
reason to believe it is the Polypodium rhceticum of Linnaeus, and
if this can be satisfactorily settled, the name rhaticum must
supersede that of alpestre. It has been already mentioned that
Mr. Newman constitutes it a new genus — Pseudatliyrium.
ADDITIONAL SYNONYMS.
The following names have been published, or more promi-
nently adopted, since the preceding pages were printed : —
Atliyrium Mlix-fcemina (p. 87) is A.incisum, Newman.
AtJiyrium Mlix-fceminat var. convexum (p. 89), is A. convexum,
Newman.
AtJiyrium Filix-fcemina, var. latifolium (p. 90), is the A.ovatum,
Roth, according to Mr. Newman ; but we do not concur in
this opinion.
AtJiyrium Mlix-fcemina^ var. molle (p. 90), is A. molle (Tloth),
Newman.
Cystopteris fragilis, var. Dickieana (p. 1 08), is C. Dickieana (Sim),
Newman.
Cystopteris montana (p. 109) is C. Allioni, Newman.
Lastrea cristata (p. 116) is Lophodium Callipteris, Newman,
Lastrea cristata, var. uliginosa (p. 121), is Lophodium uliginosum,
Newman.
Lastrea dilatata (p. 123) is Lophodium multiftorum, Newman.
34)8 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS.
Lastrea Filix-mas (p. 126) is LopJwdium Filix-mas, Newman.
Lastrea fcenisecii (p. 129) is Lophodium fcenisecii, Newman.
Lastrea glandulosa (p. 125) is LopJiodium glanduliferum, Newman,
and L. glandulosum, Newman.
Lastrea Oreopteris (p. 131) is HemestJieum montanum, Newman.
Lastrea rigida (p. 132) is LopJiodium fragrans, Newman.
Lastrea spinulosa (p. 134) is LopJiodium spinosum, Newman.
Lastrea Thelypteris (p. 136) is Hemestheum montanum, Newman.
Polypodium calcareum (p. 146) is Gymnocarpium Robertianum,
Newman.
Polypodium Dryopteris (p. 148) is Gymnocarpium Dryopteris,
Newman.
Polypodium Phegopteris (p. 150) is Gymnocarpium PJiegopteris>
Newman.
Polypodium vulgare (p. 152) is Ctenopteris vulgaris, Newman.
Pteris aquilina (p. 163) is Eupteris aquilina, Newman.
INDEX.
Page.
Acrosticlmm alpinum . . . .181
hyperboreum 181
ilvense. ...... 182
septentrionale .... 80
• Spicant 96
Adiantum 45, 59
Capillus-Veneris, described 54, 60
its distribution . 62, 263
its culture 62
Allosorus 44, 63
crispus, described . . . 49, 64
its distribution . 65, 264
its culture 65
Amesium germanicum .... 73
Ruta-muraria . . . . 79
septentrionale . . . . 80
Aspidium aculeatum . . . .158
angulare ....'. 160
dilatatum 123
erosum 128
Filix-mas 129
Filix-fcemina 92
fontanum 72
Halleri 72
Lonchitis 161
montanum . . . .111
Page.
Aspidium Oreopteris . . . .132
rigidum 132
spinulosum 134
Thelypteris 136
Asplenium 45, 65
acutum 69
Adiantum-nigrum, described 54, 66
its varieties . . . .68
its distribution . 68,266
its culture 69
alternifolium 73
Breynii 73
Ceterach 103
Filix-fbemina 92
fontanum, described . . . 53, 69
its distribution . 71, 268
its culture 71
germanicum, described . . 53, 72
its distribution . 73, 268
its culture 73
lanceolatum, described . . 53, 74
its distribution . 75, 268
its culture 74
marinum, described . . . 53, 76
its distribution . 76, 269
its culture 77
350
INDEX.
Page.
A.melanocaulon ...... 83
obtusum ....... 69
Ruta-muraria, described . 53, 78
- its distribution . 79, 271
Scolopendrium ..... 174
septentrionale, described . 53, 79
- its distribution . . .273
- its culture ..... 80
Spicant ....... 96
Trichomaues, described . . 53, 80
- its varieties . . . 53,82
- its distribution . 82, 273
- its properties .... 82
- its culture ..... 82
viride, described . . . . 53, 83
- its distribution . 84, 275
- its culture ..... 84
Athyrium ...... 44, 84
convexum . , ..... 347
Filix-fcemina, described . . 52, 87
- its varieties . . . 52, 89
- its distribution , 91, 276
- its culture ..... 92
incisum ........ 347
molle ........ 347
ovatum ....... 347
Barometz, or Scythian lamb,
vegetable curiosity ..
Bleclmum ......
boreale
Spicant, described . . .
- its distribution .
- its culture
BotrycMum .....
Lunaria, described . . .
- its distribution .
- its culture
British Ferns, statistics of .
a
. 35
46, 93
96
55, 94
96, 279
96
47, 96
55, 97
99, 280
99
. 3
British ferns, literature of
Page.
. 5
Ceterach 45, 99
officinarum, described . 54, 100
its distribution . 102, 283
its culture 102
Classification of Terns .... 41
CLUB-MOSSES .... 47, 183
Cryptogramma crispa . . . . 65
Ctenopteris vulgaris . . . .347
Culture of Ferns 25
in the open air .... 25
in Wardian cases , . .26
Cyathea montana Ill
regia 105
incisa 105
Cystea regia 105
Cystopteris .... 44, 103
Allioni . . . • 347
alpina, described . . . . 52, 104
its distribution . 105, 286
Dickieana 347
fragilis, described . . 51, 106
its varieties . 51, 52, 107
its distribution . 108, 286
its culture 109
montana, described . . 52, 109
its distribution . Ill, 289
Distribution of Ferns .... 29
statistics of 30
EQUISETUMS, denned . 48, 217, 221
structure of 218
uses of 220
culture of 253
Equisetum 221
arvense, described . . 57, 222
its distribution . 222, 333
INDEX.
351
Page.
E. elongatum 232
Hemestheum Thelypteris .
HORSETAILS, defined . .
Hymenophyllum . .
tunbridgense, described .
its distribution
its culture .
Page.
. . 348
48, 217
46,112
55,113
114, 289
. . 114
hyemale, described . . 58, 226
its distribution . 228, 335
its uses 228
limosum, described . . 57, 229
its distribution . 229, 336
its uses 232
unilaterale, described
its distribution
Wilsoni
55, 114
115, 290
. . 114
Mackayi, described . . 58, 232
— its distribution . . 23, 338
palustre, described . . 58, 235
its distribution . 235, 338
its varieties . . . .236
sylvaticum, described . 57, 238
its distribution . 243, 340
Telmateia, described . 57, 243
its distribution . 246, 342
umbrosum, described . 57, 246
its distribution . 249, 343
variegatum, described . 58, 250
its varieties . . 58,252
its distribution . 253, 344
Eupteris aquilina 348
Indusium
. . 18
Isoetes
48, 204
. 56, 205
. . 331
. . 209
lacustris, described . .
its distribution
its culture . .
TiRfSt'-peRr
44, 116
. . 125
collina
cristata, described . 50,
its distribution
its culture .
116,118
121, 292
121
its varieties . .
dilatata, described . 51,
its distribution
its culture .
51, 121
119, 123
125, 293
125
FILICES, defined 43
Fructification . .... 17
Genera of British Ferns . . .43
Germination of Ferns .... 22
conditions requisite for . . 22
its varieties . .
Dryopteris
50, 124
. . 150
erosa . ....
. . 128
Filix-mas, described . .
its varieties . .
its distribution
its culture .
50, 126
50, 128
129, 295
. . 129
. . 125
Grammitis Ceterach . . . .103
Groups of British Ferns ... 43
Gymnocarpium Dryopteris . .348
Phegopteris . . . 348
foenisecii, described . 51,
its distribution
119, 129
130, 296
. . 131
Robertianum 348
Gymnogramma Ceterach . . .103
the gold and silver Ferns . 3
Hemestheum montanum . . . 348
maculata
. . 125
Oreopteris, described
its distribution - .
50, 131
132, 297
352
INDEX.
Page.
L. Oreopteris, its culture . . .132
Phegopteris 152
recurva 131
rigida, described .... 50, 132
its distribution . 133, 300
its culture 134
spinulosa, described 54, 118, 134
its distribution . 136, 300
its culture 136
Thelypteris, described . 50, 136
its distribution . 137, 301
its culture 137
uliginosa .... 51, 118, 121
Lepidodendrons 186
Lomaria Spicant . . . . . 96
Lophodium Callipteris .... 347
Filix-mas 348
foenisecii 348
fragrans 348
glanduliferum .... 348
multiflorurn 347
spinosum 348
uliginosum 347
LYCOPODIUMS, defined . . 47, 183
structure of 183
uses of 186
fossil 186
culture of 199
Lycopodium .... 47, 183
alpinum, described . . 56, 187
its distribution . . .189
its uses 189
annotinum, described . 56, 189
its distribution . 191, 324
clavatum, described . . 56, 191
distribution . . 193, 324
its uses 193
inundatum, described . 56, 194
its distribution . 194,326
Page.
L. selaginoides, described . 56, 195
its distribution . 196, 327
Selago, described . . 56, 196
its distribution . 196, 329
its uses 199
MARSILEACEJS, denned ... 47
Nephrodium fcenisecii . . . .131
Notolopeum Ceterach .... 103
Onoclea Spicant 96
OPHIOGLOSSACE^E, defined . . 46
OpMoglossum ... 47, 137
vulgatum 55, 138
its distribution . 139, 303
its culture 139
OSMUNDACE^, defined ... 46
Osmunda ..... 46,139
borealis 96
crispa 65
Lunaria 99
regalis, described . . 55, 142
its distribution . 144, 305
its culture 144
Spicant 96
PEPPERWORTS, defined . 47, 204
Pilularia 48,211
globulifera, described . 57, 212
its distribution . 216, 332
its culture 209
POLYPODIACE.E, defined ... 43
Aspidiese 44
Aspleniese 44
Dicksoniese 46
Polypodieae 43
Pteridese 45
Polypodium .... 43, 145
INDEX.
353
Page.
P. aculeatum 158
alpestre, described . . . .345
its distribution . . .307
alpinum 105
calcareum, described . 49, 146
its distribution . 147, 307
its culture 147
cambricum 154
Dryopteris, described . 49, 148
its distribution . 150, 308
its culture 148
Filix-femina 92
Filix-mas 129
fontanum 72
hyperboreum 181
ilvense 182
Lonchitis 161
montanum Ill
Oreopteris 132
Phegopteris, described . 49, 150
its distribution . 150, 311
its culture 152
rigidum 132
Robertianum 147
spinulosum 134
Thelypteris 137
vulgare, described . . 49, 152
its varieties . . 49, 154
its distribution . 152, 313
its culture 154
Polystichum . . . . 44, 155
aculeatum, described . 51, 156
its distribution . 158, 341
— — its culture 158
its varieties . . 51, 157
angulare, described . . 51, 158
its varieties . . 51, 159
its distribution . 159, 317
its culture . .160
P. Lonchitis, described
its distribution
its culture . .
Preservations of Terns in
selection of . .
arrangement of .
Propagation of Ferns .
Pseudathyrium alpestre
Pteris
aquilina, described .
its varieties
its distribution
its culture . .
Page.
. 51, 160
. 161, 318
... 161
herbaria 37
... 37
... 39
... 20
... 345
. 45, 162
. 54, 163
. 54, 167
. 167, 319
... 167
Receptacle 16
Scolopendrium . . . 45, 168
alternifolium 73
Ceterach ....... 103
officiiiarum 174
Phyllitidis 174
Ruta-muraria 79
septentrionale 80
vulgare, described . . 54, 169
its varieties . . 54, 171
its distribution . 173, 319
its culture 173
Scythian lamb, a vegetable curiosity 3 5
Sorus 17
Spore-cases 17
Spores 17
compared with seeds . . 20
their structure .... 20
their mode of growth . . 21
Structure 7
what a Fern is .... 8, 43
root 9
stems 10
leaves, or fronds 11
354
INDEX.
Page,
leaves, or fronds, great variety of 1 3
duration of .... 13
parts of 13
mode of division ... 15
aestivation of . . . . 16
venation of .... 16
stipes 14
fructification 17, 18
receptacle 16
19
96
1
2
43
internal structure
Struthiopteris Spicant . . .
Study of Perns, inducement to
• best method of
Table of groups and genera
Table of species . . t . . . 49
Topographical aspect of Ferns . 30
arborescent, or tree Terns . 30
shrubby Ferns . . . . 31
herbaceous Ferns ... 31
epiphytal Ferns . . . . 32
Page.
Trichomanes .... 46, 174
brevisetum 178
radicans, described . . 55, 175
its variety 177
its distribution . 177, 321
its culture 178
speciosum 178
Uses of Ferns 33
food-yielding species . . 33
medicinal species ... 34
• oeconomical species ... 35
Woodsia 44, 178
alpina 180
hyperborea, described . 50, 179
its distribution . 181,321
its culture 181
ilvensis, described . . 50, 181
its distribution . .321
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sented to his notice ; describing the curious characters that fell under his observa-
tions ; the arts or substitutes for arts of the people ; and the natural productions of the
country ; — these travels are full of attraction. The book, like the country it describes, is
full of new matter." — Spectator.
24. ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY; or, Figures and De-
scriptions of British Funguses. By Mrs. T. J. HUSSEY. Royal 4to.
Ninety plates, beautifully coloured. Price 11. 12*. 6d., cloth.
f ' This is an elegant and interesting book : it would be an ornament to the drawing-
room table ; but it must not, therefore, be supposed that the value of the work is not
intrinsic, for a great deal of new and valuable matter accompanies the plates, which are
not fancy sketches, but so individualized and life-like, that to mistake any species seems
impossible. The accessories of each are significant of site, soil, and season of growth,
so that the botanist may study with advantage what the artist may inspect with admi-
ration."— Morning Post.
25. ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY; containing Figures
and Descriptions of the Funguses of interest and novelty indigenous to
Britain. Second Series. By Mrs. HUSSEY. In Monthly Parts, price
5*. To be completed in twenty Parts. Coloured plates.
26. THE ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND. By the Rev. Dr.
BADHAM. Super-royal Svo. Price 21*., coloured plates.
" Such a work was a desideratum in this country, and it has been well supplied by
Dr. Badham ; with his beautiful drawings of the various edible fungi in his hand the
collector can scarcely make a mistake. The majority of those which grow in our mea-
dows, and in the decaying wood of our orchards and forests, are unfit for food ; and the
value of Dr. Badham's book consists in the fact, that it enables us to distinguish from
these such as may be eaten with impunity." — Athenccuin.
b LIST OF WORKS.
27. CURTIS'S BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY. By JOHN CURTIS, F.L.S.
Sixteen vols. royal 8vo. 770 copper-plates, beautifully coloured. Price
£21. (Published at £43 16*.)
28. THE VICTORIA REGIA. By Sir W. J. HOOKER, F.R.S. In ele-
phant folio. Beautifully illustrated by W. Fitch. Reduced to 21*.
29. THE RHODODENDRONS OF SIKKIM-HIMALAYA. First Series.
With coloured drawings and descriptions made on the spot. By J. D.
HOOKER, M.D., F.R.S. Edited by Sir W. J. HOOKER, D.C.L.,
F.R.S. Second Edition. In handsome imperial folio, with ten plates.
Price 21*. coloured.
" In this work we have the first results of Dr. Hooker's botanical mission to India.
The announcement is calculated to startle some of our readers when they know that it
was only last January twelvemonths that the Doctor arrived in Calcutta. That he
should have ascended the Himalaya, discovered a number of plants, and that they
should be published in England in an almost UNEQUALLED STYLE OF MAGNIFICENT
ILLUSTRATION, in less than eighteen months— is one of the marvels of our time." —
Athenaeum.
30. THE RHODODENDRONS OF SIKKIM-HIMALAYA. Second
Series. By JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., F.R.S. Edited by Sir
W. J. HOOKER, M.D., F.R.S. In handsome imperial folio, with ten
plates. Price 25*. coloured.
31. THE RHODODENDRONS OF SIKKIM- HIMALAYA. Third and
concluding Series. By JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., F.R.S.
Edited by Sir W. J. HOOKER, M.D., F.R.S. In handsome imperial
folio, with ten plates. Price 25*. coloured.
32. POPULAR BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY; comprising a familiar and
technical description of the Birds of the British Isles. By P. H.
GOSSE, Author of ' The Ocean,' ' The Birds of Jamaica,3 &c. In twelve
chapters, each being the Ornithological lesson for the month. In one
vol. royal 16mo, with twenty plates of figures. Price 10*. 6d. coloured.
" To render the subject of ornithology clear, and its study attractive, has been the
great aim of the author of this beautiful little volume. . . It is embellished by upwards
of seventy plates of British birds beautifully coloured." — Morning Herald.
33. POPULAR BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY; comprising a familiar and
technical description of the Insects most common to the British Isles.
By MARIA E. CATLOW. Second Edition. In twelve chapters, each
being the Entomological lesson for the month. In one vol. royal 16mo,
with sixteen plates of figures. Price 10*. §d. coloured.
" Judiciously executed, with excellent figures of the commoner species, for the use
English of above 200 of the commoner British species, together with accurate figures
of about 70 of those described ; and will be quite a treasure to any one just commencing
the study of this fascinating science." — Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review.
LIST OF WORKS. 7
34. THE DODO AND ITS KINDRED; or, the History, Affinities, and
Osteology of the DODO, SOLITAIRE, and other extinct birds of the
Islands Mauritius, Rodriguez, and Bourbon. By H. E. STRICKLAND,
Esq., M.A., F.R.G.S., F.G.S. ; and A. G. MELVILLE, M.D., M.R.C.S.
One vol. royal quarto, with eighteen plates and numerous wood illustra-
tions. Price 21s,
" The labour expended on this book, and the beautiful manner in which it is got up,
render it a work of great interest to the naturalist It is a model of how such
subjects should be treated. We know of few more elaborate and careful pieces of com-
parative anatomy than is given of the head and foot by Dr. Melville. The dissection is
accompanied by lithographic plates, creditable alike to the artist and the printer." —
Athenaeum.
35. A CENTURY OF ORCHIDACEOUS PLANTS, the Plates selected
from the Botanical Magazine. The descriptions re-written by Sir
WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, F.R.S., Director of the Royal Gardens
of Kew ; with Introduction and instructions for their culture by JOHN
CHARLES LYONS, Esq. One hundred plates, royal quarto. Price
Five Guineas, coloured.
" In the exquisite illustrations to this splendid volume, full justice has been rendered
to the oddly formed and often brilliantly coloured flowers of this curious and interesting
tribe of plants." — Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review.
36. CONCHOLOGIA SYSTEMATICA; or, Complete System of Con-
chology. 300 plates of upwards of 1,500 figures of Shells. By
LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S. Two vols. 4to, cloth. Price IQl. coloured;
Ql. plain.
" The text is both interesting and instructive ; many of the plates have appeared be-
fore in Mr. Sowerby's works; but from the great expense of collecting them, and the
miscellaneous manner of their publication, many persons will no doubt gladly avail
themselves of this select and classified portion, which also contains many original
figures." — Athenceum.
' 37. ELEMENTS OF CONCHOLOGY; or, Introduction to the Natural
History of Shells and their molluscous inhabitants. By LOVELL REEVE,
F.L.S. Parts 1 to 10. Royal 8vo, cloth. Price 3$. Qd. Coloured
plates.
38. ICONES PLANTARUM ; or, Figures, with brief descriptive characters
and remarks, of new and rare Plants. By Sir W. J. HOOKER. Vol. 5,
8vo, cloth. Price II. Us. §d. Plain plates.
39. FLORA ANTARCTICA; or, Botany of the Antarctic Voyage. By
JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., R.N., F.R.S., &c. Two vols. royal
4to, 200 plates. Price 10/. 15,?. coloured; 11. iOs. plain.
40. CRYPTOGAMIA ANTARCTICA; or, Cryptogamic Botany of the
Antarctic Voyage. By JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, F.R.S., &c.
Royal 4to. Price 4/. 4*. coloured; 21. 17*. plain.
41. THE BRITISH DESMIDIE^; or, Fresh-Water Algse. By JOHN"
RALFS, M.R.C.S. Price 36s. coloured plates.
8 LIST OF WORKS.
42. CONCHYLIA DITHYRA INSULARUM BRITANNICARUM. By
WILLIAM TURTON, M.D. Reprinted verbatim from the original
edition. Large paper, price 21. 10s.
43. THE PLANETARY AND STELLAR UNIVERSE. By ROBERT
JAMES MANN. 12mo, cloth. Price 5s.
44. ILLUSTRATIONS of the WISDOM and BENEVOLENCE of the
DEITY, as, manifested in Nature. By H. EDWARDS, LL.D. Square
12mo, cloth. Price 2$. 6d.
Serials.
45. CURTIS'S BOTANICAL MAGAZINE, by Sir WILLIAM JACKSON
HOOKER, F.R.S., V.P.L.S., &c., Director of the Royal Gardens of Kew.
In monthly numbers, each containing six plates, price 3s. Qd. coloured.
46. HOOKER'S JOURNAL OF BOTANY, and KEW GARDEN MIS-
CELLANY. Edited by SIR WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, F.R.S.,
&c. In monthly numbers. Price Two Shillings.
47. ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY ; containing Figures
and Descriptions of the Funguses of interest and novelty indigenous to
Britain. Second Series. By Mrs. HUSSEY. In Monthly Parts, price 5s.
To be completed in twenty Parts.
48. NEREIS AUSTRALIS ; or, Illustrations of the Algse of the Southern
Ocean. By Professor HARVEY, M.D., M.R.I. A. To be completed in
Four Parts, each containing Twenty-five plates, imp. 8vo, price \l. Is.
Parts I. and II. recently published, coloured.
49. CONTRIBUTIONS TO ORNITHOLOGY. By SIR WILLIAM JAR-
DINE, Bart. Published in parts. Coloured plates.
50. CONCHOLOGIA ICONICA; or, Figures and Descriptions of the
Shells of Molluscous Animals. By LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S. Demy4to.
Monthly. Eight plates. Price 10s. coloured.
51. CURTIS'S BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY. Re-issued in monthly parts,
each containing four plates and corresponding text. Price 3s. 6d.
coloured.
Printed by John Edward Taylor, Little Queen-street, Lincoln's Inn Fields.
SELECTION FROM THE
BOTANICAL WORKS
PUBLISHED BY
EEEVE AND BENHAM,
5, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
PHYCOLOGIA BRITANNICA; or, History of the British Sea-Weeds;
containing coloured figures, and descriptions, of all the species of Algae
inhabiting the shores of the British Islands. By WILLIAM HENRY
HARVEY, M.D., M.R.I.A., Keeper of the Herbarium of the University
of Dublin, and Professor of Botany to the Dublin Society. The price
of the work, complete, strongly bound in cloth, is as follows : —
In three vols. royal 8vo, arranged in the order •» $„ 10 f
of publication . •
In four vols. royal 8vo, arranged systematically -i «„ -.„ „
according to the Synopsis . . . ./•*'•
A few Copies have been beautifully printed on large paper.
" The ' History of British Sea- weeds ' we can most faithfully recommend for its
scientific, its pictorial, and its popular value ; the professed botanist will find it a
work of the highest character, whilst those who desire merely to know the names
and history of the lovely plants which they gather on the sea-shore, will find in it
the faithful portraiture of every one of them." — Annals and Magazine of Natural
History.
THE VINE. Illustrated with plates. 8vo. 5*.
" Mr. Assheton Smith's place at Tedworth has long possessed a great English re-
putation for the excellence of its fruit and vegetables ; one is continually hearing in
society of the extraordinary abundance and perfection of its produce at seasons when
common gardens are empty, and the great world seems to have arrived at the con-
clusion that kitchen gardening and forcing there are nowhere excelled. We have,
therefore, examined, with no common interest, the work before us, for it will be
strange indeed if a man who can act so skilfully as Mr. Sanders should be unable to
offer advice of corresponding value. We have not been disappointed. Mr. Sanders's
directions are as plain as words can make them, and, we will add, as judicious as his
long experience had led us to expect. After a careful perusal of his little treatise, we
find nothing to object to and much to praise." — Gardeners' Chronicle.
POPULAR FIELD BOTANY. By AGNES CATLOW. Second Edition,
revised by the Author. With twenty coloured plates. 10 s. Qd.
THE RHODODENDRONS OF SIKKIM-HIMALAYA. (Completed.}
With coloured drawings and descriptions made on the spot. By J.
D. HOOKER, M.D., F.R.S. Edited by Sir W. J. HOOKER, D.C.L., F.R.S.
Second Edition. In handsome imperial folio, with ten beautifully co-
loured plates. Part I., 21$. ; Parts II. and III., 25*. each.
"A most beautiful example of fine drawing and skilful colouring, while the
letter-press furnished by the talented author possesses very high interest. Of the
species of Rhododendron which he has found in his adventurous journey, some are
quite unrivalled in magnificence of appearance." — Gardeners' Chronicle.
VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS; or, History of Forest Trees,
Lichens, Mosses, and Ferns. By MARY ROBERTS. With twenty
coloured plates by FITCH. Royal 16mo. ]0,s. Qd.
"The fair authoress of this pretty volume has shown more than the usual good
taste of her sex in the selection of her mode of conveying to the young interesting in-
struction upon pleasing topics. She bids them join in a ramble through the sylvan
wilds, and at her command the fragile lichen, the gnarled oak, the towering beech,
the graceful chestnut, and the waving poplar, discourse eloquently, and tell their re-
spective histories and uses." — Britannia.
THE VICTORIA REGIA. By Sir W. J. HOOKER, F.R.S. In elephant
folio. Beautifully illustrated by W. Fitch. Price 31,?. 6d.
" Although many works have been devoted to the illustration and description of
the ' Victoria Regia,' it seemed still to want one which, whilst it gave an accurate
botanical description of the plant, should at the same time show the natural size of
its gigantic flowers. This object has been aimed at by the combined labours of Sir
W. J. Hooker and Mr. Fitch, and with distinguished success, in the volume before
us. The illustrations are everything that could be desired in the shape of botanical
drawing." — Athenaeum.
A CENTURY OF ORCHIDACEOUS PLANTS, the Plates selected from
the Botanical Magazine. The descriptions re-written by Sir WILLIAM
JACKSON HOOKER, F.R.S. , Director of the Royal Gardens of Kew ;
with Introduction and instructions for their culture by JOHN CHARLES
LYONS, Esq. One hundred coloured plates, royal quarto. Price Five
Guineas. •
ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY; or, Figures and De-
scriptions of British Funguses. By Mrs. T. J. HUSSEY. Royal 4to.
Ninety plates, beautifully coloured. Price £7 l&s. 6d., cloth.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY; containing Figures and
Descriptions of the Funguses of interest and novelty indigenous to
Britain. Second Series. By Mrs. HUSSEY. In Monthly Parts,
price 5,9. To be completed in twenty Parts.
CURTIS'S BOTANICAL MAGAZINE (commenced in 1786) ; continued
by Sir WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, K.H., D.C.L., &c., Director of the
Royal Gardens of Kew. With observations on the culture of each
species, by Mr. JOHN SMITH, A.L.S., Curator of the Royal Gardens.
*#* The present Series commences with the year 1845, and is pub-
lished in monthly numbers, each containing six plates, price 3<y. 6d.
coloured, or in volumes, price 42s.
HOOKER'S JOURNAL OF BOTANY AND* KEW GARDENS
MISCELLANY. Edited by Sir WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER. In
monthly numbers, with a plate, price One Shilling ; and in volumes,
price I2s. 6d.
POPULAR HISTORY OF BRITISH SEA-WEEDS, comprising all the
Marine Plants. By the Rev. DAVID LANDSBOROUGH, A.L.S. Second
Edition, revised by the Author. With twenty-two plates by Fitch.
10,9. Qd. coloured.
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