V<£ P\ _ TO SIR WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, LL.D., E.R., A. &L.S. &c. &c. &c. AND REGIUS PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW. SIR, To you, who stand so far before all oilier Writers in a practical knowledge of British Botany, and who have made the Ferns so particularly the subject of your attention, I beg respectfully to dedicate this little Work. I am aware that it is too small to be worthy of your attention ; but I am anxious to take as early an opportunity as possible of offering my homage to those brilliant talents which have contributed so essentially to diffuse a love of Botany ; that energy without which even talents are unavailing, and that urbanity of manners and liberality of feeling for which Botanists have always been celebrated. That you may long be spared the full enjoyment of all your mental and physical facilities, to cheer your Friends and to instruct the World, is the ardent wish of Sir, Your most obedient Servant, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. “ I acknowledge no authority but that of observation.” — Linn. This motto was my governing principle in writing the following work on the “British Ferns and other Allies;” and in adopting it 1 hope that I shall neither be accused of arrogance, neglect of the opinion of others, nor yet of unnecessarily varying the details of science. Should the reader ask, Why I write at all ? I answer, because the only book ever published upon this subject, (Bolton’s “ Filices Britannicae,”) has long been out of print; and so much difference of opinion exists as to the identity of some species, and the arrangement of others, that I thought a plain and practical synopsis like the present would be useful to the tyro, if not to the practical botanist. The materials from which it has been compiled are these : — I inspected all the herbaria to which I had access ; gathered wild and cultivated fronds wherever I could procure them; and wrote to most of our first-rate botanists for specimens, remarks, and habitats. All these being collected, arranged, and studied, they were described and engraved without reference to any series of plates or descriptions what- ever. I then collated these with the works of Linnaeus, Willdenow, Sprengel, Swartz, Pursh, Withering, Smith, Hooker, Lightfoot, Hudson, &c. &c., and wherever there was a difference between myself and others I searched again for the truth; and. if still in doubt, have been careful to record the disparity. IV PREFACE. The long introductory matter explains all that is known of the internal structure, not only of the indigenous species, but of foreign also; and as it tends to induce in the mind a philosophical knowledge of the plants afterwards detailed, I flatter myself that the part devoted to this will not be the least valuable to the student of nature. The manner in which the object has been accomplished it is neces- sary to explain more fully: and, first, as to the illustrative plates — they are small, for the sake of economy, and are intended chiefly to indicate the habit of the plants, while the magnified parts show their detail. They might have been finer as works of art; but, had they been executed by an engraver, minute as they are, they would perhaps have been less botanically accurate, as the smallest variation in many of them would have materially altered their character; and, there- fore, although a first and an untutored attempt at etching, I have preferred executing them myself, especially as by so doing I should save a large expense, perhaps not be refunded by the sale of the work. The engravings of genera is a new feature in illustration, and it is hoped a useful one. In the record and detail of species the following order is observed : — First, the Latin and English name, and reference to figure. Secondly, those essential characters which alone are necessary for discriminating the species, and which alone the true botanist will find it convenient to consult. The synonymes and references to figures in other works which follow, give a history of the plant, and enable the student to refer elsewhere, if in doubt. The description may be considered collateral evidence, while the remaining parts will show him the varieties to which his plant is subject, the cause of them, its parti- cular and general distribution, and the peculiarities attached to it. In the part of the work which treats of the genera, the reader will find, first, the derivation of the genus, and a concise account of its general characteristics, and under it the arrangement of the species, according to their obvious distinctions. In the essential characters of the different species, as few words as possible have been used, and those few pure and scientific. In the synonymes, which go back to the time of Linnaeus, (or in some few instances a little before,) the names of authors only are given, unless they have called a plant by different names in different of their works, when the works themselves are also specified. In the descriptive PREFACE. port, and discriminating remarks which follow it, pure scientific detail, has not been so much aimed at as obvious differences and popular observations. The habitats have been collected from every authentic source which was attainable by me; a vast number will be found which have not been recorded before, and those few which are con- tained in previous publications have most of them been lately authenticated. Information of this varied and local kind cannot, of course, be expected from any one’s unassisted labours. I have therefore had recourse in the latter part to the assistance of friends, and I cannot speak too highly of the kindness and warmth with which my advances have been received, and without which indeed very much interesting matter must of necessity have been omitted. I hope that I have acknowledged in every instance the remarks thus received. My obligations are particularly due to H. C. Watson, Esq., who lent me the numerous lists, and manuscript localities, the results of his own observations, or communicated by botanical correspondents whilst he was preparing the “ New Botanist’s Guide;” also for the valuable remarks of Mr. W. Wilson, Mr. W. Leighton, Dr. Murray, Rev. W. Bree, Mr. W. Pamplin, Mr. Bevis, and Mr. Castle. And now, kind reader, I leave the work in your hands, concluding with the words of Linnaeus to Haller : — “ If you have remarked errors in me your superior wisdom must pardon them. Who errs not while perambulating the domains of nature? Who can observe every thing with accuracy? Correct me as a friend, and I as a friend will requite the kindness.” ( March 1, 1837.) The above remarks formed the preface to the first edition. The alterations introduced into the present are such as my own further study of this tribe, or the remarks of various kind friends have sug- gested. The plates have been all re-engraved, and of a larger size, consequently they are more numerous; and the plants, which it was almost impossible to express in the former very minute sketches, are more clearly defined. The general character of the plates are, how- ever, similar, those of both editions having been drawn from almost in every instance the very same specimens. The wood-cuts, now for the first time introduced, will, it is believed, be found useful. VI PREFACE. The introduction contains much new and valuable matter on the organic structure of certain species, which the laborious researches, and the acumen of Messrs. Henderson, Valentine, &c., have enabled me to avail myself of. Mr. II. C. Watson also has kindly contributed remarks of real interest on the geographical distribution of the various tribes; and Mr. Bevis, of the Royal Botanic Garden, supplied me with the ground-work of the appendix, — my own cultivation of the class having been very limited. The habitats have been arranged with more regard to latitude, but they have not been materially increased. That portion of the work devoted to scientific description has, no less than the other parts, been carefully corrected, yet the alterations will be found very few and unimportant. My opinion of the identity and distinctness of certain species re- mains unaltered ; yet I am aware that some writers differ from me, and would unite two of the Polypodiums; Asplenium alternifolium, and Ruta muraria, &c., founding their opinion upon specimens pre- served in herbaria. I venture to protest against a too general reliance being placed upon this source of information. Not but that reference to celebrated herbaria is most valuable, in addition to research; but this is all — a knowledge of plants can never be acquired by such means, because herbaria do not testify the circumstances of aspect, season, altitude, moisture, soil, and other influences, to which plants are subject. I make this remark chiefly in reference to the Cysteas, Woodsias, some of the Aspidiums, &c., about which botanists differ more than about any other genera. It is true that numerous fronds may be found of an intermediate character between two species; still, unless circumstances of growth be corresponding to all, this does not prove identity between the remote examples. This observation particularly applies to Ferns, because the diagnoses of the species rest mainly upon the shape of the frond, and this is the part which is alone subject to variation. The herbaria of even the most celebrated botanists arc not always to be depended upon for accuracy. Plants are often received named — the name without examination is almost as frequently considered correct, and that specimen forms henceforth a criterion whereby to name others ; thus error is continued and multiplied. To these causes I am inclined to attribute the contrariety of opinion which exists relative to our Ferns; and 1 may add, perhaps, to our Willows, Roses, and Brambles. PREFACE. Vll It may, perhaps, be expected that I should have said something relative to the new system of classifying Ferns according to their venation. I have not done so in the body of the work, because I do not find the system either correct, conven%nt, or practicable. For example, the veins of the British Trichomanes and Hymenophyllum are precisely similar, yet few would assign all these to the same genus. The veins of Polypodium vulgare and phegopteris are very different from each other, yet the plants are conveniently placed together. The veins of the latter plant resemble those of Aspidium oreopteris, yet I cannot consent to unite the two into one species. As to the veins of Grammitis ceterach, Mr. Newman shows them as anastomozing ; Mr. Presl as distinct and unattached at their ex- tremities. Mr. Smith, Curator of Kew Gardens, and who has paid much attention to the subject, says, “ that neither of my figures, (and which are copied, the one from Newman, the other from Presl,) is correct.’’ And as to my own opinion, I confess I cannot make them out at all to my satisfaction, and that is the case generally with the coriaceous Ferns, particularly after having been dried for the herbarium. June lsf, 1842. A third edition of this work being now called for, I am sorry that I have it not in my power to offer any additional remarks upon the plants described. I would not have it inferred, however, that I consider my book either without error or complete, but merely that having been, since the issue of the second edition, resident on the Continent, and at all times much occupied, I have made no additions to my own stock of Fern knowledge ; and moreover I never expected that a third edition would be called for, and therefore made no preparation for it. viii PREFACE. I have to remark, however, that I have been blamed by one or two botanists for not discarding some of the present names, and adopting the more ancient, Lastrsea, and other. I desire to pay the greatest deference to the opinion? of others, and am most happy to learn from all, as to matters of fact at all times, yet a change of names is always perplexing, and in this case unnecessary. I cannot admit either that the amount of evil is very greatly less in re-establishing an obsolete nomenclature than in coining a new one. As to the mere intention assigned by some of restoring their due honor to ancient botanists, it is a principle good in theory, but which cannot be carried out ; and would be of much injury to botany if it could : as we should be soon overwhelmed with terms now forgotten, and which are generally less appropriate and significant than the more modern appellations. GEORGE FRANCIS, FLS. July 1$#, 1847. INTRODUCTION. A Fern is a flowerless plant which has a fibrous root, vascular stem, nerved leaves, reticulated cuticle furnished with stomata ; and which hears spores as fruit in capsular receptacles. The Ferns and their Allies form the first order of the Linnsean class Cryptogamia, and the structure of them shows so exactly an intermediate character between the Vasculares and Cellulares, that all systems of classification have assigned them this station among vegetables. They are without flowers, have hut imperfectly-formed vessels, and no deposition of real woody fibre, they therefore cannot with propriety be arranged with Phsenogamous plants ; while their semi-vascular texture and fully-developed leaves show their organi- zation to be greatly above that of any other order of Cryptogamia. Although the True Ferns have a direct analogy with the Palma; and Cycadese, the connexion between them and other orders is more apparent in the Pteroides or Fern Allies, particularly the Equiseta and Lycopodia. The Equiseta are nearly connected with several orders of Flowering plants. In their hollow, jointed, silicious stems, they resemble the Grasses ; in other respects the Conifer® and Amentaceee, approaching the one by means of the genus Casuarina, and the other by that of Ephedra, nor are they far removed in structure from the Charas; thus connecting also the Ferns and the Algee. The other of the Fern Allies, the Lycopodia, were considered by the earlier botanists as Mosses, so slightly do they differ from that tribe, not only in habit, but in many important characteristics. Thus the tribes under consideration, which are divided according to the modern system into Filicales, Lycopodales, and Equisetai,es ; the first the True Ferns, the others the Pteroids or Fern Allies, altogether form valuable, because well-connecting links in the great chain of nature. B 2 INTRODUCTION. The scientific division of the Ferns into tribes and orders was long a deside- ratum in botany. The earlier schemes are too vague for the present state of science. That of Willdenow, in which he depends upon external characters alone, is still however used ; it divides the whole Ferns as follows : — 1. Gonoptk rides, which includes only the genus Equisetum. 2. Stachyopterides, including Lycopodium, Botrychium, and Ophioglossum. 3. Schismatopterides, containing only Osmunda. 4. Fii.ices, which comprises all the Dorsal and Marginal Ferns. 5. Hydropterides, (Water Ferns,) containing Isoetes and Pilularia. Valuable as the system of Willdenow was, compared to all previously adopted, it is very far inferior to that of Sir J. E. Smith, improved as this has been by Mr. R. Brown, Mr. Kaulfuss, and others. Here, not only the external character of the fructification, but the structure of the fruit itself, and of its envelops, is considered of importance as a guide to essential characters ; while the shape, division, and habit of the plant are used only in the discrimination of species : thus classifying the Ferns as much as possible by the same laws as those which govern higher orders of vegetation. FILICALES. ANNULA TJE, which have their capsules or thecae ringed. Thecae in clusters at the back of the frond, bursting irregularly and transversely. Ring vertical or a con- tinuation of the footstalk of the theca. Stems solid, their vernation circinate Thecae in two-valved receptacles on the margin of a "I frond, bursting irregularly and vertically. Ring oblique. V HymenophyleacejE. Vernation circinate. Stems solid J EX ANNUL A TAE, which are without a ring to their capsules. Thecae in clusters, terminating a leafy frond, bursting 1 at a longitudinal suture, two valved, transparent, pe- >• Osmundace.e. tided, striated. Vernation circinate. Stems solid . . J Thecae in spikes or racemes attached to a leafy frond, 1 bursting at a transverse suture, two valved, opaque, > Ophioglossace.e. sessile, smooth. Vernation straight. Stems hollow . . J j*PoLYPODIACE.E. LYCOPODALES. Thecae of two kinds, indehiscent, inclosed within the 1 base of radical leaves. Leaves hollow and filiform, Isoetace.e. Stem none, Vernation straight. ( Water plants) . . . . J Thecae of one kind, coriaceous, scaly, seated near the 1 base of radical leaves. Leaves hollow and filiform. V Marsileace.e. Stem long and creeping. Vernation circinate J Thecae of two kinds, axillary in a leafy spike or stem, 1 two to four valved, sessile, free, dehiscent at a regular V Lycopodiace-K. fissure. Stem solid, leafy, creeping or upright J EQUISETALES. Theca; in terminal conical catkins, bursting at a longi- ) tudinal fissure. Spores attached to four filaments. Stems > Euuisetace.k. leafless, striated, hollow, jointed J INTRODUCTION. 3 POLYPODIACE^E. ( Including Grammitis, Polypodium, Woodsia, Cislopteris, Aspidium, Asplenium, Scolopendrium, Blechnum, Pteris, Cryptoyramma, Adiantum.) Polypodiace.e, Br., D.C., Kaulf., Bory, Hook., Grev., Mack., fyc. ; — Filices ver.-e, Willd., Linn, Schreb, Juss. ; — Filices Annulate, Hoffm. ; Filices Gyrate, Web., Mohr., Sivtz.; — Filices dorsiferas, Smith; — Filicales, Lindl. ; — Pteridales, Filicales Phyllopterides, Epiphyl- LOSPERMEAS, &C. &C. STRUCTURE.* — A Fern consists of root, frond, and fructification. The rhizomas or subterranean stems, as well as the fibrils or true roots, are included under the first term ; while the frond comprises every part above the ground, except the fruit and its appendages ; and is subdivided into rachis or stcm,f and pinnae or leaves, which latter are generally more or less compound, lobed, or indented. The Root of all our native Ferns is perennial and fibrous. The fibres are stout, generally hairy or scaly, and in many instances furnished at the extremity with hoods or sheaths, the use of which is not very obvious. Modern botanists agree with Sprengel in believing them the organs of absorption, as the hoods of the Lemna and some other of our water plants. Roth maintained that they were mere defensive organs, intended to prevent the introduction of the grosser fluids, and to shield the extremity of the fibre from injury. In many cases the fibres issue from a crown, and form a tufted root ; in others from thick stems, which in the British species creep under ground, sometimes to a considerable distance. These rhizomas or creeping stems are furnished with buds, irregularly disposed upon their surface ; the uppermost ones yielding fronds, while those below produce as invariably radical fibres. The Rachis is sometimes smooth, at others scaly or hairy, sometimes wholly clothed with leaf-like expansions ; at others void of them at the lower part. When cut transversely, it is seen to consist first of a cuticle ; then we find a hard, woody, green, brown, or black bark, the space within being filled with cellular tissue. Longitudinally through the tissue run bundles of sap vessels, most of which are true spirals ; not, however, formed of a cylindrical thread, coiled up as in more * In illustration of the structure of all the tribes, the reader is referred to the illustrations of genera and their explanation. The stomata afterwards spoken of may very easily be seen in any under part of the cuticle, merely by tearing it off and submitting it to the microscope. The arrangement of the vessels in the stem is apparent to the unassisted eye in any transverse section of it; and to view the spiral vessels it is only necessary to take two pins, and having thrust them through one of the bundles of vessels, separate them a little from each other, and in the cleft thus made the spirals will appear distinct when considerably magnified. t In the progress of the work it has not been thought necessary to make a difference between the rachis and stipes, nor to divide the part under ground into root and rhizoma, the first term of each being sufficient. 4 INTRODUCTION. perfect plants, but rather of a flat band, like a riband rolled spirally on a cylinder. Mixed with these vessels, which are real trachea;, are tubular perforated ducts. The whole, thus compounded of the two sorts, is sometimes collected into a close bundle, but more generally into a cylindrical sinuous ring, either hollow or filled with cellular tissue, and surrounded with a dark membrane. The number of these fascicles bears considerable relation to the size of the frond ; thus in Pteris aquilina, there are eight or ten ; in Aspidium aculeatum, five; in Polypodium vulgare, three ; while in the minuter species there is but one, which then occupies the centre of the rachis. When several bundles are present, no general rule can be given for their position, (though constant in the same species,) so varied are they in shape, size, and distance from each other. It is thought that the depression so often visible on one side of the rachis is occasioned by the absence of vessels on that part. The cellular substance appears to have no tendency to arrange itself in strata, nor do the vessels increase in number as the plant increases in age. The stems) therefore, contain no real wood ; the nearest approach to it being the hardened cuticle and the ducts themselves. They increase very little in diameter, but grow longitudinally throughout their whole length. The Frond is in its leafy part thin, veiny, and green. The veins do not extend longitudinally through the leaf in any species, as in the Monocotyledones, but diverge in a forked form, (dichotomously divided,) from the base of the leaf, or from the midrib ; differing, however, from those in dicotyledonous plants in not containing woody fibre, and in being uniform in size throughout all their ramifica- tions, and therefore more properly called nerves than veins. The divisions of the frond are for the most part constant in the same species, but varied in their size and number by external circumstances ; the primary causes of which are supera- bundance or deficiency of nutriment, while temporary heat or moisture, exposure, shelter, or season of the year, occasion other but less striking irregularities. Even these causes have but little effect over numerous kinds, and very seldom in any case do they occasion so great an alteration of ordinary characters, as to throw doubt upon the species. (See Cistoptcris fragilis.) The Ferns are several years before they come to maturity, until which their essential characters are not always obvious. Thus young plants of Aspidium Filix-mas very much resemble Woodsia ilvensis ; they are first pinnatifid, then pinnate, afterwards when perfect nearly doubly pinnate. Also when a Fern has its barren fronds different from those which are fertile, the latter are more contracted, as if the sap which expanded the leaves of the one was employed in nourishing the fruit of the other. The Vernation. — The, circinate vernation, or curling up of the unexpanded frond, which prevails in all the dorsal Ferns, is almost peculiar to this tribe and one of their allies, being found in only two other orders ; namely, the Palmae and Cycadeoe. If the frond be simple, so is the vernation, resembling a flat spiral spring; but when the frond is subdivided, the vernation becomes equally com- pound, the larger divisions first opening, and by degrees the branches, pinnae, and lobes. introduction. O The Scales so visible upon some species, have been thought merely an excrescent growth caused by superabundant sap exuding from the surcharged pores. Sprengel supposed that they were part of the epidermis itself, lacerated by the pressure of the juices beneath. Perhaps both of these opinions are correct, a part of the epidermis of the frond being first detached, and afterwards nourished in the same manner as animal hair, and although void of life yet increasing from the base. The Cuticle of the leafy portion of the frond presents a reticulated appear- ance, (the meshes having wavy sides,) and is furnished on the under surface with respiratory stomata, similar in form and function to those of Flowering Plants. The number of these on a given space is in a great degree accordant with the rapidity of the frond’s withering when gathered. They are very abun- dant in Aspidium filix-foemina, Aspidium dilatatum, and Polypodium Dryopteris. Thus is explained the cause of the drooping habit of this last and some other species. Be it observed, however, that in Grammitis ceterach and Aspidium lobatum they are still more numerous, yet these latter plants do not wither so soon, a circumstance that may easily be accounted for from the frond of both being thicker, the deprivation of an equal quantity of water not producing so great an effect. THE REPRODUCTION of Ferns is a subject involved in much obscurity. Hedwig, Bernhardi, and others, have proposed theories to explain this intricate matter, but without success. That the Ferns have no visible flowers is evident, but that they have some apparatus analogous to stamens, is maintained by most of our first botanists. So keen has been the search for these in the present tribe, that every part of the plant has been subjected to the minutest investigation : not only the thecae, their ring, and their cover, but the spiral vessels of the racliis, the stomata upon their cuticle, and the glands which are sometimes found attending upon them. Sprengel long ago stated that the young sori, or rather that the swelled extre- mity of the veins of Polypodium vulgare, which sometimes remain abortive, and at others produce thecae, were filled with oblong-shaped bodies of a greyish color, which he considered to be stamens, and as yielding pollen in the same manner as the external stamens of flowering plants. These being attended upon by young ovules, the latter became impregnated and grew to perfection, while the pollen masses were decayed or absorbed. This opinion was in a great degree and for a long time disregarded, (perhaps because of his imperfect figures,) and the grey bodies considered to be abortive capsules. The following remark, however, from “ The Annals of Natural History,” given in the synopsis of a paper read before the Academy of Sciences at Berlin, March, 1840, by Professor Link, throws a stronger light upon the subject. “ The part which Sprengel years ago indistinctly figured, and which Blume and Presl at present consider to be made organs of fructification, have been more accurately examined by Professor Link, and illus- trated by drawings. They are long hollow filaments, separated by septa into articulations generally simple, rarely ramified; the last articulation is thicker, G INTRODUCTION. and filled with a delicate granular mass. It rnay also at times be observed that this mass is exuded at the last articulation, and surrounds this as a crust. These parts are frequently longer than the capsules, and are easily distinguished from the young capsules.” The late Professor Don, who wrote the above, adds — “ It is certainly probable that they are the stamina of Ferns, and indeed Link found them, after frequent search, in most of the Ferns which he submitted to microscopical examination.” Mr. Henderson, in an interesting paper on “ The Germination of Ferns,”* denies that there is any impregnation in Ferns, Mosses, or Equiseta ; yet, in an after paper read before the Linnsean Society on “The Reproductive Organs of Equisetum,” completely confirms the above view. He states that he has found two kinds of granules in the unripe theca; of Ferns, Lycopodium, and Ophioglossum ; that the one kind is mostly absorbed during the maturing of the other ; and by submitting each to the test of iodine, he proved the one to be amylaceous or starchy — the other more of the nature of pollen. Thus the matter seems set at rest ; and as Mr. Henderson has found similar pollen granules in the thecae of Mosses and Jungermanniae ; in the apothecia of Lichens; in the lamellae of Agarics, and in the perithecia of some other Fungi, his experi- periments assist much in elucidating other tribes, as well as that under especial consideration. Seeds or Spores, and their Germination. — The small, round, rough grains contained in the thecae, considered formerly as gemmae or buds, are now known as seeds, yet differing from common seeds in many respects. They have no cotyledons, but are a mass of cellular substance. Instead of sending upwards a plumule, and downwards a radical, from fixed points, they grow indifferently from any part of their surface ; that most exposed to light shooting into the future frond, while the deeper point propels the root. Owing to these differences the seeds have been called, not only here but in all the tribes of Cryptogamic vegetables, spores (or sporules) rather than seeds. They retain their vitality for many years, and those brushed from the dried plants of an herbarium will grow long after the specimens have been gathered, coming up first with a small crown or bud, from which soon issues a peculiar shaped frond not unlike that of a Lichen, or rather like that of Marchantia, and differing much from the fronds of future growth. When this has expanded to a certain size, according to the species, the centre of it, both below and above, becomes thicker ; the lower part elongates into a root, while the upper part assumes a gyrate or circinate form, and gradually unfolds itself into an upright frond, of the same texture though much less divided than those afterwards produced. Theca and Sords. — The spores in all the species are contained in capsules or thecse, each of which opens at a transverse irregular fissure, and is furnished with a jointed spring, nearly surrounding it, and by the elasticity of which the capsule is torn open and the spores dispersed. The thectse are collected into linear, oblong, or circular clusters, called sori, of which Professor Link thus writes :f — “ Mag. of Zoology and Botany,” v. 1.. p. 340. t " Ann. of Nat. History,” August 1840. INTRODUCTION. 7 “ The sorus is in general situated on a receptacle which, when roundish, consists entirely of short spiral vessels, so called, vermicoid bodies, similar to the thickened extremities of the leaf nerves, which might therefore be regarded as abortive receptacles, ( query thecse.) In the elongated receptacles, spiral vessels are also met with.” The sori are in some tribes of the Ferns naked, but in the generality covered with a scale or indusium, of shape similar to themselves. I remarked in the first edition, that the origin of this integument was undoubtedly similar to that of the scales, namely, disrupted epidermis. Microscopic observations, however, induce me to doubt this assigned origin for the indusia, and to consider them as distinct organs, as much so indeed as the calyx of a flowering plant, or the calyptra of a Moss. Whether they arise from the vermicoid bodies of Link, just spoken of, or not, I have been prevented from observing. These certainly attend the genus Woodsia, and are intermingled with the thecae, the genus having no real indusium. In the genera Cystopteris, of Aspidium Adiantum, Pteris, &c., the reticulation of the indusium and epidermis is very different, and the former is not furnished with stomata. In many genera this organ may be supposed a part of the frond itself turned over upon the thecae, as in Adiantum and Pteris, but I believe the reticulation is very distinct. NUMBER AND DISTRIBUTION. — For the following remarks upon this subject I am indebted to H. C. Watson, Esq., than whom no botanist has more studied the subject. He says, — “ Dorsiferous Ferns are found in every part of Britain, except on the summits of the loftier mountains, and in small spaces of the lower grounds, whence they are banished by local peculiarities of the soil or surface. But overlooking these merely local exceptions, of trifling extent, Polypo- diacere may be stated to range over the whole of Britain, from south to north ; from east to west ; and from the shores of the sea almost to the summits of the highest hills ; in which latter situation their absence is to be attributed rather to the bleak exposure than to the absolute height. The number of our dorsiferous Ferns will be estimated variously, according to the view's entertained with respect to union or division of reputed species, but 35 is the number most generally received. These bear a proportion to flowering plants, (reckoning the latter at 1400,) of 1 to 40. The order has a great numerical predominance over the other orders of Filicales, all taken together ; the proportion of its species being to those of the other three orders, as G to 1. And since the most abundant and widely-ranging species of Ferns are also to be found amongst the Polypodiacese, the effect of this order in the general vegetation of our island much exceeds that of the allied orders of Ferns. Of the six species referred to other orders, one is exclusively an inhabitant of Yorkshire, (if it really be there still ;) namely, Trichomanes brevisetum ; a second, Hymenopliyllum Tunbrigense, is local; a third, H. Wilsoni, though much more plentiful, is limited to the northern and western counties ; whilst the other three, the Osmunda, Botrychium, and Ophioglossum, though widely scattered through Britain, are by no means so generally present as many of the Polypodiacese. Several of the British dorsife- rous Ferns are so widely and plentifully scattered throughout the island, that 8 INTRODUCTION. there can be no doubt about their existence in every county of Britain ; although published records will not enable any one to make the assertion on evidence. Others, on the contrary, are much more limited in their range, being absent from the southern, or northern, or lowland counties of England. Only a few species can be called decidedly rare. The mountain valleys below 1500 or 2000 feet are the head quarters of Polypodiaceae ; very few species wholly shunning the moun- tain tracts, and a still less number being exclusively confined to the higher parts of the hills. The specimens are numerous amongst the mountain valleys, in the western counties, and in the vicinity of the coast. On the contrary, they are few in marshes, on low7 plains, dry moors, exposed downs, and places destitute of woods or other shelter from sun and wind. Apparent exceptions to the favorable or unfavorable effects of any of these conditions, may usually be ex- plained by excess in some other and counteracting one. Thus, the salt spray and violent winds of the western shores are highly unfavorable to the growth of most Ferns, though otherwise their humidity of atmosphere would be favorable ; and accordingly whilst the exposed shores and cliffs may be almost without Ferns, caves and sheltered ravines in their immediate vicinity may be numerously tenanted. For the most part, however, even situations that are unsuitable to the majority of Ferns, have their own appropriate species. Thus, Asplenium mari- num flourishes on cliffs exposed to the sea ; Pteris aquilina and Bleclinum often grow on the unsheltered heaths, in places open to sun and wind ; Asplenium ruta- muraria and As. Adiantum nigrum live in the crevices of dry walls and rocks. There are, however, no aquatic Ferns, and scarcely any of the Polypodiaceae, that can be designated marsh plants ; unless that occupant of swampy bogs, Aspidium tlielypteris, be called a tenant of the marshes. A light friable soil, and more especially that formed by the decay of tree leaves, mosses, or other vegetables, is suitable to the roots of most Ferns ; but some delight in limestone soils, as Grammitis ceterach, Polypodium calcareum, and Cistopteris fragilis ; whilst the Asplenium septentrionale and Woodsia ilvensis seem to affect the basaltic trap and the harder primary rocks. The operations of human industry have greatly interfered with the natural distribution of Ferns in this country. They have been banished from our roads, corn fields, meadows, and artificial pastures ; and the cutting of peat, and burning of heath and furze, often check the growth of species fitted to thrive in places where these operations are performed. On the other hand, our hedge-banks, loose stone fences, old buildings, and neglected quarries, frequently become artificial fernetums, by affording suitable habitats for several species. These remarks on the distribution of Polypodiacese will be understood to apply to the island of Great Britain only. Ireland has tw7enty-six species of dorsiferous Ferns ; but of their range and distribution within that island little is known. All those of Ireland are natives also of England.* • Avery interesting and extended paper upon the distribution of ourFcrns.by Mr. Watson, will be found in “ The Transactions of the Edinburgh Botanical Society,” Part II. The above remarks, together with others of a corresponding character, inserted at other places, were kindly con- tributed to the Author, in writing, some lime since. They may not agree, therefore, in precise words with the Edinburgh paper. INTRODUCTION. 9 VIRTUES. — The uses of the Ferns are not very conspicuous. Their bitter principle renders them unpalatable to all creatures. Neither men nor brutes employ any species as an article of food, unless driven by the necessity of hunger ; * and even the little insects that infest herbaria refuse to prey upon them. They are not, however, wholly useless, either in medicine or the arts. Their nauseous taste renders them efficacious in expelling intestinal worms ; some of them have been used as a substitute for hops in brewing, and with better success than most other plants, on account of the tannin and gallic acid they contain, precipitating the feculent matter in the wort. The same constituent principles renders them also serviceable in preparing kid and other light leathers, and when burnt they yield much comparatively pure potass. The dried fronds of the common brakes are valuable to pack fruit in, and as they retain moisture less, are much better than straw to shield garden plants from frost. Except for these uses, the Ferns have been but little employed, unless, indeed, for those purposes to which most plants when dry are available, namely, for thatch, for fodder, and for fuel.f HYMENOPHYLLACE^E. ( Containing the Genera Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes.) Trichomanoide.-e, Kaulf.; — Filices desciscentes, Spreny.; — Part ok Gyrate, Annulate, Polypodiace.e, Gleicheniace/E, Filices verac, Hymenophylleas, &c. of Authors. STRUCTURE. — The plants contained in this order long maintained a situation among the dorsal Ferns, though improperly, because their fruit is not dorsal but marginal, growing in a distinct and differently organised receptacle. The annulus corresponds in its functions, jointed appearance, and elasticity, to those of the last order, except that instead of its being a continuation of the foot-stalk of the theca, it is placed obliquely or transversely, and of consequence the theca bursts vertically. For this reason, Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes form an order separate from the Polypodiacese. Besides the difference in the fruit, the texture of the leaves is much more cellular than in the last order. The stem of each native genus is quite smooth and round, and contains but one bundle of spiral vessels ; this is solid and forms an axis. The thecae arise from the veins * Professor Henslow was kind enough to point out to me some time since that I had forgotten the circumstance of the New Zealanders living mainly upon Fern roots. It is true that they do so ; still Ferns are a sorry food, and now that the colonists have taught the natives the art of cultivation. Fern roots are becoming less and less an article of consumption. That hunger alone induced the islanders to use these roots as food, may be inferred from the circumstance, that they were ready enough to work for the first settlers merely to be supplied with the commonest European grain or pulse, though the Fern grew abundantly on every side, and might have been procured and prepared comparatively without labor or expense. t For the proper and modern culture of the Ferns, see the Appendix. C 10 INTRODUCTION. still more evidently than even in the preceding order, as the receptacle is in the place of a lobe of the leaf. The laminse of the lobe contracted form the valves of the receptacle, and its vein or nerve exists as a central column, covered with fructification ; in Hymenophyllum terminated thereby ; in Trichomanes the vein is prolonged much beyond the thecae. The root of Trichomanes is thick, black, and very hairy ; that of Hymenophyllum very long, creeping, and matted together. DISTRIBUTION. — “ Hymenophyllacese, more impatient of drought than many of the Polypodiacese, delight in shaded situations, where they are bedewed by frequent mists and the spray of waterfalls ; growing on damp rocks and stones, half buried amongst the Mosses that accompany them ; and like the Mosses rapidly shrinking or expanding with variations of moisture. Two of the three native species are rare in Britain, especially the Trichomanes, which is peculiar to Yorkshire, if it be not now extinct in England. Another, Hymenophyllum Tun- bridgense, is found in various counties of England and Scotland, varying from Devon and Sussex to the river Clyde in Scotland. The much more abundant H. Wilsoni, was so long confounded with the former species, that it has been supposed a rarer plant than it really is, for the greater number of localities assigned for H. Tunbridgense belong to H. Wilsoni. This latter species ranges from Cornwall, northward, to Sutherland, and rises on the mountains of Wales nearly to 2000 feet, and not improbably more.” — Mr. Watson’s MS. OSMUNDACE^E. ( Contains only the genus Osmunda .) Osmund aceas, Br., Kaulf., Lind., Hook., Agard. ; — Osmunde.u, Spreng. — Sc H ISM ATOPE RIDES, Willd. ; — SPURIAi GyRATAE, SwZ. ; RlMAT.E, Mohr. ; — Acrogyratae, Bernh. ; — Exannulat.e of Modem Authors. STRUCTURE. — This order varies very little from the two former, except in the fructification. The rachis is similar in vernation and structure — the mixed vessels are arranged in the indigenous species in part of a circle like the letter (g. The cuticle of the stem is void of stomata, but on the under surface of the foliaceous part of the frond they are round, abundant, and very large. In the fruit, a great difference exists between this and the Annulate Ferns. The thecae are transparent and wrinkled, but not ringed ; they are not torn asunder irregularly, but open at a distinct longitudinal fissure, and are thus shown to be regularly two-valved. They are not fixed at the back of a leafy frond, but densely clustered at the top into a large erect raceme. The leaflets of the upper part of the frond are also seen partly changed into theca; of similar character, thus proving the origin of the whole. (See Osmunda.) INTRODUCTION. 1 1 DISTRIBUTION. — “ Here the distribution of an order is that of a single species only, the Osmunda regalis, which prevails chiefly in the south-west of England, and perhaps the south-west of the Highland tract ; being very frequent on the coasts of Cornwall, and occurring in plenty about some of the lochs of Argyleshire, and on adjacent islands. The range of the Osmunda extends the whole length and breadth of Britain ; but whether it be found on the islets north of Sutherland, or west of Islay, is yet unknown. Still, there are considerable tracts along the eastern side of England and Scotland, where it is either extremely scarce or wholly wanting. The Osmunda differs from most of the dorsiferous Ferns in being adapted to thrive in marshy places, and to flourish on the sea shores, sometimes only just above high water line. Notwithstanding that it endures the boreal climate of Sutherland, (a county in which the specimens are said to be small,) the Osmunda is perhaps never seen much above the sea level in England, although the general vegetation of the coast in Sutherland approximates closely to what is observed at 1000 or 1200 feet of elevation in England. In respect to frequency of occurrence, the Osmunda may rank nearly on the level of its allies, the Botrychium and Ophioglossum, though rather less frequent than either of these.” — Mr. Watson’s MS. OPHIOGLOSSACE^E. ( Contains Botrychium and Ophioglossum.) Ophiogloss ACEvis, Br., Lind., 8fc.; — Ophioglosse/e, Spreng.; — Filices, Linn., Smith, Hook-, &fc. ; — Stachiopterides, Willd. ; — Bivalva, Hoffm.; Valvat/e, Web., Mohr.; — Agyratve, Swz. STRUCTURE. — The plants contained in this order are very near in general structure to that of the last, yet in some important particulars they differ very materially. Their root is smooth, fibrous and yellow, not creeping nor hairy : and gives rise to one or at most two fronds only, which issue from the ground with a straight and not circinate vernation. The frond half way up divides into a leafy expansion. The thecse are sessile, opaque, ringless, smooth, collected into a simple or compound spike, and are supposed to arise, as in the last-described order, from the leaf itself. The thecse open by a regular transverse fissure, emitting smooth, yellow, very minute seeds ; those of Botrychium in twos or threes. The roots of both genera are perennial, the stems herbaceous and hollow. The stem of Botrychium containing its ducts in two bundles near the centre ; that of Ophio- glossum in from five to seven bundles, seated between two cylindrical cuticles, and by their pressure forcing the inner one into a tortuous form. DISTRIBUTION. — “ The two plants comprehended in this small order differ from most of the Polypodiaceae, by growing chiefly in more open situations ; their upright habit perhaps rendering them less adapted to banks and rocks. 12 INTRODUCTION. Bo tli range widely through Britain, and are about equally frequent, holding an intermediate place between the rare and the common plants. The Ophioglossum prevails chiefly in England, decreasing in frequency northward. The Botrychium, on the contrary, is abundant on the hills and moors of the north, and becomes a rare plant in the south, and especially in the south-east of England. Ophioglos- sum ranges from the south of England, as Devon and Sussex, northward at least to Moray ; and, if we may rely upon Barry’s ‘ History of Orkney,’ to those islands also. The Botrychium is scarce on the south side of the Thames and Bristol Channel, but is stated to grow in North Devon and in Hampshire, though not introduced into the Flora of the former county. The stations in the south of England of course indicate that both species will grow at a low elevation, and remote from the mountain tract, even in the warmest part of Britain ; and both also thrive amidst the mountains in the north of England and Scotland ; but the Botrychium probably rises to a much greater height on the hills, as it occurs on the Breadalbane mountains, near Killin, at the estimated height of 1000 yards, whilst no very high elevation for the Ophioglossum appears on record. Of the two, the Botrychium is the least frequent, or seems to be so on account of its more boreal and Alpine tastes.” — Mr. Watson's MS. ISOETACEAG. (Containing Isoetes only.) Lycopodiaceje, Lind., Decan., Brongn. ; — Marsileace/e, Hook. ; — Miscel- i.ane.e, Part ok Rhizosperm^e, Rhizopterides, Hydropterides, &c. The genus Isoetes has in all arrangements of British plants been associated with Pilularia, on account of their both being water plants, both having round and filiform leaves, and bearing two kinds of grains or capsules ; but, except in these particulars, they are totally different from each other. The roots of Isoetes are tufted, composed of round, smooth, branched fibres ; its leaves grow from a crown, and consist of four hollow tubes, united together ; but so brittle are they, that the cells are often broken into each other by the pressure used in drying the plants, and therefore the leaf generally appears a single tube, divided into cells by transverse dissepiments. It is so swelled at the base that the joint or cell next the root becomes a receptacle for the fruit, which being of two kinds, as in Pilularia, are considered analogous to them; viz. pollen and spores respectively, the former in fine powdery grains in the inner leaves — the real spores or seeds being confined to those on the outside of the plant. These larger globules are not single round spores, but each is composed of three or four spores, joined together. Their junction shows at the apex three radiating lines, which were for a long time considered as the liilum of the seed. The attachment and arrangement of the globules within the receptacle are very beautiful and remarkable. The INTRODUCTION. 13 theca when cut across exhibits a number of transverse bars, to which the spores are attached by little foot-stalks, there being four on each bar, set crosswise with each other. The leaves are said to have stomata, and to be circinate in vernation, but neither of these is the case. Being a submersed water plant, of course it is without stomata, and Martius expressly says, “ vernation not circinate, but only a little bent.” An observation confirmed to me by four or five botanists of eminence. DISTRIBUTION. — “ The single species of this order, a submerged aquatic, can of course grow only where there is a suitable home in the waters. Probably it may require also that the water be of low temperature in summer, since most of its habitats are the Highland lakes ; although, according to Mr. Griffith, it extends southward into Shropshire. There are very few other English and Welsh counties that produce it, and these few are all mountainous ; namely, Caernar- vonshire, Denbighshire, Cumberland, and Northumberland. In most counties north of the Firths of Forth and Clyde, we may find it in the lakes, some of them being situate 600 yards or upwards above the sea.” — Mr. Watson’s MS. MARSILEACEyE. (Including only Pilularia.) Part ok the Marsileace.e, Br., Brongn., Decan., Hook., Grev. ; — Hydrop- terides, Willd.; — Rhizosperm^e, Roth ; — Rhizopterides, Mart.; — Radicalia, Hoffm. ; — Rhi/.ocarp.e, Batsch. The stem of Pilularia, which is the only English genus of this order, is creeping, and set at intervals with leaves, roots, and fruit. The leaves or petioles, as some call them, are curled up in vernation, as in the Polypodiacese, have stomata upon their cuticle, and a cross section of them shows that they are divided longitudinally into various cells, separated from each other by septa radiating from the centre, and forming by their union a kind of axis, composed of dotted ducts or spiral vessels. Thus the structure of the leaf although without a central cavity, is in a great degree analogous to that of the stem of the Equisetacese, and also to the leaf of Isoetes. The roots and stems are similarly constructed. The thecae are round, coriaceous, brown, hairy, and divided into four cells. They contain globules of two kinds ; the first small round grains, said to be pollen, but which others consider as abortive capsules. These occupy principally the upper part of each theca ; in the lower are found much larger grains, which are oval, rather pointed, contracted in the middle, and at their apex have a conical projection. These are true spores, and as well as the former are contained in membranous bags. Since writing the above, a very valuable paper by Mr. Valentine, upon “ The Germination and General Structure of Pilularia,” was read before the Linntean Society, and is to be found in their “ Transactions,” 14 INTRODUCTION. for 1841, page 483, from which I extract the following remarks: — “The first external sign of germination is the appearance of four cells projecting through the apex. The enlarged cellular mass then distends the conical projection, and at length appears with four of its cells projecting beyond the general mass, and compressed into a quadrangular form. These projecting cells soon harden, and acquire a reddish brown hue — soon after which little fibrillse or rootlets begin to shoot from one side. They are simply articulated tubes, or elongated cells applied end to end, each produced from one of the cells of the germ. The germ now gradually points in two places, which are by no means fixed, but occur in various situations, according to the position of the sporule in respect to light. These two points gradually lengthen, and if dissected, each will be found to consist of a closed sheath, containing in one instance the leaf, in the other the root, in the form of a conical process like a finger in a glove. Besides this sheath which embraces the upper part of the root, there is an exceedingly delicate expansion which closely embraces the extremity of the root like a cap. After the leaf has grown to be many times the length of the sporule, or about two lines long, another leaf grows from the germ close to the first, to which it is in all respects similar ; and then a bud begins to be developed from some indefinite part of the germ, and like the leaves and root form within a sheath. This bud is covered by a peculiar kind of jointed hairs, whose attachments are lateral at a short distance from their bases.” Mr. Valentine then shows the origin and progress of the sporules within the theca, making afterwards the following pointed remark: — “This account of Pilularia shows that it is incorrect to say of Acrogens that germination takes place at no fixed point, but upon any part of the surface of the spores ; for it is quite certain in this instance that germination invariably takes place at a fixed spot, which may be pointed out before germination has commenced.” This view exactly accords with some experiments I have instituted, and with the remarks of Dr. Lloyd, -who read a most interesting paper upon this subject, before the British Association, in 1836. The statement in “ Lindley’s Nat. Sys.” ed. 2, page 416, that the theca never produces but one plant, is not correct, for if the theca be broken and its contents scattered, numerous of the spores will germinate. DISTRIBUTION. — “ The solitary species of this order belonging to Britain is widely distributed, being found in Devon and Sussex, and extending at intervals from those counties northward to Sutherland. It is either frequently overlooked, or is otherwise a scarce plant in the south of England, increasing in plenty in the northern counties ; probably the drier climate of the south-east of England, causing the small pools to diminish much or entirely to dry up in summer, is adverse to the existence of a plant that is adapted to grow within the shallow margins of ponds and lakes. Of its range in altitude, little seems to have been yet ascertained.” — Mr. Watson’s MS. INTRODUCTION. 15 LYCOPODIACEiE. (Comprises only Lycopodium .) Lycopodiaceaj, Br., Decan., Hook., Lindl., Burn . ; — Lycopodine.®, Swz. ; Lycopodeje, Spreny.; — Bivalvia, Hoffm. ; — Valvat.e, Web., Mohr. ; — Stachiopterides, Willd. STRUCTURE. — The Lycopodia resemble the Mosses in habit, the Ferns in vascular structure and foliaceous texture, and the Marsileacese in fruit. The stems are rigid, leafy throughout their whole extent, not subterranean, but upright or trailing along the ground, frequently to the distance of many feet, and throwing out short, stiff, smooth radicles wherever they touch the soil. A transverse section of the root shows the longitudinal ducts to be compressed into an axis. In the stem they are arranged, as in the Ferns, into various cylin- drical bundles, the centre of which is filled with a cellular tissue, looser than the remaining part ; the ducts in this order are flat spiral bands, minutely dotted. The stomatse on the cuticle of the leaves are very abundant, the cuticle itself being reticulated, not as in the Ferns, but into regular four-sided meshes. The thecae are sessile, in the axils of the leaves, of two kinds, one two-celled, opening at a longitudinal fissure, containing very fine smooth resinous grains, which are supposed by most botanists to be pollen, but by Professor Bindley to be abortive thecse. The other kind is three or four-valved, opening at a transverse line, and contains from three to five round, slightly tuberculated grains, many times larger than the preceding. That these are the true spores of the plant is evident from their germination, and Willdenow says that he has seen the smaller grains grow also ; if so, they likewise must be spores, but as they are so very different in size and appearance, it is supposed that some mistake has arisen. Mr. Salisbury, in vol. 12 of the “ Linnsean Transactions,” describes the germina- tion of one species, which presents strange anomalies, throwing out a radicle and plumelet, in a manner similar to the monocotyledonous plants, and yet appearing immediately afterwards with two leaves, which he represents as cotyledons. DISTRIBUTION. — “ The Lycopodiacese for the most part affect exposed situations on open heaths, or the summits and sloping acclivities of mountains ; although without altogether shunning more shady homes. L. selaginoides inclines to the most humid situations, growing frequently in the crevices of dripping rocks, about waterfalls, and in swampy ground, where water oozes from the sides of hills. L. inundatum occurs in analogous situations, on lower or more southern heaths and commons. The other four species choose drier dwelling places ; L. selago and alpinum bearing the rude exposure of the mountain summits ; and L. annotinum and clavatum being more frequent on the sloping acclivities than on the summits ; but none of these four are exclusively restricted to such situations. The order is pre-eminently boreal and alpine, only one species, 1G INTRODUCTION. L. inundatum, being at all frequent in the low counties of the south-east of England, and decreasing in abundance towards the northern and hilly counties ; whilst all the rest prevail in the Scottish Highlands, and decrease in frequency in a southward course.” — Mr. Watson's MS. VIRTUES. — Seldom used in medicine, where safer drugs are attainable. The Orkney Islanders use L. selago and clavatum as a cattle remedy ; it is said to cure sheep of vermin and of different cutaneous disorders ; in the human subject it is an emetic and purgative. The pollen is highly inflammable, and was once imported in some abundance from Germany and Sweden to imitate lightning at the theatres, but latterly powdered rosin has been substituted. Lycopodium clavatum is said to be valuable in dyeing woollen cloths, and for making mats it is admirable ; and the Poles make a decoction of its leaves as a remedy for the disorder called Plica polonica. The pollen is wetted with so much difficulty that when spread on the top of the water in a basin, a finger may be plunged to the bottom without becoming wet. EQUISETACEyE. ( Comprises only Equisetum.) E&uisetace.e, Decan., Ay., Kaulf., Lind., Hook., Grev., Brong.; — Gonopte- rides, Willd. ; — Part of Filices, Misceli.ane/E, &c., of Authors. CLASS. — These plants differ widely from all those hitherto described, and certainly approach very much nearer to flowering plants than Ferns themselves. In fact their relation to the Conifers; is so strong, both in external and internal structure, and their analogy with some other orders so apparent, that I continue them among the Fern allies more in accordance with the opinion of others than my own. Yet I cannot consider them Dicotyledonous plants, as Professor Lindley has done, because their germination is essentially like that of the Cellulares, and their reproductive organs have no analogy with those of flowering plants. In fact, Equisetum forms a perfectly distinct order, and cannot be allied with any other. STRUCTURE. — The stems, which are partly beneath and partly above the surface of the ground, are when young filled with very loose cellular tissue : the moisture of this soon drying up, they become hollow. They are set at intervals with joints, attended by toothed sheaths, are regularly channelled or striated, rigid, and covered with fine particles of silex, particularly at the ridges of the strise. The depressed part of each channel has two longitudinal rows of minute holes or open pores, very different from the usual stomata', and much resembling the pores which Dr. Mold, of Munich, represents as occurring in the woody tissue of the Coniferre, now a well-known characteristic of that INTRODUCTION. 17 order, and which it will be recollected there, as here, are arranged in longitudinal lines. A transverse section of the stem shows that between the outer and inner cuticle is a circle (and in Equisetum fluviatile two circles, alternating with each other), of tubes, distinct from each other, but terminating at every joint of the stem ; fresh tubes of a similar character being found at every other joint. Around these tubes, and especially towards the outside of the whole stem, and seated immediately under the cuticle, are the sap vessels of the plant, which appear flat, spiral, perforated ducts, as in the other orders. The inner surface of the stem is frequently more silicious than the outer, forming a very beautiful object even to the naked eye. So abundant is this deposit in Equisetum hyemale, that, after the vegetable matter has been removed by maceration, the silex has been sufficiently abundant to retain the form of the plant. M. John, of Berlin, states that the stems contain full 13 per cent, of silica. The following interesting particulars of the silicious cuticle of Equisetum is given in Dr. Greville’s excellent “ Flora Edinensis,” p. 214. “ On subjecting a portion of the cuticle to the analysis of polarized light under a high magnifying power, 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 curvi-linear quadrangle ; these rows of oval combinations being arranged in pairs. Many of those particles which form the straight lines do not exceed the 500th 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 analogous phenomena, but the particles were arranged in a different manner, and “ displayed figures of singular beauty. ” From these data, the learned Doctor concludes, “that the crystalline portions of silex, and other earths which are found in vegetable films, are not foreign substances of accidental occurrence, but are integral parts of the plant itself, and probably perform some important function in the processes of vege- table life.” — Brewster, MS. REPRODUCTION. — The reproductive organs are borne in a terminal spike or catkin, composed of hexagonal or octagonal shields ; from each side of which depend hollow, scale- like follicles, opening inwardly, and emitting green, ovate spores, to each of which is attached four club-shaped filaments. When the spores are immature, the filaments are twisted tightly round them, but when ripe they become exceedingly elastic and hygrometrical, so much so, that the irritability occasioned by a change of temperature or moisture, causes the spores first to burst the theca; which bear them, and afterwards to scatter themselves to a considerable distance. A valuable paper upon the formation of the spores, by Mr. Henderson, was read before the Linneean Society, in June 1840 ; and will be found in their “ Transactions,” vol. xviii. p. 567. The experiments of this gentleman exactly D I INTRODUCTION. 18 confirm the above view, and give also the origin of the minute grains found upon the elaters or elastic filaments ; from this paper, it appears, that when the integument of the spore shows the spiral lines, which it will afterwards break into the elaters, it contains a greenish colored fluid, mixed with some minute granules. The spores then becomes darker, the granules increase, the liquid is absorbed, leaving the granules which it contained sticking in masses to the spores, and to the separated portions of the integument. It is these masses of granules, when found adhering to the filaments in the ripened state of the spore, that have been taken for pollen grains, and such the observations of the author prove them to be. He says, (p.571) “ On comparing these granules with those contained in the unopened anthers of flowering plants, they appear to me to be in every respect identical ; in the thecee they seem to occupy a similar place with those in the cells of the anthers, and they decrease in like manner during the progress to maturity of the pollen grain and of the spore.” DISTRIBUTION. — “ Nearly equal in number with the Lycopodiacese, the plants included under this order contrast against them in their distribution. Whilst the former are described in general terms as plants of the moors and mountains, the Equisetaceue belong more especially to marshes, fields, and woods. Both orders, or genera, are alike widely distributed through Britain ; but whilst the Lycopodiums prevail high on the mountains, the Equisetums are more abundantly bestowed upon the lower grounds, or the plains and valleys ; the latter also evince more of a maritime, or even littoral tendency than the Lycopodiums ; being often seen in abundance on and near the sea shore.” — Mr. Watson’s MS. USES. — They are harmless to cattle, but refused on account of their husky, rigid texture. They are useless as medicines, but employed in the arts ; their silicious cuticle rendering them valuable as polishing substances for marble, wood, ivory, and even metals. 19 GENERA. The rst order of the Ferns is conveniently divided into the sub-orders Nudce and indusiatce, according as the sori are naked or covered with an indusium. The arrangement of the species into Genera depends upon the shape and position of the sori, together with the nature, the adherence, and the manner of opening of the indusium when there is one. In the other orders the same principles are adopted, as far as their structure will admit. As the orders of the Fern Allies contain each but one British genus, the characters of that genus are but a recapitulation of those of the order itself. NTJDsE. Sori linear or oblong, scattered Grammitis. Sori round, scattered Polypodium. IN DU SI AT JE. Indusium distinct from the Frond. Sorus round. Indusium cleft into capillary segments . . Sorus round. Indusium cucullate or bladder-shaped . . Sorus round. Indusium peltate, either round or reniform Sorus linear or oblong, transverse, solitary. Indusium from lateral veins, opening towards the midrib Sorus linear, transverse, in twin masses. Indusia folding ' over each other, and opening outwardly Sorus linear, longitudinal, close to the midrib. Indusia ’ opening outwardly Woodsia. Cistopteris. Aspidium. Asplenium. ScOLOPENDRIUM. Blechnum. Cover part of the Frond itself reflexed. Sorus linear, continued around the margin of the frond Pteris. Sorus on transverse veins, near to the margin Cryptogramma. Sorus in distinct spots, attached to the cover itself Adiantum. Thecae in pitcher-shaped, one-valved receptacles Trichomanes. Theca; in compressed, two-valved receptacles Hymenophyllum. Thecae petioled, reticulated, terminating a leafy frond . . Osmunda. Thecae sessile, smooth, in a separate compound spike .. Botrychium. Thecae sessile, smooth, in a separate simple spike Ophioglossum. Thecae attached to the root, free, and indehiscent Pilularia. Thecae imbedded in the base of the leaves Isoetes. Theca; of two kinds, axillary in a leafy spike, or stem.. Lycopodium. Thecae of one kind, in catkins, terminating a leafless stem Eguisetum. 20 KERNS. [Grammitis. A shows the tinder surface of the frond of Grammitis Ceterach. B, the veins according to Newman. C, the veins according to Preale. D, position of the fruit. E, an unopened theca. F, a theca scattering its spores. G, the spores. H, a scale. I, cuticle and stomatce. J, transverse section of the rachis. GRAMMITIS CETERACH. SCALY GRAMMITIS. SCALY HART’S-TONGUE. MILTWAST. (Plate 1, fig. 1.) Cha. — Frond pinnate or pinnatifid, scaly beneath. Lobes alter- nate, confluent, blunt, entire. Syn. — Grammitis ceterach, Swz. , Hook., Mack. — Asplenium or ceterach, Ger., Plum., Ray. — Asplenium ceterach, Linn., Huds., Sibt., Light/., Bolt., With., Spreng. — Gyinnopteris ceterach, Bernh. — Scolopendrium ceterach, Roth. Galp., Smith. — Ceterach officinarum, Willd. Decan. Newm. Fig. — E.B. \2U.—Park. 1046,/. 1— Ger. 978.— Lobel, SQL— Bolt. 12 (bad). Des. — Root perennial, fibrous, black, tufted. Fronds many from the same root, herbaceous, 3 to 6 inches high, blunt, of a thick texture, dark green above, covered with brown scales beneath. Lobes confluent at their base, round, entire, alternate at the lower part of the frond, flat only when young, afterwards curved inwards towards the main rib, thereby exposing more the fructification. Thecae all the summer, at first concealed by the scales, afterwards bursting through them in oblong, transverse masses, without covers, but surrounded by very delicate, white, membranous scales. Sit. — On rocks, old walls, &c., chiefly in the South of England. Hab. — Eng. : Near Lancaster, Mr. W. Wilson. Common about Settle, York- shire, Mr. J. Tatharn. On limestone rocks in Lath-kill-dale, Derb., Mr. J. E. Bowman. On a wall at Newton, near Melbourne, Derbys., Rev. A. Bloxarn. Dovedale, Derby, Mr. T. S. Scholes. Walls at Ludlow, about the quarries, Salop, Mr. J. S. Bayly. Old wall near Cowley, Oxon, Mr. Baxter. Wall at Tocknells, near Painswick, Glou., Mr. Merrick. Martock, Somer., Mr. T. H. Cooper. Stapleton Quarries, near Bristol, Mr. Anderson. Cheddar, Mr. W. C. Trevelyan. Malvern Abbey, Mr. W. Christy. Bath, Mr. C. C. Babington. On the tower of Old Alresford Chinch, Hants, Mr. Forder. Walls at Win- chester, chiefly to the E. and N.E. of the City, Mr. W. Pamplin. Topsham and elsewhere in Devon, Mr. Kingston. On the bridge over the Tamar, in the road GRAMMITIS. Swz. GRAMMITIS. (ypapya, a line ; alluding to the linear fructification.) FILICES PLATE I FERNS. 21 Polypodium .] from Callington to Tavistock, Jones's Tour. — Wai,. : Denbighshire (rare), Mr. J. E. Bowman. Walls of a ruin at Treborth, near Bangor, Mr. W. Wilson. — Irk.: Ruins of Saggard Church, Mr. Kelly. Walls near Cork, also near Kilkenny, and in county Clare, Mr. Mackay. Cave-hill, Mr. Templeton. Head- ford, Galway, Mr. Shuttleworth. a^/~~ rt aCi<^ot<^(xrenrt£i / Geo. — Holland, Spain, France, Switzerland, Nassau, Jena, Leipsic, and other parts of Germany, the Tyrol, Sicily, and the Canary Islands. (l // // i (xf t. f tp it > c . I. . f - J ^ POLYPODIUM. Linn. POLYPODY. (vioXo; many, and wot';, woJo;, a foot ; from its numerous roots.) A, pinnule of natural size of Polyp odium vulgare. B, magnified section of a sorus. C, front view of ditto. D, longitudinal section of rachis. G, transverse ditto. E, spiral perforated duct. F, vernation, rhizoma and rootlets. H, I, theca and spore. Sprengel enumerates no less than 250 species of this genus ; all of them are herbaceous, some a few inches only, and others several feet in height. Inhabitants of most parts of the world, particularly of the islands within the Tropics ; several are found on the continent of America, and a few are confined to China. Only four species are British .* 1 .—POLYPODIUM VULGARE. COMMON POLYPODY. POLYPODY OF THE OAK. WALL FERN. (Plate 1, fig. 2.) Cha. — Frond pinnatifid, lanceolate. Lobes oblong, obtuse, somewhat serrated. Rachis smooth. Root hairy. Syn. — Polypodium vulgare, Tourn., Ger., Park., Pay, Linn., Huds., Lightf, Plum., Swz., Spreng., With., Smith, Hook., Mack., Gray, fyc. Fig. — E.B. 1149. — Flo. Dan. 1060. — Woodv.Med. Bot. supp. 271. — Ger. 467. — Bolt. 18. — P/m. Fit. t. A f. 2. Des. — Root, or rather rhizoma, creeping horizontally, covered with scales, and numerous stout, branched, hairy fibres, Rachis quite smooth, yellow, void of lobes half way up. Frond from 6 to 12 inches high, lanceolate, scarcely contracting below. Lobes oblong, obtuse, and slightly serrated, sometimes wanting the serratures, at others acuminate, while occasionally they are found very much cut and divided. Sori naked, yellow, large, * The number of species in a genus is always subject to variation, particularly in one so extensive as Polypody, as newly-discovered plants are always adding to the number, while different classification often divides one genus into many. 22 KERNS. [ Poly podium . prominent, and arranged in straight lines equally distant from the margin and the midrib of the lobe ; each sorus terminating one of the branches of a transverse vein. The plant is perennial and the fruit found throughout the summer. [1. (T. camlricum, Linn.) Frond ovate ; pinnule ovate, and deeply cleft, y. ( sinuatum .) Frond ovate, or triangular ; pinnules proliferous. £. (serratum.) Pinnules distinctly and often doubly serrated, s. (acutum.) Pinnules pointed ; fronds long ; both narrow. 9. ( bifidum .) Pinnules cleft at the point. Mr. Mackay remarks, in his “ Flora Hibernica,” that the Irish plant is some- what different from the Polyp. Cambricum of Linnaeus. It is in fact our variety y, which is the same as the Pol. Virginianum of Pursh, and intermediate between the usual state of the plant and the Cambricum ; it bears fruit copiously, whereas the real Cambricum is usually without fruit, both in its wild and cul- tivated state. We might expect this, indeed, from the feather-like appearance of the plant, and the dilation of its lobes, a too great expansion of leaf being here as elsewhere detrimental to the production of fruit. The foregoing observa- tion was made in distinct reference to a frond, of which C in the annexed cut is an exact representation ; but a plant still more nearly approaching Linnaeus’s Pol. Cambricum is in Sir J. Smith’s herbarium, marked as from Ireland. A pinnule is represented in the Fig. D, copied from the original specimen, an ad- mirable figure of the whole frond, as well as of the Cambricum is in “ Newman’s Ferns,” p. 22. One pinnule of the latter is represented at B, and a whole frond of it, from my herbarium, at A. The other varieties are shown at E F and G. Vir. — Although still retained in the pharmacopoeias, it is scarcely, if at all, used in medicine at the present day. It is feebly astringent, of a bitter and nauseous taste, and has been considered efficacious in catarrhal disorders, and against worms, in doses of from one to two drams of the dried root. Hab. — The common states of the plant ( a and £,) are generally distributed over the United Kingdom, on trees, walls, banks, and rocks. — (3. On the rocks in some parts of North Wales, but without fruit. — Braid Hall, near Edinburgh, Mr. Brown. At Chepstow, Monm., Sir J. E. Smith. — y. Woods at Dulwich (1835), Mr. Saunders and Mr. W. Pamplin. South Isles of Arran (1800), Mr. Mackay. In the Dargle, county of Wicklow, Miss Fitton. Innisfallen Island, Killarney, Mr. Kelly. — South side of King’s Park, Edinburgh, Mr. Brown, t. Rocks in North Wales, With. Meadows near Maldon, and other meadows near Ewell, Surrey, Mr. J. Bcvis. Cobham Park, Kent. — G.F. Geo. — Found in most of the middle parts of Europe and North America. Polypodium .] FERNS. 23 2.— POLYPODIUM PHEGOPTERIS. BEECH PERN. WOOD POLYPODY. SUN PERN. (Plate I, fig. 3.) Cha. — Frond bipinnatifid. Lower pinnae deflexed. Lobes obtuse, entire, hairy. Syn. — Polypodium phegopteris of Linn., Willd., Swz. , Spreng., Huds., Light/., Bolt, With., Smith, Hook., Mack., Newm. — Polystichum phegopteris, Roth. — Polypodium latebrosum, Gray, Salisb. Fig.—E.B. 2224.— Bolt., 20 (not good.)— Flo. Ban. 1241. Des. — Root perennial, hairy, slender, creeping horizontally. Frond triangular, herbaceous, erect, hairy, 6 to 12 inches high. Pinnae opposite, very acute, adnate, the lower pair bent forwards, pendulous, and distant from the pair next above them. The lobes of all are obtuse, entire, and directed towards the point of the pinna, particularly the two lowest, which with those on the opposite pinna form a cross. The rachis is smooth, and without pinnae on the lower half. Sori round, distinct, very small, brown, and seated around the margin of the lobes. The pendulous character of the lower pinnae, and the cruciform direction of their bases are most apparent in vigorous plants, and serve as characters which immediately distinguish this plant from its congeners. Sit. — In moist woods and rocky dells, chiefly in mountainous countries. Hab. — Eng. : Rocks at the foot of Cheviot, above Langley Ford, Mr. Winch. Cawsey Dean, Durham, Mr. R. B. Bowman. Around Keswick, Cumb., Mr. H. C. Watson. Wensley-dale, Yorks., Mr. J. Ward. Common about Settle, Yorks., Mr. J. Tatham. Prestwich Clough and Boghart Clough, Lancashire, Mr. Merrick. Egerton Moss, near Bolton, Mr. W. Christy. Rocks at the Belle Hag, one mile from Sheffield, G. F. Norwood, Surrey, and near Brentford, Middx., Mr. J. Bevis. Lidford Fall, Beckey Fall, Dartmoor, Devon, Jones’s tour. Isle of Man, Mr. E. Forbes. — Wal. : Llanberris, first and second field towards Snowdon, Mr. C. C. Babington. Capel Curig, North Wales, Mr. T. H. Cooper. Frequent in Caern., not at any considerable elevation, Mr. W. Wilson. — Sco. : Grampians, Aberdeensh., Red Caird Hill, W. of Invernesshire up to 1150 yds. Forfarshire, Sutherland, Dumbarton, and other parts of the Highlands, Mr. H. C. Watson. Moray, and Rosshire, Rev. G. Gordon. Ben Lomond, Professor Henslow. Ruberslaw, Jedburgh, &c. — Campsie, near Glasgow, Mr. T. H. Cooper. — Ire.: Powerscourt Waterfall, (right-hand side,) Mr. 0. Kelly. Water- fall above Lough Eske. Co. of Donegal, and at other places in the northern counties, Mr. Mackay. Geo. — Throughout Germany, and indeed most European countries as far North as Lapland, but not in the South countries. Linmeus received specimens from Canada. c // Cl 24 FERNS. [ Polypodium . 3.— POLYPODIUM DRYOPTERIS. TENDER THREE-BRANCHED POLYPODY. (Plate 1, fig. 4.) Cha. — Frond tri-pinnate, tender. Branches drooping. Lobes obtuse, crenate. Sori distinct. Syn. — Polypodium dryopteris of Linn., Willd ., Swz., Ehrh., Hilda., Bolt., Light/., Hull., Galp., With., Neivn., Smith, Hook., Grev., Mack. — Poly- podium Pulchellum, Gray. Polystichum Dryopteris, Roth. Fig. — £.21.616 (excellent). — Bolton, 28 (had.) — Gerard, 974. — ParL1044. Des. — Root perennial, creeping, black, slender, slightly hairy. Fronds herbaceous, scattered, tender, drooping, smooth, and of a light green color. The three branches (of which the middle may be considered a continuation of the stem) are bent backwards, and doubly pinnate, Lobes crenate, oblong, obtuse. Main stem 6 to 8 inches long below the branches, quite smooth, except at the very base. Sori nearly marginal, scattered, remaining perfectly distinct. Sit. — Dry stony places, chiefly in mountainous countries of the north. Hab. — Eng. : Rocks at the foot of the Cheviot, above Langley Ford, Mr. Winch. Wooded banks of the White Adder, between the Retreat and Elm Cottage, Berwickshire, Dr. Johnston. Durham, Mr. R. B. Bowman. Near Yoxhall Lodge, in Needwood Forest, Staffordsh., Mr. C. C. Babington. Cum- berland, up to 500 yards of elevation, Mr. H. C. Watson. Higher part of the Tees, Mr. J.Hogg. Egerton Moor, near Bolton, Mr. W. Christy. Dean Church, Clough, near Bolton, Mr. J. Martin. Dry places near Lancashire, (sparingly), at Hill Cliff, Cheshire, and at Warrington, Mr. Rylands. Bogliart Hole Clough, and Prestwich Clough, Lane., Mr. Merrick. Rocks at the Belle Hag, Sheffield, G. F. Froddesley Hill, Salop, Rev. W. Corbett. N. side of Titterstone Clee Hill, Salop, Mr. E. Lees. Near Richmond, Yorks., Mr. J. Ward. Near Bristol, Miss Worsley. — Wal. : Craig Breidden, Montgomerysh., Mr. J. E. Bowman. Rhaiadr-y-Wenol-Twll Du, Caernarvonsh., Mr. C. C. Babington. Frequent in N. Wales, and observed near Twll Du at an elevation of 1000 feet and upwards, Mr. W. Wilson. Just leaving Llangollen, on a slate rock, Mr. W. Wilson and Mr. Bowman. — Sco. : Moray, Rossb., Rev. G. Gordon. Perthshire, Forfarshire, Aberdeenshire, Mr. H. C. Watson. Hawthorn Dean, near Edinburgh, Mr. T. H. Cooper. — Ire. : On the mountains of Mourne, Turk Mountain, Killarney, Mam-turk, Cunnamara, Tullamore Park, &c., Mr. Mackay. Geo. — Throughout great part of Europe and North Asia. 4.— POLYPODIUM CALCAREUM. RIGID THREE-BRANCHED POLYPODY. LIME POLYPODY. (Plate 1 , fig. 5.) Cha. — Frond tri-pinnate, rigid. Branches upright. Lobes ob- tuse, deeply crenate. Polypodiwm .] KERNS. 25 Svn. — Polypodium calcareum, Swz., Wilhl., Smith, Hook., Purt., Galp. — Polypodium dryopteris, Bolt., Dicks. — Polypodium dryopteris ft, With., 2nd. edit. Polypodium Robertianum, Hoffm. — Nephrodium dryopteris, Michx. Fig .—E.B., 1525 .—Bolt. 1 .— Ger. 1135. Des. — This is so similar to the last, that when dried they are scarcely to be distinguished, hence, the doubt of their claim as distinct species ; but when growing, the eye will instantly sec the difference between the two. The P. calcareum is known from its root being thicker and less creeping, its frond rather larger in size, much more rigid, quite upright, and of a dark green color ; its lobes more deeply cut, and stem more scaly towards the base, and on the upper part sprinkled over with fine white minute hairs ; its sori are browner and more numerous. The minute pubescence seen on this species is most observable on luxuriant and fresh plants. It is, I believe, a constant and decided character, in which opinion I am supported by Mr. Wilson and Mr. Babington, than whom few are better able to form a correct judgment. The latter gentleman ob- serves, that the microscope shows every particle of this pubescence or mealiness to be a minute, stalked gland. Mr. Newman, in his beautifully-illustrated book on Ferns, blends this with the former species ; yet his figures show strongly-marked differences. Both of us no doubt argue according to our respective means of observation ; and after a very careful re-examination of both the species in my own and Sir J. Smith’s herbarium, and also as growing in Kew Gardens, I see no reason to alter a single word in the above descriptive characters. Whether the size of the two be of moment is the only thing which appears of little certainty ; but the rigid erect habit, and dark color are very characteristic, even without noticing the pubescence. Indeed, whatever doubt I may have of the distinctness of certain others of the Ferns, I cannot for an instant consider the present and former species identical ; let it be observed, however, that in the case of these, as well as some other species, the same herbarium often contains but the commoner plant, which is the P. dryopteris, yet some of the specimens may be under the name of P. calcareum, and too often does it happen, that the receiver of a specimen, taking for granted that such is correctly named, makes it a guide for his own future judgment, and thus an error becomes perpetuated. Hab. — Arncliff and Gordale, Yorks., Mr. R. B. Bowman. Near Lancaster, Mr. Gibson. Sheddin Clough, three miles from Burnley, Lane., Mr. Ley land. Common about Settle, Yorks., Mr. J. Taiham. Matlock Bath, Derbys., Dr. Howitt. Road-side under the Lover’s Leap, near Buxton, Derbys., Mr. H. C. Watson. Cheddar Cliffs, Somers., Mr. W. Christy. Box Quarries, near Bath. Mr. Flower. Not found in either Scotland or Ireland. /,^n» /fcewt. C/t , .X r — Geo. — Recorded by Pursh and Michaux as occurring throughout North America from Canada to Pennsylvania, and no doubt this is correct, as the description of Pursh so exactly accords with our plant ; though Swartz says that it is found in England only. E 2 G FERNS. [Woodsia. WOODSIA, Br. IIAIR-FERN. (Named in honor of Mr. J. Woods, an English Botanist.) A , portion of a frond of Woodsia Ilvensis, natural size. B, ditto enlarged. C, sorus longitudinally divided. D, indusium. E, one portion of ditto. F, scale. G, theca. H, spores. Mr. Brown first separated from the Polyp odiums, &(c., this very distinct genus, which contains only two British and four foreign species, all very small plants, and natives of mountainous regions. The indusium, if such it can be called, is very singular and beautiful : it is attached under the mass of theca — inclosing them at first in a bag, it then becomes split into numerous segmen ts, which look like hairs interspersed with the thecae, and were so considered until Mr. Brown showed their true nature in “ Trans. Linn. Soc.” vol. xi. WOODSIA ILVENSIS. OBLONG WOODSIA. HAIRY WOODSIA. DOWNY HAIR-FERN. (Plate 1, fig. G, A.) Cha. — Frond pinnate, oblong, scaly. Pinnse oblong, blunt, deeply cut, crenate. Syn. — Woodsia Ilvensis, Brown, Smith, Hook., Spreng. — Polypodium Ilvense, Swz., Willd., Schk. — Acrostichum Ilvense, Linn., Huds., Ehrh. — Polypodium Arvonicum of With., in description but not in references.* Fig.— E. B. Supp. 2G1G.— Flo. Dan. 391.— Pluk. Phyt. 281, fig. 4, (good.) Des. — Root perennial, tufted, black, smooth. Fronds numerous, 1 to 4 inches high, covered with capillary, brownish- white scales. Rachis scaly ; the lower third of it without pinnae, the upper two- thirds containing six to eight pairs, placed nearly opposite to each other. Larger pinnae cut into from four to six blunt segments on each side. Sori scattered, convex, consisting of five or six roundish thecae. Cover torn into a few capillary divisions. Mr. Sowerby observes, that the capillary segments of the indusium are not so numerous as in the next species, and the thee® more spherical. The plant cultivated and formerly sold at the London nurseries, under the name of Woodsia Ilvensis, is Notholsena distans, a plant in every respect different from Gin's, which is much smaller, and less white and downy than that New Holland species. Sit. — On rocks in mountainous countries. II ab. — Higher parts of the Tees, Mr. J. Hogg. Rocks, (near where Oxytropis campestris grows,) between Glen Dole and Glen Phee, in the Clova Mountains, • I cannot refer to JVithering't Polypodium Arvonicum and Ilvense with certainty, as his description of these two plants is very obscure and far from characteristic. Woodsia. ] FERNS. 27 Forfarshire, at 550 yards of elevation, Mr. H. C. Watson, (from which station it is larger than the Welsh plant.) On the Basaltic Rocks, called Falcon Clints, near Caldron Spout, Teesdale, Mr. II. B. Bowman. Glydes-vawr, near Lyn-y-cwm, Mr. Winch. Last seen in July, 1836, by Mr. W. Wilson. Geo. — Found in different parts of Germany, as on the Alps of Salzburg and Carinthia, the Giant and Hartz Mountains, &c. In Sweden, Norway, and the Isle of Elba or Ilva, (whence the name Ilvensis ;) also in Italy, Siberia, and on the Pyrenees. Pursh says from Canada to Virginia, but it may be much doubted if our plant be here indicated. WOODSIA HYPERBOREA. ROUND-LEAVED WOODSIA. (Plate 1, fig. G, B.) Ciia. — Frond pinnate, oblong, nearly smooth. Pinnae triangular, blunt, deeply crenate. Syn. — Woodsia hyperborea, Br., Hook., Smith, E. FI., Galp. — Acrostichum Alpinum, Bolt. — Ceterach Alpinum, Lam., Decan. — Polypodium hyper- boreum, Swz. , Willd., Spreng., Smith in E. B. Fig. — E. B. 2023. — Bolt. 42. — “ Linn. Trans." vol. xi. — Pluk. Phyt. 89, f. 5. Des. — Root perennial, fibrous, black, tufted, and very long, giving rise to many oblong fronds, from 2 to 4 inches high. Lower part of the stem covered with light brown capillary scales. Eight or ten pairs of pinnae, only the two or three lower pairs opposite, and these not constantly so, all nearly smooth, bluntly triangular, deeply crenate, or cut into two or three segments on each side. The upper half of each pinna larger than the other, and in luxuriant specimens cut into lobes near the stem. Sori from six to ten on each pinna, placed near the edge, light brown, very large, and often confluent. From the very numerous segments of the indusium, a sorus appears like a bunch of hairs. The discriminating character is, however, chiefly the less cut, shorter, and more alternate pinnae. The plant known as Woodsia hyperborea by gardeners is in reality a large variety of Woodsia Ilvensis, known as such before the separation of the present from that species. Sit. — Found only on the highest rocks and mountains of Wales and Scotland. Hab. — Ben Lawers, Dr. Murray and Mr. W. Wilson. Clova Mountains, Mr. G. Don. Craig Chailleach, Perthsh., Mr. Maughan. Mael Ghyrdy, Perthsh., and on Snowdon, below Bwlch-y-Saeth (Clowwyn-y-Garnedd), at an elevation of 2500 feet and upwards, very sparingly, Mr. W. Wilson. Mr. C. C. Babington, says, “ I was not able to find this plant on Glydr Fawr, Caernarvonshire, July 1835, although in company with J. Roberts, Esq., of Bangor, who knew its station well. It is, I fear, exterminated in that place.” I searched for it in the same spot in 1837, and a botanical friend in 1840, but both without success. Geo. — Lapland, Germany? France? (Swz.) Lulea, in Lapland (Sprang.) Canada, and high mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia. 28 FERNS. [ Cistoptcris . CISTOPTERIS, Bern. BLADDER-FERN. (xiolof, a bladder, vjhft;, a fern ; the indusiums being like bladders.) A, one of the pinnee of the frond of Cistopteris frayilis. B, a lobe magnified. C, young sori and indusia. D, soms ait transversely. E, theca. F, seed. G, indusium magnified from Bauer’s “ Genera Filicum.” H, ditto from Schott’s “ Genera Filicum.” The genus is distinguished by its indusiums being inflated like bags, not being attached by a central column , but only by the edge nearest this rachis, and finally, either quite bent back or thrown off altogether. They first open on the top, or on the side nearest the apex of the frond or pinna. 1 .—CISTOPTERIS DENTATA. TOOTHED BLADDER FERN. (Plate 2, fig. 1 .) Cha. Frond bipinnate, oblong, lanceolate. Pinnae ovate, lanceolate. Pinnules ovate, obtuse, crenate. Sori distinct. Syn. — Cystea dentata, Eng. Flo. — Cyathea dentata, Eng. Bot., Dav. W. Bot. Galp. — Polypodium dentatum, Dicks., With., Hull. — Aspidium dent., Swz., Willd., Hook, in FI. Sco., Decan. — Athyrium dentatum, Gray. Fig. — E.B.. 1588. — Pluk. Phyt. 179, f. 5 (a cultivated specimen). — Bolt 27. Des. — Root tufted, black, fibrous. Fronds numerous, oblong, lanceolate, 6 to 9 inches high, herbaceous. Stem slender, smooth, green except at the lower part, winged near the apex, without pinnae for one-third of its height, above this bearing about fourteen pairs, opposite to each other. Pinnae ovate, blunt, length twice their width, their main rib winged. Pinnules about ten pairs in the larger pinnae, decurrent, ovate, obtuse, crenate or toothed, very rarely cut into distinct lobes, unless in luxuriant specimens, when the frond becomes wider, the pinnules very deeply cut, and some- times petioled, hut never losing their ovate, roundish, blunt form. Sori scattered, and always remaining distinct ; Sir J. E. Smith says confluent, but this does not agree with any of my specimens, though probably in hot weather they may be found so. Our plant Cistopteris dentata is to be known from every state of Cistoptcris fragilis, in the shape of its frond and pinnules, which in this are very much blunter, rounder, and less divided ; its ruchis also is shorter and less brittle, and the whole smaller than the next species. Cistopteris.'] FERNS. 29 Sit. — On rocks in the north of England and Wales; also in Scotland. Hab. — Ben Lawers, Perthshire, Mr. R. Maugham. Cader Idris, and on rocks near Wrexham, Mr. J. E. Boivman. Rocks near Barmouth, Mr. Pur ton.. Snow- don, Mr. C. C. Babington. Craig Breidden, Montgomerysh., Rev. A. Bloxam. Castle Dinas, Mr. W. Leiyliton. Common about Settle, Mr, J. Tatliam, and Mr. Charley, ft. On lofty hills in the North, Sir J. E. Smith. Near Llanberris, Caern ., Mr. Lloyd. Cordale, in Craven, Mr. Curtis. Downton, in Herefords., Geo. — Common in Germany, Switzerland, Dauphiny, Prussia, Holland, Verona, &c. 2.— CISTOPTERIS FRAGILIS. BRITTLE BLADDER FERN. (Plate 2, fig. 2.) Cha. Frond twice-pinnate, lanceolate. Pinnae lanceolate. Pinnules ovate, pointed, deeply cut, toothed, decurrent. Syn. — Cystea fragilis, E. FI. — Cistopteris fragilis, Hook, in Dr. Ft., Mack., Bernh. — Aspidium fragile, Swz., Hook, in FI. Sco., Willd., Grev., Light/. — • Polypodium fragile, With., Linn., Huds., Bolt., Hoffm., Ehrh., Hick. — Cyathea fragilis, Roth, Smith in E. B., 8fc. Galp. — Cyclopteris fragilis, Schrad., Gray. Fig. — E. B. 1587— Bolt. 45-46.— Flo. Dan. 401. Des. — Root black, fibrous, and tufted. Fronds numerous, de- ciduous, bright green, from 6 to 12 inches high, twice-pinnate, lan- ceolate, pointed, and finely tapering towards the apex. Rachis very brittle and shining, of a dark brown or black color on the lower part, and quite smooth, except a tuft of scales at the very base. Pinnae opposite, pointed, about twenty pairs, confined to the upper half of the rachis, and growing nearly at right angles to it. Their length more than twice their width, except the lower pair, which are also distant from the next above them. Pinnules alternate, acute, deeply lobed, crenate or bluntly acute, decurrent and tapering more or less at the base. Sori numerous, confluent, black when young, afterwards a shining brown, and found throughout the summer. Indusium white, with an irregular margin, and soon obliterated or thrown off by the growing thecae. In general habit resembling the last species, but instantly to be distinguished by the shape of the frond, which is sharper and longer pointed, as is also the case with the pinnae and pinnules ; the whole is also much more divided, all the larger pinnules being cleft, and not merely toothed, as in every state of Cistopteris dentata. The stem is also darker, longer, and more brittle, and the sori so numerous as soon to become confluent. No Ferns are more altered by circumstances than this genus, hence the difficulty of distinguishing the species. The varieties, however, are not distinct in them- selves, as they may all sometimes be found upon the same plant, and different seasons produce differently-shaped and more finely-divided fronds. For example, those which arise in ordinary seasons alone answer the above description ; a cold 30 PERNS. [Cistopteris. spring occasions barren fronds, the pinnules of which are rounded, delicate, wide, crenate, and running much into each other, while long-continued drought or warm weather occasions those fronds which arise in summer to be much smaller, much yellower, more entire, and the sori more crowded. In the extreme state it may be described as follows : — Frond linear, oblong. Finn® blunt, pinnate, ovate or round, toothed, quite covered with sori. If the summer continue very wet and cold, the fronds do not take the above character, but have broader and darker colored pinnules ; in this case exactly resembling the cultivated Cistopteris dentata, except in the shape of the frond itself. P>. ( angustata .) Frond oblong, ovate. Pinnae ovate, pointed. Cyathea angustata, E.B. and E.F. — Polypodium rhaeticum, Dick., Bolt. — Aspidium rhaeticum, Willd. — By no means the Polypodium rlueti. of Linnaeus, nor the Polypodium tenue of Hoffin., which is the Aspidium intermedium of modern authors. Very distinct as a variety', not a species. It differs from the usual state of the plant only in a rather larger and broader frond, with pinnules doubly toothed and slightly pointed. Sit. — On alpine rocks and other lofty situations. Hab. — Eng. : Near Richmond, Yorks., Mr. J.Ward. About Settle, Yorks., Mr. J. Tatham. Cumberland, Ruins of Peveril Castle, Castleton, and the Lover’s Leap, near Buxton, Derbys., Mr. H. C. Watson. Matlock, Derbys., Dr.Howitt. Cheddar, Somers.,' Mr. W. C. Trevelyan. Nottinghamsh., Mr. T. II. Cooper. Near Bristol, Miss Worsley. At Exwick, near Exeter, Mr. Jacob. — Wal. : Cave at Clogwyn Coch, Snowdon, and rocks above Cwn Idwel, nearTwll Du, Mr. W. Wilson. Near Wrexham, Denbighsh., Mr.J.E. Bowman. — Sco. : Aberdeen- shire, Mr. H. C. Watson. Moray and Rossliire, Rev. G. Gordon. Near Maens, Berwicksh., Rev. A. Baird. Sutherland and the Kincardineshire Coast, Dr. Murray. Near Killin, Mr. W. Wilson. — Ire.: Rocks and mountains of Kerry, Mr. Mackay. Lough Inn, and Lough Derryclare, Cunnemara, Mr. Shuttleworth. r Geo. — Common in Germany, Saxony, Switzerland, 1 **Jiaa*cCsij. f/t.£cti/arot£0ef/ef*si^* *- ?7t. _ 1 ' (/W s Holland, &c. , - , - 3. — CISTOPTERIS ALPINA. ALPINE BLADDER-FERN. L ACINI ATED BLADDER-FERN. (Plate 2, fig. 3.) Ciia. — Frond tri-pinnate, ovate, lanceolate. Pinnules ovate, blunt. Segments linear, obtuse, toothed. Syn. — Cistopteris alpina, Hook. in. Br. Fl.,Desv. — Cistopteris regia, Bernh. — Cyathea incisa, Smith in E. Bot., Galp. — Cyathea alpina, Both. — Cystea regia, Smith in E. FI. Sf FI. Br. — Polypodium regiuin, Linn., Hull. — Polypodium trifiduin, With. Polypodium alpinum, Jacq., Schk. — Athyrium alpinum, Spreny. Athyrium regiuin, Gray. — Aspidium alpinum, Swz. Willd., Hook, in FI. Sco. Fig, — E. B. 103. — Jacq. Icon. vol. 3 t. 742. — Seyuier PI. Veron. supp. 1, 3. Des — Root black, fibrous, tufted. Frond tri-pinnate, ovate, or ovato-lanceolate, herbaceous, 2 to G inches high. Pinnae about ten or twelve pairs, set rather alternately, except the lower pair, their length not above twice their width. Larger pinnules broadly Aspidium.) FERNS. 31 ovate, or wedge-shaped, repeatedly cut into broad linear segments. Sori small, scattered, seated nearly at the apex of the segments. Margin of the indusium entire. These marks clearly indicate this to be a distinct species, far removed from both the others, and in cultivation instead of approaching the fragilis or dentata, it becomes yet more different, as the pinnules increase in length, but scarcely in width, as in the former cases. In general habit our present species is by far the tenderest and most numerously cleft, with a shorter and less brittle rachis than Cistopteris dentata or fragilis. The late Professor Don thought the Cistopteris regia and Cistopteris alpina to be essentially different, but Sir W. J. Hooker speaks confidently of the Layton plant being precisely the same as that represented by Jacquin and Schkuhr, which are the same as the alpina of Don ; and as our plant at the present time has the wedge-shaped pinnules, said by Mr. Don, to be peculiar to the Cistopteris regia, we are bound to conclude that formerly, when the plant was vigorous, it took one character, and now that it is but struggling for existence it assumes the other. Indeed luxuriant plants lately received from Low Layton, though the kindness of Mr. E. H. Bulton, who gathered it as lately as 1840, confirm to me the accuracy of Sir W. J. Hooker’s view upon the subject. Mr. W. Pamplin, of Queen Street, Soho, an indefatigable botanist, is the re-discoverer of this plant, and kindly furnished me with specimens gathered in 1835. The first account we have of the plant as British is by Mr. Forster, in Symon’s “ Synopsis,” published in 1793. Hab. — Wall at Low Layton, Essex, 1836, Mr. W. Pamplin. Caemarvonsh, Mr. J. E. Bowman. Cwm Idwel, Mr. Griffiths. On Snowdon, near the Copper Mine, Mr. Winch. Ben Lawers, Mr. Maughan. Rocks at the Dropping Well, Knaresborough, Mr. W. Christy. Geo. — Jena, Oldenburgh, and other parts of Germany, Italy, &c. A, pinnules of Aspulium lonchitis. B. portion of ditto, showing the fruit magnified. C, transerve section of a sorus. D. ditto of the stem. E, scale magnified. F, theca and spore. A widely -distributed and extensive genus, of not less than from 160 to 170 species, all of them herbaceous, some evergreen, others deciduous. The indusium is either reniform and fixed at the sinus, when they belong to the genus Nephro- dium of Brown, or else orbicular and peltate, which is the true character of Aspidium. The greater number of the British Aspidia somewhat differ from the * Mr. VV. Wilson writes me, that the Welch stations refer to Cistopteris fragilis. IhaVe also received Cistopteris dentata from Craig Breidden. under the name of Alpina. ASPIDIUM, Swz. SHIELD FERN. (aauri;, a shield ; the indusium being of this form.) 32 KERNS. [Aspidium. true character of the genus, as their indusiums, though orbicular, have a deep lateral notch, which occasions them to appear somewhat reniform, and hence also they in some degree cease to be peltate ; but the variation is not so great as to render it advisable to separate them into two genera. 1.— ASPIDIUM LONCHITIS. ROUGH ALPINE SHIELD-FERN. (Plate 2, fig. 4.) Cha. — Frond pinnate. Pinnae lunate, bristly- serrate. Rachis scaly. Syn. — Aspidium lonchitis, Stvz., Willd., Hook.. Smith, Mack., Gulp., Sprang., Schk. — Aspidium asperum, Gray. — Polypodium lonchitis, Linn., Bolt. , With., Huds., Lightf. — Polystichum lonchitis, Roth., Decan., Hoffm., Newm. Fig. — E. D. 797. — Bolt. 19 .—Flo. Dan. 497 .—Park. 1042.— Ger. 979. Des. — Root tufted, black, fibrous. Fronds 6 to 12 inches high, numerous, dark green, arranged in a circle around the crown of the root, very rigid, not growing upright, but generally half decumbent, forming a flat, cup-shaped plant. Rachis scaly, clothed with pinnae nearly to its base. The pinnae are numerous, crowded, stalked, al- ternate, smooth above, slightly scaly beneath, crescent-shaped, with an auricle on the upper side of the base of each, serrated, with the serratures ending in a bristle, that part of the pinna above its midrib much larger than the lower portion, in position rather declining and bent forwards, so that they very often approach those on the opposite side of the rachis, the back of the frond being outwards. Sori confined to the upper third of the frond, arranged in single rows, black or brown, and very large. Cover orbicular, notched, attached at the centre, and soon becoming shrivelled. Sir J. E. Smith says, that “ this plant dwindles rather than becomes luxuriant when cultivated,” as it often is on rock- work, &c., forming a curious, rigid, and pretty plant, not in any way altered from its original characteristics, except becoming less spinous. The American is more spinous than our plant. Hab. — In situations above 1000 yards, probably 1100 yards above the sea level, on the Breadalbane mountains, Perthshire, and plentiful almost every where in the Highland valleys, and on the declivities of the mountains. Scarce in England, nor have I ever seen it here. Craig Chailleach, Perths., and Clova mountains, Forfarsh., Mr. H. C. Watson. Falcon Clints, near Cauldron Spout, Teesdale, Mr. R. B. Bowman. Glen Isla, Forfarsh., Mr. 11'. Brand. Aberdeen- shire, Dr. Murray. Moray and Rosshire, Rev. G. Gordon. Base of Benmore, Sutherland, Dr. Johnston. Very large in Glen Fee, Mr. W. Wilson. Clogwyn-y- Garnedd, Snowdon, Mr. C. C. Babington. Higher part of the Tees, Mr. J. Hogg. Common about Settle, Yorks., Mr. J. Tatham. — Ire.: In a glen E. of Lough Eske, Donegal; and on Glenade Mountain, Leitrim, Mr. E. Mackay. Brandon Mountain, Mr. W. Wilson. Geo. — Silesia, Bavaria, the Tyrol, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and the Aleutian Islands. Aspidium.] FERNS. *- 2. — ASPIDIUM LOBATUM. CLOSE-LEAVED, PRICKLY SHIELD-FERN. (Plate 2, fig. 5.) Cha. — Frond bipinnate. Lobes decurrent, spinulose, elliptical, that next the rachis very large. Syn. — Aspidium lobatum, Swz., Gray, Willd., Schk., Smith, Hook, in Bri. FI., not in Flo. Scot., Forst., Galp., Mack. — Polypodium lobatum, Buds. — Polypodium aculeatum, Bolt., With. Fig. — E.B. 1563. — Bolt., 26,/. 1, (a full-grown?) f. 2 (a young plant.) Des. — Root tufted. Fronds growing from a circle, rigid, glaucous green, from 15 inches to 2 feet high, evergreen, perfectly ovate. Lower pinnae crowded, so as to overlap each other ; sometimes, however, the frond is elongated at the lower part, when the pinnae are proportionably distant. Rachis stout, scaly, and with pinnae to the very base. Pinnae short, alternate, lanceolate, pointed, and curved upward, therefore somewhat lunate. Smaller pinnules run- ning much into each other, the larger slightly auricled, decurrent, and that next the rachis so much larger than the rest as to project over its next neighbour, and also partly to conceal the base of the pinna next above it ; the inner edge of all the larger lobes running parallel to the rachis, and at a little distance from it, so that if held up, a line of light will appear on each side of the rachis, except near the base, where the first lobes are set very close to the main stem, whence perhaps its name of close-leaved. Sori large, in single rows, confined to the top of the frond. Cover orbicular, fixed by the centre, persistent, but easily knocked off. /3 ( lonchitidoides .) Pinnules combined, forming nearly a pinnate frond. Filix lonchitidi affinis, Ray. A. aculeatum /3, Smith in E.Fl. A. lobatum, Hook, in Br. FI. Fig. — Pluk, Phyt, t. 180, f. 3. (good.) This species is distinguished from the following, for which alone it can be taken, by the decurrent lobes ; and as Sir J. E. Smith very rightly observes, “ by the much shorter, more crowded, and less scaly pinnae.” Added to which, the lobes are more entire, being but slightly auricled, very convex, thick, and of a glaucous color, furnished with a less number of and smaller bristly serratures, sometimes wanting them entirely at the sides. The sori also are more confined to the top of the frond, and larger than in A. aculeatum. The variety lonchitidoides is not very scaly, and in form and size exactly intermediate between this species and A. lonchitis. Sit. — On shady banks and damp hedge rows, chiefly in the north. Hab. — Extremely common in Scotland and in the north of England, gradually losing itself towards the south, and becoming more and more inter- mingled with A. aculeatum, which in its turn is superseded still more sou thernly by A. angulare. In the middle and south of England, its recorded habitats are F 34 FERNS. [Aspidium . Leicestershire, Rev. A. Bloxam. Common about Settle, Yorksh., Mr. J. Tatham. Pottery Car, near Doncaster, Mr. S. Appleby. Matlock, Derbysh., Dr. Hoivitt. At Studley, Sambourne, Overley, and Weatherly, Warwicksh., Rev. W. Dree. Lane leading to the Vaohe from Chalfont, Bucks, Mr. A. Halley. Near Bristol, Miss Wars ley. Near Dorking, Surrey ; in Hants, &c. Mr. W. Pamplin. Near Yarmouth, Mr. Paget. Sussex and S. Kent, Rev. G. E. Smith. Wal. : Near Wrexham, Denbigh, Mr. J. E. Bowman. — Ire. : Collinglen, near Belfast, Mr. J. Templeton. Hermitage, County Wicklow, Dr. Osborne. County of Derry, Mr. D. Moore, fl Glen Fee, Clova Mountains, Mr. W. Wilson. Braid Woodg, , near Edinburgh, Mr. H. Cooper. /2)/rrttCrtr . ret* Cha, — Frond bipinnate, broadly lanceolate. Lobes petioled, ovate, distinctly auricled, aristate. Racliis scaly. Syn. — Aspidium aculeatum, Swz. , Willd., Hook, in B. FI. ed. 4, Smith, Galp., Mack., Gray. — Aspidium lobatum, Hook, in FI. Scot., Schk. — Polypodium aculeatum, Linn., Huds., Lightf., Ehrh. — Polystichum aculeatum, Roth., Decan. Fig .—E.B. 1562.— Pluk. Phyt., 180/. 1. {not good.) Des. — Root tufted. Fronds numerous, perfectly lanceolate, evergreen, bipinnate. Pinnae alternate, gradually tapering, close together, their midribs covered with hair-like scales. Lohes ovate, distinctly petioled, serrate, spinulose, and with an auricle on the upper side at the base of each ; that next the rachis larger than the rest, but not so much so as in the last species ; all remaining distinct from each other nearly to the point of the pinna, although sometimes so crowded as to overlap. Rachis clothed with pinnae to its base, and very scaly. Sori distinct, brown, small. Cover orbicular, fixed by its centre, soon withering. • As many gentlemen, distinguished for their botanical knowledge, consider the Aspid. aculea- tum and A. angulare as distinct species, it is necessary that I should state the reasons why I have blended these two plants together. I have not been guided by any desire of innovation, believing unsteadiness of nomenclature and of classification to be the bane of science, but because after the most careful examination of specimens from all parts of Great Britain where they grow, and after consulting all the most celebrated practical botanists that I have the honor to be acquainted with, I have found it absolutely impossible to draw the line of demarcation between the plants. To delineate extreme states of any variable plant is easy enough, but where there is so regular a gradation from the robust pointed pinnules to the blunt and delicate ones, the difficulties of discrimination are insurmountable. Also, upon writing to various gentlemen for specimens and habitats, I have received the same plant repeatedly under the two names, and it is very re- markable that the habitats received invariably refer to both varieties, though they have not always been received from the same person. Thus Dr. Johnston says, that both grow at Pease Bridge, Berwickshire; Mr. Bowman says of Aculeatum, near Richmond, Yorkshire; while Mr. J. Tatham notes the same place as a station for the Angulare. Thus doubts arise if the same or different plants are indicated, The name Angulare appears, however, by far the more commonly given to it, and I should for this reason have preferred it to Aculeatum, in deference to the opinion of my countrymen ; but foreigners give the name Angulare to an Hungarian Fern very different from ours, and as Aculeatum is the specific name of all authors who have Geo. — Germany, Switzerland, &c. 3.— ASPIDIUM ACULEATUM* COMMON PRICKLY SHIELD-FERN. (Plate 2, fig. 6.) f< Francis, (ft? •■? J'i Aspidium J] FERNS. 35 This plant varies much in the sharper or blunter shape of the lobes of the leaves, for which reason it is sometimes extremely difficult to decide if a frond be of this species or the former. Luxuriant plants assume much the appearance of Lobatum, as the large pinnules become slightly decurrent : but in this state they become somewhat deeply cut, or even compound, while in the last species they are truly ] entire, losing their serratures instead of becoming more cleft by culture. ft ( angular e.) Pinnules short, blunt, distinctly auricled. Rachis very chaffy. Aspidium angulare, Smith in E. FI., Hook., Mack., Willd. A. aculeatum ft. Smith in FI. Br. Fig. — Plate 2, f. G ft. E. B. Supp. 2776. y (linearis) Pinnules linear and very sharp pointed. Fig. PI. 2, f. 6 y. These are well marked varieties, yet not sufficiently distinct either in habit or character to constitute separate species. The var. ft has, when luxuriant, its lower and larger pinnse compound ; when it becomes of course subtripinnate, and larger, (but not comparatively more robust,) thereby differing from the first or normal state of the plant, which alone approaches the last species in occasionally decurrent and convex pinnules. , Sit. — Common in hedge rows, damp banks, &c. , chiefly in the south. Hab. — Sco. : Peasebridge, Dr. Johnston. Eng. : Near Richmond, Yorks., Mr. J. Tatham. Burton Wood, near Warrington, Lane. ; and in Cheshire, Mr. Rylands. Ulverscroft Priory, Charnwood Forest, Rev. A. Bloxam. Isle of Man, Mr. Forbes. Derbyshire, Dr. Hoivitt. Warwickshire, Rev. XV. T. Bree. Somerset, Mr. A. Southby. Little Worley Common, Essex, Mr. R. Castles. About Tonbridge Wells and elsewhere, Kent, (abundant,) and near Bramshot, Hants, Mr. XV. Pamplin. Osterley Park, Lampton Lane, and Sion Lane, near Brentford, Midd., Mr. J. Bevis. Near Hastings, Mr. XV. C. Trevelyan. Sussex, Rev. G. E. Smith. Kingsteignton, Mr. Anderson. Near Gurnet Bay, Isle of Wight, Prof. Henslow. — Wal. : Near Wrexham, Denbighs., Mr. J. E. Bowman. Cickle, near Beau- maris, Anglesea, Mr. XV. Leighton. Near Bangor and Caernarvon, Mr. XV. Wilson. Ire. : Colin Glen, Belfast, Mr. Mackay. Hedgebanlcs, near Carrickfergus, Mr. F. Wliitla. ft Intermixed with and even more common in the extreme south of the kingdom than the first state of the plant. — y Near Clonmell, Mr.G.S. Gough. Geo. — Europe generally, Arabia, Cape of Good Hope, North Africa, on the Green Mountains, Vermont, and other places in North America. 4.— ASPIDIUM THELYPTERIS. MARSH SHIELD-FERN. (Plate 3, fig. 1.) Cha. — Frond pinnate, erect. Pinnae linear, lanceolate, smooth. Segments mucronated. Sori small. Root creeping. Syn. — Aspidium thelypteris, Swz. , Willd., Smith, Hook., Galp., Mack., Pursh. — Polypodium thelypteris, Linn., E. B., Dicks., Ehrh., With., Light/., (not of Huds.) Acrostichum thelypteris, Linn., Bolt. — Athyrium thelypteris, Spreng. — Polystichum thelypteris, Roth. — Lastreea thelypteris, Presl., Newm. Fig. — E.B. 1018. — Flo Dan. t. 760. — Bolt. 43,44. — Newm., page MX. Des. — Root creeping, furnished with long, black, slender, rather smooth runners, giving rise at various points along their surface to black radical fibres, and erect, light green, smooth ovate, or (when fertile) oblong fronds, each from 6 to 12 inches long, having a 36' FERNS. {Aspidium. slender, and generally smooth rachis. Pinnae linear-lanceolate, pointed, deeply pinnatifid, petioled, opposite. Segments oblong, obtuse, occasionally with a very small point ; the first upper segment on each pinna much longer than the others. Sori in continued longitudinal lines near the margin of each segment, small, brown or black, at first distant, afterwards confluent. Cover thin, white, round, kidney-shaped, fastened near the centre, and soon lost among the growing thecae. The barren fronds differ much from those which are fertile ; they are altogether wider, shorter and flatter, with the pinnae horizontal, and rachis void of pinnae half way up. The fertile fronds have two-thirds of the rachis covered with pinnae: which are more numerous, deflexed, and curled, particularly at the point. The edges of the pinna, folding over the lines of sori, give it an acute appearance. The only British Fern with which it is possible to confound this is Aspidium oreopteris, from which it differs in its smaller size, lighter color, more ovate frond not contracting so much below, the folded segments of the pinnae, and its creeping root. This last character will distinguish it from all our other species of this genus, it being the only one of which the root is not tufted. It is by no means easily cultivated, nor frequent in fruit when wild, as the fertile fronds do not rise till late in the season. While undergoing the process of desiccation for the herbarium, the elasticity of the annulus of the theca is very apparent, bursting with violence, and scattering the spores in all directions and to a con- siderable distance. Hab. — Common in Scotland, Sir W.J. Hooker. Learmoutli Bogs, Northum., Mr. Winch. Near Settle, Yorks., Mr. J. Tat ham. Allesley, Warw., Rev. W. Bree. Knutsford Moor and New Church Bog, near Over, Cheshire, Mr. W. Wilson. Oxton Bogs,, Notts., Dr. Howitt. Windsor Park and Sunning Hill Wells, Berks., Mr. J. Bevis. Valley below Caesar’s Camp on Wimbledon Common, planted there some years ago by Mr. Tyton. Bog on Waterdown Forest, near Tunbridge Wells (1835), Mr. Pamplin. Somerset., Mr. Southby. Belton, Suffolk, Mr. Paget. Sussex, Mr. Borrer. Border of Lake near Red Wharf, Anglesea, Mr. W. Wilson. Beaumaris, Anglesea, Mr. J. E. Bowman. Marshes at Glencree, County of Wicklow ; and Mucruss, Killarney, Mr. Mackay. Geo. — Pomerania, Mecklenburgh, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, N. and S. Africa, and in all the United States, but seldom with fruit. 5.— ASPIDIUM OREOPTERIS. HEATH SHIELD-FERN. (Plate 3, fig. 2.) Cha. — Frond pinnate, lanceolate. Pinnae glandulous, deeply cleft. Segments blunt, entire. Root tufted. Syn. — Aspidium oreopteris, Swz. , Willd., Smith, Hook., Gatp.. Spreng., Mack., Schk. — Aspidium odoriferum, Gray. — Polypodium oreopteris, Ehrh., Dicks., With., Hull, Sibth., Hoffm., Linn. — Polypodium thelyp- teris, Hulls., Bolt., Lightf., Hcdw. — Polystichum montanum, Decan. — Lastnca oreopteris, Presl, Newm. 37 Aspidium.] KERNS. Fig.— E.B. 1019.— Flo- Dan. 1121 —Bolt. 22, /. 1 and 2. Des. — Root tufted, large, black, scaly, fibrous. Fronds several, growing in a circle from a crown, finely lanceolate, tapering at both ends. Rachis covered with fine hair on the upper part, and with a few scattered scales on the lower, delicate green, with a deep channel on the upper side. Pinnae extending nearly all along the rachis, more or less alternate, sessile, deeply pinnatifid, tapering to a fine point, on the upper side smooth, on the under side hairy particu- larly about the main rib, and covered with yellowish, shining glands, smelling of turpentine. Segments very numerous, flat, blunt and entire. Sori marginal, at length confluent, covering all the pinnae. Cover thin, white, kidney-shaped, soon shrivelling up. The fresh plant may instantly be known from all its congeners by the smell emitted when drawn through the hand, or by holding it up to the light, in which situation it shows very plainly translucent, minute points, very similar to those seen in Hypericum perforatum ; though, be it observed, that unfavorable situation and cold weather will often prevent the formation of, if not obliterate these odorous pores. They are most abundant when the plants grow in sunny, but not too dry localities. This Fern can only be mistaken for As. tliel. or Asp. Fil.-mas ; it has already been distinguished from the former in describing that plant, from the latter it may easily be known by its more elegant shape, its smaller size and more delicate structure, no less than by its greater smooth- ness in every part, particularly its rachis. The segments of the pinnae also are not crenate, as in Filix-mas, and the sori, which in that are large, distinct, and confined to the lower half of the segment, are in this plant small, closer together, more numerous, and continued throughout the whole length of the segment, very near the margin. Sit. — On heaths and in shady lanes, not uncommon in the north. Hab. — Sco. : Glen Isla, Forfarsh., Mr. W. Brand. Common in Sutherland, Dr. Johnston. Banks of Loch Tay, Mr. T. H. Cooper. Aberdeenshire, but not common, Dr. Murray. Foot of Craig Challeach, & c., Mr. W. Wilson. — Eng. : Near Chapel Weardale, Durham ; and Cawsey Dean, near Newcastle, Mr. R. B. Bowman. Keswick, and near Lodore Waterfall, Cumbl., Mr. H. C. Watson. By the Tees, Mr. J. Hogg. Near Richmond, Yorks., Mr. J. Ward. Coleshill Heath and Corley, Warw., Rev. W. Bree. Near Warrington, Mr. W. Wilson. Dethick Moor, and near Riley, Derbys., Dr. Howitt. Isle of Man, Mr. Forbes. Dallington Heath, near Northampton, Mr. Anderson. N. side of Shotover Hill, Oxfordsh., Mr. Baxter. Oxton and Eddingley Bogs, Notts ; and Hartswell, near Farnsfield, Mr. T. H. Cooper. Somerset, Mr. A. Southby. Bradwell, Suffolk, Mr. Turner. Sussex and Kent, Rev. G. E. Smith. Bailey’s Hill, between Brasted and Tunbridge, (1835,) Mr. Pamplin. — Wal. : Near Wrexham, Den- bighshire, Mr. J. E. Bowman. Llanberris and Nant Gwynedd, Caernarvonsh., Mr. C. C. Babington. Frequent in Caernarvonsh., Mr. W. Wilson. — Ire. . Powerscourt Deer Park and Waterfall, Mangerton Mountain, Dr. Osborne. Lough Corril, Galway, Mr. Shuttleworth. Plentiful in Ireland, Mr. Mackay. Geo. — Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Prussia, &c. - - * /rest** /£<- t/refr*** & 7 : , , 2 , SS# - fit lOHAo.,! . (j ft U LL-t(t ,l/i f.v-c {/>./( ' oTJ - 38 PERNS. [Aspidium. 6. — ASPIDIUM FILIX-MAS. MALE FERN. (Plate 3, fig. 3.) Cha. — Frond pinnate, broadly lanceolate. Pinnae alternate, deeply pinnatifid. Segments obtuse, crenate. Rachis scaly. Syn. — Aspidium Filix-mas, Swz., Willd., Smith, Hook., Galp., Mack. — Polypodium Filix-mas, Linn., Huds., Bolt., Woodv., Dicks., Ehrh., Ger., With., Liffhtf. — Polystickum Filix-mas, Roth, Decan. — Polystichum callipteris, Bemh. — Lastraea Filix-mas, Brest, Newm. Fig. — E. B. 1458. — Bolt. 24. — Woodv. 49. — Flo. Lon. 40. — Newm., page 51. Des. — Root large, tufted, black, and scaly. Fronds growing centrally from a crown, broadly lanceolate, pinnate. Pinnae lanceo- late, pointed, alternate, smooth, except on the under side of the midrib, of a bright green, regularly tapering, curved upwards, and very deeply cleft. Segments oblong, obtuse, slightly crenate at the sides, copiously at the end, very close together, but not overlapping each other. Sori confined to the upper half of the frond, and to the lower half of each segment of the pinnae, round, large, and very prominent. Cover large, orbicular, with a notch on one side, at first white and transparent, afterwards opaque, and of a fine reddish brown, covering the thecae even till they are fully ripe. The large size, robust appearance, and decided character of this plant, obtained for it very early and very aptly the name of Male Fern. Medicinal properties of some importance have been ascribed to it, and apparently with justice. It is retained in most of the pharmacopoeias of Europe as a specific for the larger kinds of intestinal worms, and used very extensively for that purpose by the faculty on many parts of the Continent, and if the employment of it has been discontinued here, it is not because of its inutility, but from the discovery of other remedies equally potent and better understood. The stem and roots are bitter and astringent, and have been used instead of hops. /3 ( variegatum .) White, tipped and edged with green, (same habit.) y ( recurvum .) Pinna: crisped, turned down. Frond small. Rachis smooth. S (spinosum.) Pinnules serrate, smaller blended together, larger auricled. The above states of the plant appear constant, besides which it is sometimes found with a cormus, some inches above the ground ; Mr. W. Wilson has seen it thus in Caernarvonshire, and Mr. Mackay in Wicklow. A singular variety with the upper pinna; remarkably compound or branched has been observed in Bore-hill Lane, below Dorking, Surrey, by Mr. W. Pamplin. Also Mr. T. Clarke, Jun., of Bridgewater, has been so kind as to send me from King’s Cliff Valley, four miles from that town, several fronds of a very large variety, which is found there in considerable abundance. It is of a very dark color, has sori along the whole pinnule, and the pinnules themselves are all deeply serrated along their margin. Mr. Clarke also writes me, that Sir W. J. Hooker confirms his, and I FERNS. 39 Aspidium.] may add, my opinion also, that this plant is a variety of Eilix-mas, though Sir William observes that Schkuhr, who found it near Dresden, looked upon it as a new species, and figured and described it as A. erosum. The continental A. Filix- mas is usually more crenate or serrate than ours. Sit. — Hedge-banks, &c., and in shady lanes throughout the kingdom. Hab. — I have received numerous habitats from most of the English and Scottish counties, from the extreme south to the Orkney Islands, and yet in some places this plant is rare. Inchnedamff, in Sutherland, is one of these. — /3 : Near Keswick, Cumberland, Mr. H. C. Watson. — y : Not very uncommon in dry situations in the south. — $ : Bomere Pool and Sutton Spa, both near Shrews- bury, Mr. W. Leighton. Nettlecomb, Somerset, Mr. W. C. Trevelyan. Geo. — North America, throughout Europe, and in Africa. 7, -ASPIDIUM CRISTATUM. CRESTED SHIELD-FERN. (Plate 3, fig. 4.) Cha. — Frond pinnate. Pinnae opposite, pinnatifid, oblong, obtuse. Segments ovate, decurrent, crenate, bristled. Syn. — Aspidium cristatum, Swz., Willd., Smith, Hook., Spreng. , Galp., Mack., Schk., Pursh. — Polypodium cristatum, Linn., Afzel in Stockh. Trans, for 1787. — (Not of Bolt., With., or Hiids.) — Polystichum crista- tum, Roth, Decan, Hoffm. — Polypodium callipteris, Ehrh., Hoffm.— Lastnea cristata, Presl, Neivm. Fig. — Hook, in Flo. Lon., new ser. 113. — E. B. 2125, (not 1949.) — Neivm. page 54. Des. — Root tufted. Fronds erect, rigid, yellowish green, bipin- nate, oblong, blunt. Pinnae opposite, eight to fourteen pairs, very distant from each other, short, ovate, oblong, obtuse, very deeply pinnatifid or rather pinnate at their lower part. Segments ovate, crenate, each crenature furnished with two or three small sharp points or bristles, the principal vein in each segment slightly crooked, but the midrib of the whole pinna straight. Rachis slightly scaly only towards the lower part, where for about one-third of its height it is otherwise naked. Sori large, very distinct, black at first, afterwards brown. Cover white when young, very thick, circular, with a lateral notch, and fixed by the centre. Few plants have occasioned more discussion than this. The difficulty has arisen chiefly because sufficient stress has not been laid upon the simply pinnate character of the frond ; had this been regarded more, Aspidium spinulosum would not so often have been confounded with it. The cristatum, besides being less divided, has a more obtuse, more linear frond, and contracts very much below. The sori of cristatum are comparatively much larger and less numerous, and their covers persistent, not hidden by the capsules. It very nearly resembles the American Aspidium goldianum. Hab. — This is one of the rarest Ferns, not only here but on the Continent. The only recorded habitats of it in this country are the Lows in Holt-heath, Norfolk, Rev. R. B. Francis. On bogs among alder bushes, at Westleton, FERNS. 40 [ Aspidium. Suffolk, Mr. Davy. Oxton Bogs Notts, Dr. Howitt and Mr. 7\ Cooper ; and lately discovered on Edgefield Heath, and at Fritton, Norfolk, by Mr. Wiyham, of Norwich. Even one of these habitats may, perhaps, be now expunged, as Mr. Demies informs me it is thirty years since it was last found at the Lows in Holt-heath. It was stated on page 70, of the first edition, that I had reason to believe that this plant grew on Wimbledon Common; this was an error of judgment or of memory in my informant. It does not grow there, but the A. spinulosum does. Mr. Maclcay admits it into the Irish Flora, as growing in the grounds of Sir H. Gough, at Rathronan, near Clonmel, found there by Mr. G. S. Gough, in 1835 ; he says that the Irish plant is acutely serrate. Geo. — Oldenburgh, Bremen, Mecklenburgh, Hanover, and other parts of Germany. New York to Virginia. 8.— ASPIDIUM RIGIDUM. RIGID SIIIELD-FERN. (Plate 3, fig. 5.) Cha. — Frond bipinnate. Pinna; alternate. Lobes oblong, de- current, tridentate. Rachis scaly. Syn. — Aspidium rigidum, Hook, in Bri. Flo., eel. 3 and 4, Swz. , Schk. — Aspidium spinulosum, Hook, in Bri. Flo., ed. 1. — Polypodium rigidum, Hoffm. — Polystichum rigidum, Decan. — Polystichum strigosum, Roth. — Lastrsea rigida, Presl, Newm. Fig. — E. B. supp. 2724. — Schk.fil. t. 38. — Newm. page 5G. Des. — Root tufted. Rachis thick, rigid, very scaly all the way up. Frond lanceolate, not contracted below, erect, from one to two feet high. Pinnae tapering, alternate, very close together, from thirty to forty pairs, their stipes very much thickened at their union with the rachis. Lobes distinct, decurrent, oblong, blunt, tridentate, but not spinulose, their midrib waved. Sori large and abundant, chiefly on the upper part of the frond. Indusium round reniform, persistent, with a glandular margin, white at first, lead- colored afterwards, covering the whole mass of thecae, &c. Much diversity of opinion has existed respecting the identity of this very distinct plant, a small state of the spinulosum being very often sent for it. Its generally alternate pinnae would be perhaps sufficient to distinguish the two, but in other respects it differs essentially from that more common species. The rachis of the rigidum is very scaly and very much thicker than in the spinulosum, its pinnae much more numerous and nearer together, the lower pair not broader than the rest, the lobes of all quite decurrent, and not by any means spinulose, besides which the indusia are very large, and so different, as at once to distinguish the two plants ; in addition to which it may be remarked, that Aspidium rigidum is much darker in color than the spinulosum, as it is also than the cristatum. It is intermediate between the last and next species in the number of its divisions, but does not resemble either of them in habit or appearance. Mr. Newman, and the late Professor Don, both support me in the identity of this species with the Aspidium rigidum of Schkuhr, specimens from whom I have seen. Mr. Newman justly remarks that, “ when cultivated, it assumes a more diffuse and lax appear- ance, and is not so like Schkuhr’s figure as the plant from Settle.” Aspidium .] FERNS. 4i Hab. — Found by Rev. W. Bree, in 1815, on Ingleborough, on a natural platform, near the foot of the mountain, and towards the neighbouring village. This was, I believe, the only situation recorded for this fern, at the publication of my first edition in 1837. Since then it has been sought after and found in three or four places, considerably distant from each other ; and there is reason to suppose that it is pretty generally distributed all over the Ingleborough range, towards the foot of the hills. Thus Mr. W. Wilson finds it at Wharnside. Mr. Charley has kindly communicated to me specimens from near Settle, where he and Mr. J. Tatkam find it abundantly. Also other fronds of the true plant have reached me from Miss Beever, a young and enthusiastic botanist, who finds it at Arnside Knot, not far from Silverdale. Geo. — Switzerland, Prussia, Germany, &c. 8.— ASPIDIUM SPINULOSUM. PRICKLY SHIELD-FERN. (Plate 3, fig. 6.) Cha. — Frond bipinnate. Pinnae opposite. Lobes finely cut, spinulose. Rachis nearly smooth, white. Syn. — Aspidium spinulosum, Willd. — Polypodium spinulosum, Sivz. , Retz. — Polypodium cristatum, Hoffm., Schreb. — Polypodium spinosum, Schr. — Polypodium dentatum, Moench. Fig. — E. B. 1460. — Flo. Dan. 707. — Pluk. Phyt. 181,/. 2, [a young plant,) Schk.fil. 48. Des. — Frond ovate or oblong, always erect and flat. Pinnae very nearly opposite, smooth, and distinct, as are also the lobes, which are rarely convex. Segments oblong, pointed, doubly serrate, and spinulose. Rachis nearly smooth, swelled at its ramifications, of a whitish color, and generally covered with black dots. Sori scattered, small. Indusium small, brown, soon shrivelling up. This plant goes by various names among British botanists. It is repeatedly considered and sent as Aspidium cristatum, (which see, page 39,) and is such of some authors, but not of Smith, Hooker, or Mackay. It is ajso confounded with the much rarer Aspidium rigidum, the diagnostics of which are very distinct ; and with the next species, Aspidium dilatatum, it is often considered identical, though sufficiently different, both wild and cultivated, in habit, texture, and color. Our present plant is narrower than the dilatatum, of a less number of pinnae, flat, erect, rigid in habit, of a very light green color, the midrib of the lobes more zigzag and prominent, the lower pinnae rarely twice pinnate, the indusium glandulous, and the whole plant much more delicate. It should be observed, that the above remarks are not intended to apply to that plant which Sir J. E. Smith’s herbarium contains, and which Sir W. J. Hooker describes as a variety of dilatatum, under the above name. The spinulosum of northern botanists, of Sir J. E. Smith, and of the Liverpool Botanic Garden, is, in reality, but a variety of the next, and closely approaches to the recurvum of Bree, and dumetorum of Smith, if not identical with them. The plant here intended to be described is altogether different, and in cultivation retains precisely the character of the wild plant, never approaching in the most remote degree the G 42 ferns. [Aspidium. Aspidium dilatatum, though the mountain form of this latter plant has the lower pinnse much abbreviated. In a variety of spinulosum given me by Mr. J. Merrick, of Manchester, the lobes on the upper side of each pinna are much larger than those on the lower ; also, it may be remarked, that in dry situations the lobes will become- convex, but this is by no means common. Sit. — On wet moors, sides of pools and ponds, wet hedge-rows, &c. Hab. — Sco. : Moray and Rosshire, Rev. G. Gordon. Aberdeenshire, Dr. Murray. Dumbartonshire, Mr. J. Hooker. Auchindenny Woods, Edinburgh, Mr. Watson. Isle of Man, Mr. Forbes. Near Richmond, Yorks., Mr. J. Ward. Ingleborough, Yorkshire, Rev. W. Bree. In a small state at Woolston Moss, Lane., and Newchurch Bog, near Over, Cheshire, Mr. W. Wilson. Tit- terstone Clee Hills, Shrops., Mr. J. S. Bayly. Bomere Pool, Salop, Mr. C. Babington. Warwicksh., Rev. W. S. Bree. Derbys.. Dr. Howitt. Pottery Car, near Doncaster, Mr. S. Appleby. Dallington Heath, near Northampton, Mr. Anderson. Norfolk, Miss Bell. Near the Windmill, and near the Spring-well, on Wimbledon Common, Mr. W. Pamplin. Barnes Common, Surrey (near the Water-house), Mr. Castles. Abundant in Essex, Mr. J. Bevis. Common in Kent, Mr. W. Pamplin. Tonbridge, Kent, Mr. W. C. Trevelyan. Sussex and S. Kent, Rev. G. E. Smith. Wood near Dunsford Bridge, Devon, Mr. Jacob. Near Torquay, Dr. Greville. — Wal. : Aber, Caern., Mr. Leighton. Near Wrexham, Denb., Mr. J. E. Boivman. Note. — I cannot say whether the Scotch and Welsh habitats refer to the above plant, or to the Spinulosum of the Br. FI. Geo. — Switzerland, Dauphiny, Saltzburg, Darmstad, and North America. 9.— ASPIDIUM DILATATUM. GREAT SHIELD FERN. DILATED SHIELD FERN. (Plate 3, fig. 7.) Cha. — Frond tripinnate, triangular. Pinnae opposite, lobes deeply dentate, spinulose, petioled. Rachis scaly. Syn. — Aspidium dilatatum, Willd. Spreng., Forst., Gulp., Gray. — Aspidium spinulosum, Sv)z., Sibth., Hook, (not a) , Mack., Schk. — Polypodium cristatum, With., Bolt., Huds., Ehrh., Moench., Lightf. — Polypodium dilatatum, Hoffm., Mull. — Polystichum multiflorum, Ruth. Lastrsca dilatata, Presl. Newm. Fro. — E. B. 1461. — Bolt. 23. — Schk. fit. 47. Neivm. p. 59. 61. Des. — Root black, tufted. Frond tripinnate, triangular, from a few inches to 2 feet high, dark green, and drooping. Pirnne opposite, smooth, oblong, obtuse, pinnate, except the lower pair which are doubly pinnate. Lobes ovate, pointed, convex, deeply but irregularly serrated and spinulose, petioled, their midribs straight. Rachis covered with broad, brown scales. Sori all the summer, distinct. Indusiums soon becoming obliterated, round, with a lateral notch. A very variable plant, altered much by cultivation and circumstances ; thus if it grow in a situation which is wet in the spring and dried up in the summer, as on the margin of a pond, it will become var. /3, very dark, large, and quite Asplenium .] FERNS. 43 drooping. Continued wet will elongate the frond and separate the pinnas and lobes as in var. y. A young plant is only twice pinnate and flat. A dry and rocky, or a confined situation will render the frond small and less divided, the lobes blunt, deflexed, and drooping : thus starved it becomes the Aspidium dumeto- rum of Smith (var. i). I know not the nature of the habitats in which the recurved var. (t) of Bree grows, and can only regret that botanists do not record the circumstances, as well as the places, in which plants are found. The varieties recurvum and dumetorum are, I believe, not altered by cultivation, and Sir J. E. Smith implies, in his description of the latter, that its spores produce the same variety. a (dilatatum) Frond sub-tripinnate, triangular, ovate. Pinnules petioled. fi ( j Frond tripinnate, deflexed, triangular. Pinnules convex. y ( ) Frond tripinnate, triangular, elongated. Pinnules some- what decurrent, and distant from each other. 5 ( dumetorum) Frond small, triangular, drooping. Pinnules blunt. £ ( recurvum , Bree.J Frond small. Pinnules concave, and dark green. Neivm., p. 61. Sit. and Hab. — a [3 y. Very common in damp hedge-rows and swampy woods, ascending to an elevation of 1000 yards in many parts of the High- lands, and probably even to 1200 yards on the Cairngorum range, Mr. H. C. Watson. — S. : Derbyshire (rare), Mr. J. E. Bowman and Dr. Howitt. Common about Settle, Yorks., Mr.J.Tatham. Black Rock, Cromford, Derb., G. F. Ben-na-Baird, Aberdeensh., Mr. II. C. Watson. Powerscourt Waterfall, and side of Djouce Mountain, Ireland (abundant), Mr. Mackay. t. Plentiful about Penzance, Cornwall, Rev. W. Bree. Geo.- — Common throughout Europe, and from Pennsylvania to Virginia. («ivov, a medicine to cure disorders of the spleen, from a and v— >.»jv.) A, part of the frond of Asplenium marinum. One pinnule, showing the veins and origin of the fruit, the others the sori in different states. B, part of a pinnule magnified. C, the same cut transversely. D, under cuticle. E, transverse section of the stem. F, indusium. G, theca and spore. H, young plant. Sori linear at first, afterwards oblong ; indusium linear, attached to a trans- verse vein, and opening on the opposite part of the sorus towards the Central nerve of the pinna. This is a well marked and extensive genus, of which Sprengel enumerates no less than 151 species; of these ten only are British, which are very little or not at all altered by culture, they are therefore less liable to run into varieties than some other genera. It is only when the sori are in a young state that many species can be known to belong to this genus, as the in- dusiums are so delicate that they are soon lost among the sori, which in many of the smaller species at last appear like round or oblong spots. ASPLENIUM. Linn. SPLEENWORT. F 44 FERNS. [Asplenium. StTJ'/t • 1 . — ASPLENIUM SEPTENTRIONALE. FORKED SPLEENWORT. (Plate 4, fig. 1.) Cha. — Frond simply partite. Segments linear, sharply toothed at their extremity. Syn.— Asplenium septentrionale, Swz., Willd., Hull, Hoffm., Hook., Smith, Gulp., Gray. — Acrostichum septentrionale, Linn., Bolt., Dicks., Ehrh., With., Huds., Lightf. — Scolopendrium septentrionale, Roth. Fig. — E. B. 1017.— Flo. Dan. GO .—Bolt. 8.— Flo. Lon. 162. — Ger. 1561. — Newm., p. 73. Ees. Fronds very numerous, upright when young, drooping afterwards, rigid, 1 to 3 inches high, cleft near the top into two or three linear sharp-pointed alternate segments, which in proportion to their size are furnished at or near their extremity with from one to three acute, but not spinous teeth. Sori one on each side of the segment, nearly longitudinal, concealed at first by a white indusium, attached at the outer edge ; afterwards the swelling sori throw back the indusia, covering the whole of the segment, and finally curving and contorting it in a curious manner. Mr. Ii. C. Watson writes thus : “ Although quite a northern fern I observed the young fronds destroyed by a frost of 25 degrees Fahr. in April, 1835. The plant had been under a glass in a cold frame during winter, where the tem- perature inside had risen a few degrees higher than outside by day, and had never been allowed to sink to the freezing point at night, in consequence of a thick covering of mats.” Sit.— On the rocky clefts of mountains, chiefly in the north. Not in Ireland. Hab.— Eng. : In situations probably exceeding 1000 feet in height in Cum- berland, where it occurs sparingly on rocks, between the vale of Newlands and Borrodale.— \Val. : Craig Ddw. (a mile above Llanberris Church), Caern., Mr C L. Babington. Snowdon, (rare), Mr. J. E. Bowman. Llyn-y-cwm, N. Wales Mr If. Wilson. Sco. : Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh, (above the rail-road)’ Jedburg, &c., Mr. II. C. Watson. Blackford Hill, Edin., Mr. W. Brand. Geo.— Holland, Switzerland. Not unfrequent throughout Europe. _ (litv dn'+E <./k MrnfUi /fctM In (fu.Uiy cfffkisUtvr' 7lCur /j.rrytu , Cf •'£»> »c- 2.— ASPLENIUM ALTERNIE'OLIUM. ALTERNATE-LEAVED SPLEENWORT. (Plate 4, fig. 2.) Cha. — Frond pinnate. Pinnae alternate, wedge-shaped, notched. Syn.— Asplenium alternifolium, Smith, Hook., Dicks,, With., Gulp., Java —Asplenium germanicum, Willd., Hoffm., Ehrh., Lam., Weis., Gray. I hylhtis heterophylla, Mocnch. — Scolopendrium alternifolium, Roth. — Asplenium Breynii, Retz, F,G Misc’ L /• 2,—Breyn. Cent. I t. 91.— Newm. J?IZICES FZ4.TE Tbr Asplenium. ] FERNS. 45 Des. — Frond from 1 to 3 inches high, very light green, upright, delicate, about half covered with pinnse, which are alternate and wedge-shaped ; the larger partly three-cleft, the smaller bluntly notched at the end only. Rachis dark at the base only. Sori two to four on each pinna, small, light brown, becoming confluent, but not occupying the whole under surface. Indusium entire on the margin. This species is intermediate between the last and Asplenium Ruta-muraria, although of a more delicate and erect habit than either ; its color also is much lighter and its sori smaller and less confluent. When once seen it cannot possibly be mistaken for any of the numerous casual forms of Asplenium Ruta-muraria. The plants sold under this name in the nurseries around London are the true species derived from some plants brought wild from Scotland, about 14 years ago, and given to the Countess De Vande, at Bayswater, and from her garden distributed around. It quite retains its character in cultivation. Hab. — Found originally by Mr. Dickson on rocks in the south of Scotland, two miles from Kelso on the Tweed. Now existing at Dunkeld, in Perthshire, Mr. Bishop and Dr. Macnab. Very sparingly near Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Dr. Deivar. Geo. — Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland, where it is quite an alpine plant. 3.— ASPLENIUM RUTA-MURARIA. WALL RUE. RUE-LEAVED SPLEENWORT. TENTWORT. (Plate 4, fig. 3.) Cha. — Frond bipinnate. Pinnae alternate. Pinnules ovate or wedge-shaped, with rounded notched extremities. Syn. — Asplenium Ruta-muraria, Linn., Willdt, Hook., Smith, Bolt., Bull., Ehrh ., Huds., With., Galp., Lightf. — Asplenium murale, Bernh., Gray. Scolopendrium Ruta-muraria, Roth. — Phyllitis Ruta-muraria, Moench. Ruta-muraria, Bau., Ray., Ger., Plum., Newm. Fig. — E. B. 150.— Bolt. 16 .—FI. Dan. 190 .—Bull., Fr. 19b.— Plum. Fil. t. a. f. 3. — Newm. Brit. Ferns., p. 71. not ji. ft. Des. — Root tufted, black, very long. Frond from 1 to 4 inches high, dull green. Rachis green, except at the very base. Pinnae confined to the upper half, from three to five or six in number, placed alternately, for the most part distinctly three cleft. Pinnules ovate in small fronds, wedge-shaped in the larger; their tips rounded and crenate, or unequally notched. Barren fronds broader and shorter. Sori dark brown, finally confluent, and covering the whole under surface. Indusium uneven at the margin. Sit. — On walls, ruins, rocks, and other similar situations. Hab. — Very generally distributed over the United Kingdom, though there are a few districts where it is scarcely found. I believe Berwickshire is one of these, nor is it by any means plentiful in Norfolk or Suffolk. Geo. — Most parts of Europe, and from New York to Carolina in America. 4G FERNS. [Asplenium. 4.— ASPLENIUM MARINUM. SEA SPLEENWORT. (Plate 4, fig. 4.) Ciia. — Frond oblong, pinnate. Pinnae obtuse, serrate, slightly auricled above. Rachis winged. Svn. — Asplenium marinum, Linn., Willd., Huds., Bolt., Dicks., Light/., With., Galp., Smith, Hook, Mack., Gray, Newm., 8fc. Fig.— E. B. 392.— Lot). Ic. 814 .—FI. Lon. GO.— Bolt. Ib.—Ger. 1143— Newm. 75. Des. — Root very thickly tufted, black, with stout fibres. Frond 6 to 9 inches high, pinnate, irregularly oblong, obtuse. Rachis winged all the way down, black, shining, smooth, without pinnae at the lower part, above bearing about twenty on each side, mostly alternate, obtuse, about an inch long in the middle of the frond, running at the base into the wing of the rachis, therefore slightly decurrent ; the upper side of each generally auricled, the lower side proportionably truncated. Sori large, transverse, at first linear, then oblong, but never confluent. Indusium white or of a pale brown. Sit. — Upon maritime rocks, or in caves by the sea side, and in one or two inland situations. Hab. — Eng : Marsden Rocks, Durham, Mr. R. B. Bowman. Isle of Man, Mr. Forles. Above the Black Rocks at the entrance of the Mersey, (Cheshire side,) Mr. H. C. Watson. Liverpool, (near the Dingle,) Mr. Merrick. Still at Hulme Stone Quarry, (otherwise called Winwick Stone Delph,) near Warrington, where Bolton gathered it, (v. Bolt. Fit. loc. cit.,) Mr. W. Wilson. In this place Mr. Shaw, of Bollington, many years ago found a curious variety, with a much more divided frond than is usual, and which remains with him distinct in culture. Sussex, Mr. Borrer. West of Cornwall, Professor Henslow. — Wal. : Anglesea, Mr. J. E. Bowman. Near the South Stack Light-house, Holyhead, Mr. C.C. Babington. Ormesliead, and near Bangor, Mr. W. Wilson. — Sco. : Parish of Nigg, Rosshire, Mr. Brichan. Near Port Patrick, Wigtonshire, Dr. Balfour. Moray, Rev. G. Gordon. Isle of Staft’a, Mr. J. Dovaston. Near Eyemouth, Berwicks., Rev. A. Baird. Frequent on the whole line of the Ber- wickshire coast, Dr. G. Johnston. Fife and Aberdeensh., (common,) Dr. Murray . Isle of Arran, Mr. T. II. Cooper. — Ire. : Sutton side of Howtli Mountain, Underwood, Killiney Hill, &c., Dr. Osborne. Derrinane, county Kerry, Mr. Kelly. Abundant on the southern and western coasts, Mr. Mackay. Geo. — Barbary, Canary Islands, Spain, St. Helena, West Indies, Islands of the Archipelago, &c. There is but little difference between our plant and Dr. Hooker’s species Asplenium obtusatum. „ SltvK. - 5.— ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES. COMMON MAIDEN-HAIR SPLEENWORT. WALL SPLEENWORT. (Plate 4, fig. 5.) Cn a. — Frond pinnate, linear. Pinnae subrotund, eremite. Rachis black. Asplenium. ~] FERNS. 47 Syn.' — Asplenium trichomanes, Linn., Willd., Michx., Woodv., Bolt., Dicks., Ehrh., Liffhtf., Smith, Hook., With., Sprenrj., Huds. — Asplenium saxa- tile, Salisb., Gray. — Asplenium trichomanoides, Schkr., (not Michx.) — Asplenium melanocaulon, Willd., Pursh. — Trichomanes, Ray, Fuchs., Tillands., Bauh., Plum,., Park. — Phyllitis rotundifolia, Moench., Newm. Fig.— E. B. 570 .—Flo. Lon. 15 G.—Bolt. 13 .—Flo. Dan. 119.— Woodv. 201. — Ger. 1146. — Plum. t. B.f. 1. — Newm., p. 80. Des. — Fronds tufted, linear, pinnate, 2 to 4 inches high, dark green, very rigid, quite smooth, -with a purplish-black shining rachis, channelled in front. Pinnae from twenty to thirty pairs, opposite or alternate, (generally the former,) obtuse, crenate, of a round or oval form, very distinct from each other all the way up, and sessile, or very nearly so. Sori two to six on each pinna, placed transversely, very dark colored, finally confluent, often covering the whole under surface. ^ ^ Hab. — Common on rocks, old walls, &c., in most parts of the United King- dom ; not only on the mainland, but the Isles of Anglesea, Man, Wight, Sheppy, and the Channel Isles, yet by no means frequent in the N and NE. of Scotland. Geo. — Throughout Europe. In Jamaica. In Japan and other parts of Asia. Canada, Pennsylvania, and high mountains of Carolina. 6.— ASPLENIUM VIRIDE. GREEN MAIDEN-HAIR SPLEENWORT. GREEN RIBBED SPLEENWORT. (Plate 4, fig. 6.) Cha. — Frond pinnate, linear. Pinnae roundish-deltoid, crenate. Rachis green. Syn. — Asplenium viride, Huds., Willd., Roth., Dicks., Ehrh., Bolt., Smith, Hook., With., Spreng., Galp., Light/., Gray, Newm. Fig. — E. B. 2257 .—Bolt. 14.— Flo. Dan. 1289 ,—Pluk. Phy. 89, /. 6— Newm. 78. Des. — Fronds numerous, pinnate, linear, from 3 to G inches high, of a very light green color. Pinnae petioled, alternate, the upper ones ovate, the lower roundly triangular, attached to the rachis by the centre of one of the sides, which is somewhat truncate, the other two sides being regularly and deeply crenate, sometimes doubly so. Rachis quite green, except at the lower part. Sori reddish brown, two to six on each pinna, confined to the middle of it, finally be- coming confluent, but even then not extending to the margin. This is immediately distinguished from the last by the lighter color of all its parts, its less spreading sori, and differently-shaped and alternate pinna; ; added to which, the pinnae on the lower part of the frond are generally distant, and those near the top of the frond crowded, while the whole is much more delicate and elegant. Sometimes the frond is divided into two, as represented in Bolton, t. 2, f. 3, when it *becomes the Trichomanes ramosum of authors ; but this branching is an accidental circumstance, and by no means constant ; it therefore 48 FERNS. [Asplenium. does not constitute a variety, more especially as not more than two or three branched fronds are found upon a plant, all the rest being of the common character and appearance. Sit. — On rocks, not farther south than Yorkshire, or perhaps Derbyshire. — Eng. : On rocks in Northumberland, Mr. Winch. Mazebeck Scars, Westmorl., and jGordale, Yorkshire, Mr. R. Bowman. Near Halifax, Yorkshire, Mr. R. Leylands. Near Ais-la-Beek, and Richmond, Yorks., Mr. J. Ward. Settle, Mr. Chorley. — Wai,. : Cader Idris, Mr. J. E. Bowman. Snowdon, Mr. C. C. Babington. Twll. Du, Caern., Mr. T. H. Cooper. Not uncommon on the Welch mountains, Mr. W. Wilson. — Sco. : Rosshire, Rev. G. Gordon. Cawder Woods, Nairns, Mr. W. Staples. Base of Benmore, Sutherlandsli., Dr. John- ston. Far too common in the Highlands to need the specifying of stations, Mr. H. C. Watson. — Ire. : Turk Mountain, Killarney, Ben Baulben, county of Sligo ; and on the Donegal Mountains, near Lough Eske, Mr. Mackay. Geo. — Germany, Holland, Switzerland, France ; very rare, except on the mountains of Tyrol and Carinthia. . , / , ,. . , . 7.— ASPLENIUM FONTANUM. SMOOTH ROCK SPLEENWORT. (Plate 5, fig. 1.) Cha. — Frond bipinnate. Pinnae oblong, blunt, alternate. Pin- nules wedge-sbaped, cleft, and toothed. Rachis winged. Syn. — Asplenium fontanum, Hook., Smith, Bemh. — Aspidium fontanum, Willd., Swz., ( not of Schkr.) — Polypodium fontanum, Linn., Huds., Bolt., With. — Atbyrium fontanum, Gray. Fig. — E. B. 2024. — Lob. Ic. 810, 1. — Bolt. 21, (bad.) — Newm., page 4. Des. — Root tufted, long, black. Frond lanceolate, bipinnate, evergreen, 2 to 6 inches high. Rachis winged throughout. Pinnae alternate, ovate, oblong, those in the middle of the frond from a quarter to half an inch long, formed of six or eight pinnules placed alternately. Pinnules short, broadly wedge-shaped, petioled, so very deeply cleft at the sides and toothed at the apex as to become nearly pinnate. Seldom more than two sori upon each pinnule, which soon extend over the whole surface of it. Our present species most resembles Asplenium lanceolatum, the shape of the frond being nearly the same. The fontanum, however, is much more delicate, and smaller in all its parts, of a very dark green color, its pinnules not half the size, and of a very different shape to those of the lanceolatum, besides which its winged rachis is of itself a sufficient diagnostic. It is very much more difficult to distinguish it from Asplenium Halleri, a species that ig very rare on ' the Continent, and for which our fontanum is very generally sold. Hah. — Supposed to be now extinct in England ; it was once found on Amcr- sham Church, in Buckinghamshire, and at Wybourn, in Westmoreland. I have been informed that living plants were found at a waterfall in either Northumberland or Westmoreland, 14 or 16 years ago, and also that it once grew on Alnwick Castle ; but if so, it is no longer found there. Geo.— Saxony, Switzerland, South Europe, and Si’ aia. X y/t t, J£cc// SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE COMMON H AKt’s-TONGUE. (Plate 5, fig. 5.) Cha. — Frond ligulate, acute, entire, cordate at the base. Rachis scaly. Syn. — Scolopendrium vulgare, Smith, Hook., Spreng., Mack., Gray. — Asplenium scolopendrium, Linn., Huds., Bolt-, Woodv., Ehrh. — As- plenium elongatum, Salisb. — Scolopendrium officinarum, Swz., Willd., Pursh. Fig.— E. B. 1150.— Bolt. 11 .—Flo. Lon. 67.— Ger. 1138.— ScM. fit. 83. Des. — Root tufted. Fronds numerous, a foot high, strap-shaped, pointed, the base of them heart-shaped, smooth, except the lower part of the rachis and sometimes the midrib, which are very scaly. Sori attached to oblique transverse veins, always in twin united masses, each having its cover attached ; the one at the upper side, the other at the lower, and when young folding over each other in the middle. The sori are oblong, distant from each other, and chiefly at the upper part of the frond. This plant is very apt to become differently cleft and crisped, remaining so under cultivation, and bearing fruit copiously in that state ; hence the following varieties are noticed. a {vulgare). Frond ligulate, flat and single pointed. /3 ( crispvm ). Frond crisped and curled along the margins. y (multifidum) . Frond much cleft at the top. t (linearis). Frond very long and narrow. The above, except /3, can scarcely be considered distinct varieties, but should rather be accounted monstrosities, particularly y, which is produced by over abundance of food and warmth ; thus if the common state of the plant be trans- planted to rich soil in a green-house, it will rarely ever fail to produce fronds cleft more or less towards the apex. These same plants, if again thrown out and neglected, will return to their original state. The spores of all the varieties will produce the common plant. Sir J. E. Smith remarks, that “ the whole plant has a nauseous scent when bruised, and is of a mucilaginous and acid taste.” It is now discarded from the regular practice of medicine, but frequently still sold in our herb shops, being used as an ointment for burns, Sc., and taken internally as an astringent. Sit. — In damp ruins, rocks, wells, &c. Hab. — Scarcely a common Fern, though abundant in some places, particu- larly in the south and west of both England and Ireland, but decreasing in quantity northwards. Isle of Man, Mr. E. Forbes. Near Braunston, Leices- tershire (rare), Rev. A. Bloxam. In Wagg Lane, Congleton, Cheshire ; also at Buxton, Matlock, and Dove Dale, Derbyshire, Mr. H. C. Watson. Near Leeds, Mr. H. Denny. Near Richmond and Settle, Yorkshire, Mr. J. Tatham. Three varieties on I’ottcry Car, near Doncaster, Mr. Appleby. Hawkstone, Salop, Mr. J. S. Bayty. Abundant about Twickenham, Whitton, Hounslow, Brentford, &c., Middlesex ; also at Barnes Common and Wimbledon Common, Surrey, G.F. Blechnum] FERNS. 53 Arniston Woods, Edinburgh, Mr. W. Brand. Cawdor Woods, Mr. W. Stables. Moray, Rev. G. Gordon. Sutherland, Aberdeenshire, and Kincardineshire, but by no means common, Dr. Murray. Orkney, Dr. Gillies. Near Wrexham, Denb., Mr. J. E. Bowman. Castell Aber, Lleiniog, Anglesea, Mr. W. Leighton, —y. Caernarvon Castle, Mr. J. F. M. Dovaston. Carreg Onan, Anglesea, Mr. IV. Leighton. lu^ct* wlmrtrda c< Geo. — Not found in the northern countries of Europe. In Germany as far north as Grimmia. Very rare in North America, being, according to Pursh, found only in one place, viz. New York. BLECHNUM, Linn. HARD FERN. (From /3*.>woy, a Greek name for a Fern.) A, portion of a fertile frond of Blechnum boreale. B, pinnule magnified, showing the covers or indusiums. C, transverse section of sorus, pinnule, and indusia. D, theca and spores. E, transverse section of rachis. A genus of thirty -one species, known by bearing its fruit in closely united masses, not on transverse veins, as in Scolopendrium, but one on each side, and close to the midrib of the pinnule. Covers attached on the outer side of each mass, opening on the inner side, but not folding over each other, as in the last genus. BLECHNUM BOREALE. HARD FERN. ROUGH SPLEENWORT. (Plate 5, fig. 6.) Cha. — Frond pinnate, erect. Pinnae linear, entire. Rachis smooth. Syn. — Blechnum boreale, Swz. , Willd., Spreng., Smith, Hook., Mack., Galp., Gray. — Blechnum spicant, Roth., With. — Osmunda spicant, Linn., Bolt., Hedw., Ehrh., Liyhtf. — Osmunda borealis, Salisb. — Lonchitis aspera, Ray, Ger. — Acrostichum nemorale, Lam. FI. Fr. — Acrostichum spicant, Sibth., Fill. — Asplenium spicant, Bernh. — Onoclea spicant, Hoffin. — Lomaria spicant, Desv., Newm., Pres/. Fig.— E. B. 1159.— Bolt. 6 .—Flo. Dan. 99 .—Ger. UiO.—Schk. fil. 110. Des. — Root black, tufted, scaly, with stout fibres. Rachis smooth and polished. Fertile fronds numerous, erect, strap-shaped, tapering at each end, about a foot high. Pinna1 linear, dilated somewhat at the base, in some degree falcate, distant from each other, and alternate, wholly covered on the under side with fruit. Barren fronds lanceolate, shorter than those which are fertile, and growing more on the outside of the plant, their pinnae oblong, curved up- ward, and placed close together at their bases, but scarcely dilated at that part. Sori continued in an uninterrupted line from the base 54 FERNS. [Pteris. to the point of each pinna, one on each side of the midrib. In- dusium attached to very near the edge of the pinna, opening on the side nearest the midrib. While young the back of the lobe shows only the midrib and two irregularly- edged white covers ; afterwards these bend back and turn brown, and as in our species no leafy expansion appears outside the lines of thecae, but the cover seems to be the edge of the frond reversed, it might be taken at first sight for a Pteris, yet upon examination a narrow extension of the frond will be seen beyond the insertion of the indusiums. A curious variety of Blechnum boreale is found by Miss Beever, near Ambleside. Its lobes are much distorted, serrated, toothed, or deeply crenate. I have ventured to name and figure a portion of one of the fronds kindly sent me by Miss Beever. /3 ( stricta .) Frond linear, pinnules abbreviated, and with irregular margins. Sit.— On sandy heaths, hedge-rows, stony places, &c. Hab. — Spread throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland, in the last country especially in the counties of Wicklow and Clare. It ascends to 700 yards in Cumberland, 800 in Forfarshire, and much higher on the Cairngorum Mountains, in Aberdeenshire, where it probably attains to situations of the height of 1200 or 1300 feet, Mr. H. C. Watson. Geo. — Common in Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and N. W. coast of America. PTERIS, Linn. BRAKES. (wTSfi;, a Fern; from irTtpi*, a feather.) A, •part of one of the divisions of the frond. B, the same magnified, showing the continued indusium. C, transverse and perspective view of part of a pinnule. D, theca and spore. E, outer indusium magnified, showing its ciliated margin. F, transverse section of the rachis near the root. G, ditto of the creeping rhizoma. A very extensive genus, comprising no less than 120 species, most of them from warm climates. One species only is British. The fructification is borne in a continued line along the margin of the frond, which appears to be turned over so as to form a continued indusium, but which upon microscopic examination is seen to be of different and more delicate structure ; an inner indusium is also present in ours and some other species, which many botanists consider a necessary character of a Pteris, and that its absence or presence might serve to divide the genus into two. FZZZCFS ri-A te. - n British Museum (Natural History) Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Telephone 01-589 6323 General information Education Officer Frank H Brightman Lecturers Joyce Pope, John Stidworthy, Anne McCord Most of the tours and lectures are intended for a general audience, but they are not suitable for very young children. Lectures and Bias shows are held in the Lecture Hall and begin at 3pm. All lectures are illustrated with films or colour slides. Gallery tours begin at the Main Entrance at 3pm. Programmes may be subject to alteration. The Museum is open weekdays 10am— 6pm, Sundays 2.30pm— 6pm. It is near South Kensington Underground Station or may be reached by Buses 74, 14, 30, 45, 49 and 39A (Saturdays only). BH Hedley Director The picture of Linnaea borealis is part of our commemoration of the bicentenary of the death of Linnaeus, the great Swedish botanist on whose work our present system of namimg plants and animals is founded. Although it is unusual for a scientist to call a secies after himself, Linnaeus, who gave the first scientific description of this little plant, which grows in Scandinavia and is sometimes found in northern Scotland, did so. He explained that he named the plant as he did because it is small, obscure and short lived, like himself. Such modesty appears to have been unusual in Linnaeus, who is reputed to have been inordinately vain and to have had his portrait painted more than any of his contemporaries, including the king of Sweden. British Museum (Natural History) Lectures, films and gallery tours May June July 1978 British Museum (Natural History) Lectures, films and gallery tours May June July Wednesday 3 Saturday 6 Wednesday 10 Saturday 13 Wednesday 17 Saturday 20 Wednesday 24 Saturday 27 Monday 29 Wednesday 31 Introducing Birds Lecture/ Joyce Pope From Zermatt to the Glaciers Special Lectur e/ Desmond & Marjorie Parrish Polymorphism Tour/Joyce Pope The Natural History of the Burren Special Lecture/ Maryangela Keane Giants of the Past Tour/Jofin Stldworthy The Colonial Naturalist Film Show Introducing Inserts Tour /Joyce Pope Dinosaurs Lecture at 11 am/ Joyce Pope Migration Lectur el Joyce Pope Conservation in Britain Lectur e! Joyce Pope Sea Monsters of the Past Lectur e/ Joyce Pope Saturday 3 Monday 5 Wednesday 7 Saturday 10 Wednesday 14 Saturday 17 Wednesday 21 Saturday 24 Wednesday 28 Life in Mountains Lectur e/Anne McCord Rhinos and their Relatives Lecture/John Stldworthy Animals and Man Lecture/ John Stldworthy The Cat Family Lecture/John Stldworthy Cuckoos Tour/ Joyce Pope Dinosaurs Lecture at 11 am/ Joyce Pope Jellyfishes and their Relatives Lectur e/ Joyce Pope The Ice Age Tour /Anne McCord Birds and Man Lecture/Anne McCord Mammals of the Past Tour/ John Stldworthy Saturday 1 Wednesday 5 Saturday 8 Wednesday 12 Saturday 15 Wednesday 19 Saturday 22 Tuesday 25 Wednesday 26 Saturday 29 Linnaeus Lecture/Frank Brlghtman Famous Fossils Tour/Anne McCord The Evolution of Man Lecture/Anne McCord Inserts and Flowers Tour/ Joyce Pope Dinosaurs Lecture at 1 1 am/ Joyce Pope Ladybirds Lecture/ Joyce Pope Animals Colours Tour/ John Stldworthy Life Between the Tides Tour /John Stldworthy Life in Hedgerows Lectur e/Anne McCord Pollution Lecture/Anne McCord The Garden Naturalist Lecture/Anne McCord The Burren, in the north of County Clare, is a hundred square miles of natural rock garden. The clefts of the bare limestone are the home of many rare plants, such as the maidenhair fern, and over 800 other species of plant are found there. Mrs Maryangela Keane, a noted naturalist from Co. Clare, will be describing the extraordinary geological formation, and the flora and fauna of the Burren, along with the occupation of the area by ancient man. Jellyfishes are primitive creatures, surviving from the distant geological past, yet they are among the most successful of water-living creatures, found throughout the oceans of the world. They are totally soft bodied, yet they are flesh eaters, capable of subduing quite large prey with their paralysing stings and sometimes even human being are killed by them. This lecture will show some of the variety and beauty to be found among jellyfishes and their relatives. It will be illustrated by film ‘Moon Jelly’, a new film from Japan, which is about our commonest and least harmful jellyfish. The brightly coloured ladybirds are lucky symbols to many people. Why they should have their curious name, for none is a bird and only about half are female, why they should be among the very few beetles to be more than tolerated by most people, why they are red and black and why we have in the last few years suddenly found huge numbers of ladybirds in our countryside, towns and houses, are all questions to be discussed in this lecture, which will be illustrated by slides and the French film 'Aphid-eating Ladybirds'. Pteris. \ FERNS. 55 PTERIS AQUILINA. BRAKES. BRACKEN. FEMALE FERN. (Plate 6, fig. 1.) Cha. — Frond thrice pinnate. Larger pinnules pinnatifid, smaller entire. Rachis smooth. Syn. — Pteris aquilina, Linn, and all modern Authors. — Filix foemina, Ray, Ger. — Asplenium aquilina, Bernh. — Pteris caudata (i, Schk. Fig.— E. B. 1 G79. — Ger. 1128.— Bolt. 10, (all bad). Des. — Root long and creeping, black and smooth when old, tomentose and brown when young. Rachis smooth, shining, without pinnae on the lower part, tapering and black near its junction with the root. Fronds annual, erect, rigid, repeatedly divided, 2 to 5 feet high. Pinnae opposite, more and more divided downwards, the smallest entire, the next pinnatifid, still lower ones pinnate, pinnato-pinnatifid, and twice pinnate. Pinnules opposite below, alternate above, oblong, blunt, connected to the midrib by their whole base, that terminating the pinna much larger than the others near it. Sori in a continued line around every sinuosity of the pinna. Indusium adhering to the margin of the frond, within which is another cover, contrary or opposite to the outer one, and in like manner fringed. When the young fronds first uncoil themselves they are densely downy. If the stem be cut across near the root, it exhibits the bundles of vessels very plainly, in the form of an oak tree, or, as Linnaeus thought, a spread eagle ; hence its name Aquilina. This is seen in the generic wood-cut above, where also is a transverse section of the rhizoma, showing a totally different arrangement of vessels. The circumstance of the curious arrangement of vessels of the stem was a matter of notoriety at a very early period. Thus we find in a most rare little book, entitled, “A Dyalogue or Communycation of two persons devysed or set fortbe, in the Latin Tonge, by the noble and famous clarke Desiderius Erasmus, intituled, The Pilgrimage of pure Devotyon, newly translatyd into Englishe.” (no date, supposed to be 1551), is the following curious passage : “ Peraventure they ymagyne the symylytude of a tode to be there ; evyn as we suppose when we cutte the fearne stalke there to be an eyle.” This Fern is useful for many purposes, independently of the anthelmintic and astringent properties the herbalists attach to it. It is the favorite haunt of the deer tribe. As it is very long before it rots, and does not harbour insects, it is excellent as thatch ; it does not hold moisture so much as straw, and is therefore better as litter for cattle, and as a cover to preserve plants from frost. It is also very excellent to lay fruit upon, or to pack it in, as it does not communicate any mustiness. Containing tannin, it is useful in the preparation of the lighter kinds of leather, and affords excellent potash when burnt. Its harsh texture and astringent taste render it unpalatable to cattle, though the roots are sought for 56 FERNS. [Plena. by pigs, and have even been dried and ground for bread, but only in times of the greatest scarcity. Upon being boiled, they yield a strong mucilage. The peasants of most parts of the kingdom assert their right to it as fuel, and use it chiefly to heat their ovens, a purpose for which it is well adapted, as it burns furiously. It is so valuable to the farmer of Germany for cattle fodder, that it is an article of ready sale there, and the cutting of it subject to very severe forest laws. It remains dormant during more than half the year, the fronds not appearing till the middle of May, and being cut off with the first slight frost of autumn. It is also very impatient under culture : to remove a root otherwise than with a considerable quantity of earth attached to it, or in any season but that of its tor- pidity, would assuredly destroy it, as would also cutting down the fronds three or four seasons in succession. The remarkable paucity of young fern plants, of almost every species, must have struck the attention of most botanists. A single frond of Pteris aquilina produces more seed than any number the mind can con- ceive ; millions of fronds do often extend over a waste, or park, yet how rarely is a young plant to be discovered any where. Indeed, had young plants been fre- quent, our ancestors could scarcely have imbibed the notion that they yielded no seed, or that it was a rarity, and only to be procured at the exact hour of the night on which John the Baptist was born. Pliny says, “ of fern be two kinds, and they bear neither flower nor seed.” Culpepper writing upon this Fern, which was inhis time called Female Fern, “the seed of which,” he observes, “ some authors hold to be so rare,” says, “ such a thing there is, I know, and may be easily had upon Midsummer eve, and for aught I know, two or three days after it, if not more.” The supposed circumstance of its seeding upon a single night, occasioned it to be called in Brown’s pastoral ballads (1613). — “The wondrous, one-night-seeding feme," Butler alludes to this superstitious notion. Hudibras, Part III, cant. iii. 3, 4. “ That spring like fern, that iusect weed, Equivocally without seed." Absurd as these notions are, they were not wholly exploded in the time of Addison. He laughs at a doctor “ who was arrived at the knowledge of the green and red dragon, and had discovered the female fern seed.” Then again, in the dawn of botany and medicine, when affinities and antipathies, or as it was called the doctrine of signatures, was supposed to rule all things, we find that this Fern must be good for reed wounds, (punctured wounds) because, Dioscorides saith, “ the fern dieth if the reed be planted about it; and, contrary wise, that the reed dieth if it be compassed with fern,” which, as Gerard justly tells us, “ is vaine to thinke that it hapneth by any antipathic or naturall hatred, and not by reason that this ferae prospereth not in moist places, nor the reed in dry.” Another result of the admirable and scientific reasoning of Dioscorides was once prevalent in this country, that, because Fern seed was invisible, therefore forsooth, those who carried it about them were rendered invisible also. This circumstance relative to Fern seed is alluded to in Beaumont and Fletcher’s “ Fair Maid of the Inn “ Had you Gyges'ring ? Or the herb that gives invisibility ? " Again, in Ben Jonson’s play of the “ New Inn •• 1 had No medicine. Sir, to go invisible, No Fern seed in my pocket." Cryptogramma.~\ FERNS. 57 Also, in Shakspcre’s Henry IV., Part I., though here spoken ironically, Gads- hill says, “We have the receipt for Fern seed, we walk invisible.” .Several other country adages attach themselves to the Fern, as the following : — “ When the Fern is as high as a spoon. You may sleep an hour at noon; When the Fern is as high as a table, You may sleep as long as you're able." Passing however these absurdities, of which many others might have been adduced, we may remark that very few of our poetical writers have thought the fern tribe worth their attention. Miss Twamley, however, is an exception ; she has many passages in the “ Romance of Nature,” and other works, which relate to them. She speaks of “the Fan-like Ferns, which seem poised still and sleepily until the mom returns.” In another place, The Ferns too, are waving all statelily here. With seed-stored fronds thickly laid ; And shedding, when hastily brushed by the deer, Their light, fertile dust o'er the glade. Sit. — Upon barren heaths, in parks and woods, contenting itself occasionally with any soil or situation ; it delights, however, in sand and strong loam, while it shuns the limestone and chalk districts ; thus, if I recollect rightly, it is scarcely found on Salisbury Plain, nor do I remember meeting it any where in Kent, except in sandy spots. Be it observed, however, that it is not wholly excluded from chalk and limestone, as I have seen it occasionally on both. It is not fond of a lofty situation, as, according to Mr. Watson, it is not found in places more than 500 or 600 yards above sea level. Geo. — Generally distributed over Europe, and in North America. The American species varies a little from ours, being rather more finely divided, somewhat ciliated, and earlier in growth. CRYPTOGRAMMA, Br. ROCK-BRAKE. (From xpuTTTOf, covered, y(ay./jM, a line ; from the concealed lines of thecae.) A, portion of a fertile frond, of Cryptograrnma crispa. B, a pinnule some- what enlarged. C, ditto with the lateral margins thrown back to show the position of the fruit. D, transverse section of the pinnule. E, pinnule of a barren frond. F, a variety of ditto. G, theca thrown open and sjiores. Our only plant was long considered a Pteris, because , although very different in habit, it has, like that genus, its fruit situated near the edge, of the frond in an apparent continued line, the reflexed edge forming its cover. It differs, however, in having its sort not continued along all the undulations of the whole frond, but confined to the sides of the separate lobes. I 5S FERNS. [Cryptogramma. CRYPTOGRAMMA CIIISPA. HOCK-BRAKE. STONE-FERN. CRISPED-FERN. PARSLEY-FERN . (Plate 6, fig. 2.) Cha. — Frond thrice pinnate. Fertile pinnules oblong, blunt : barren ones wedge-shaped, cleft, crenate. Syn. — Cryptogramma crispa, Hook, in Br. FL, Mack. — Pteris crispa, Linn. MSS., Willd., Swz., Hull, With,, Smith, Hook, in FI. Sco., — Osmunda rupestris, Salisb. — Osmunda crispa, Linn, in Sp. PL, Huds., Light/., Bolt. — Stegania onocleoides, Gray. — Onoclea crispa, Roth., Hoffm. — Allosorus crispus, Bemh., Haul/., Sprang. Fig. — E. B. 11G0 .—Bolt. 7.— Flo. Ban. 496 .—Pluk. Phyt. t. 5. /. 2.— Newm. 18. Des. — Root slightly creeping, long and fibrous. Frond thrice pinnate, deciduous, of a very lively green color, 3 to 12 inches high. Rachis slender, smooth, and shining. Barren pinnules wedge- shaped or roundish, deeply cut and crenate, pinnae nearly opposite, but not always so, four or five pairs. Fertile fronds taller and more robust, but less expanded than the barren ones ; their pinnae more inclined to be alternate. Pinnules oblong, elliptic, blunt, their crenate sides turned over upon the sori, which are in lines along each side of the lobe, distinct only for a very short time at first, then very con- fluent and crowded. Sit. — Southey calls this plant the “ Mountain Parsley ; an appellation which well expresses its tender habit, its delicate, lively color, and its numerous, finely cut, and crisped leaves. Covering large patches as it sometimes does on the tops of rocky mountains, it adds a bright gleam of verdure and of beauty to its romantic but barren dwelling place, and becomes an oasis of rich fertility upon the precipitous face of the otherwise sterile rock. Had. — From 200 yards upwards to a considerable elevation in Caernarvon- shire (top of Snowdon). In Cumberland from 200 or 300 yards to 1040 yards. In the Highlands, from the low valleys to 1100 yards on Ben-na Baird. More common in the lake district of England than' in Scotland, but frequent in several parts of the latter, Mr. H. C. Watson. Breiddon Hill (12 miles west of Shrewsbury), Mr. J. E. Bowman. Greenfield, Saddleworth, Mr. J. Merrick. Higher parts of the Tees, Mr. Hogg. Common about Settle, Yorkshire, Afr. J. Tatham. Skiddaw, Ilelvellyn, Saddleback, Grassmoor, Yale of Newlands, &c., Cumberland, Mr. H. C. Watson. On rocks at the foot of Cheviot, above Langley Ford, Mr. Winch. Near Lancaster, Mr. W. Wilson. — Wal. : Mount Glyder, Mount Snowdon, and Mynydd Mawr, Caernarvonshire, Mr. C. C. Babingtan. Cader Idris, Mr. Purton. North Wales, (abundantly), Mr. W. Christy. — Sco. : Rosshire, Rev. G. Gordon. Glen Tilt and Blair Athol, Perthshire, Mr. IF. Brand. Not rare in Sutherland, Dr. Murray. — Ire. : Abundant on the Mourne Moun- tains, Mr. Mackay. Geo. — Lapland, Germany, Switzerland, Pyrenees, Silesia, Sweden, Jutland, Norway, Dauphiny, Holland. /«/>4 *£f * f f~cw Adianturn. ] FERNS. 59 (From, a ADIANTUM, Linn. MAIDEN-HAIR. against, and iiuiira, moisture ; the plants never being wet.) A. pinnules of Adianturn capillus-veneris, showing the position of the sori and indusiums. B, an indusium removed, showing the attachment of the sori, one indusium covering several. C, theca and ring. D, spore. A very beautiful, delicate, and interesting genus of sixty -three species, indi- genous to the southern countries of Europe and the tropical regions, this country being the northern limit of them all. The sori are arranged in spots along the margin of the pinnules, and covered by part of the frond reflexed. ADIANTUM CAPILLUS- VENERIS. TRUE MAIDEN-HAIR. (Plate 6, fig. 3.) Cha. — Frond twice pinnate. Pinnules alternate, wedge-shaped, lobed, on capillary petioles. Indusium oblong. Syn. — Adianturn capillus-veneris, Linn., Willd., Smith, Bolt., Dicks., Hook., Mack. — Adianturn capillus. Swz. — Adianturn fontanum, Salisb., Gray. — Adianturn coriandrifolium, Lam. — Capillus-veneris verus, Dill, in Ray’s Syn., Ger. Fig. — E. B. 1564. — Bolt. 29. — Jacq. Misc. t. 7. — Ger. 1143 {bad). — Neivm. 9. Des. — Root slightly creeping and very hairy. Rachis slender, shining, rigid, purplish-black, without pinnse on the lower part. Pinnae alternate, in young fronds lobed only, afterwards pinnate. Pinnules wedge-shaped, crenate or cleft at the top, alternate. Sori marginal, in spots, one near the end of each lobe of the pinnule ; the apex of which is turned over, forming a white, oblong cover, to which the fruit itself is attached. The manner of the expansion of this plant is very singular and interesting. The young frond is but slightly circinate in vernation, appearing at first with only one or two small, wedge-shaped pinnules ; after a time these split into lobes, which lobes become wider, long-stalked, and detached from each other, forming separate wedge-shaped pinnules, exactly similar to those from which they were detached, and if the plant be luxuriant, these again divide in a similar manner ; thus some fronds are found pinnate, others twice, and sometimes thrice pinnate. The whole plant forms an interesting object for the microscope, particularly the membranous indusium, which is beautifully veined. The ring of the theca also is very different from that of any other British Fern. (See cut of the genus.) KERNS. [Hymenophyllum . (JO Vir. — The properties of Adiantum are very uncertain. Its use is said to give name to the syrup Capillaire. It has neither fragrance nor flavor, and when boiled yields only a little mucilage. Hab. — Port Kerig, Glamorganshire (verified 1834). Banks of the Carron, a rivulet in Kincardineshire, Professor Beattie. In a small cave on the east side of Carrach Gladden, a cove on the north coast of Cornwall, between Hayle and St. Ives, Professor Henslow. Isles of Arran, county of Galway, Dr. Osborne. At Wrisbeg, on a rock facing south-west on the shore of Loch Bulard, Mr. C. C. Babington. Geo. — South Europe, Isles of Bourbon, Teneriffe, Jamaica, and Hispaniola. / «- c //L - /cFZ|3. tuAXC <&!>>. - . hpS~ 3 Jniif ytoiAf c* Ctmif- rut JtxfcLKjt. GotriwiLL-UL^^our-UicUC'V. HYMENOPHYLLUM, Swz. FILMY PERN, Km. Cczncf-"^ 4. (ufx* iv, a membrane, < pvXAov, a leaf ; or the membranous-leafed Fern.) A, part of a frond of Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense. B, the same slightly increased to show the veins of the frond, and the origin and character of the fruit. C, soncs magnified, and one of its covers removed. D, theca with transverse ring. E, the same opened. F, spores. In this small and delicate genus, a lobe of the pinna is contracted into the fruit and its receptacles, the lamina of the lobe forming two valves, inclosing between them the midrib, to near the end of which are attached several ringed and petioled thecee, the annulus of which does not coincide with the petiole, but is placed transversely. (See Introduction j . 1 .—HYMENOPHYLLUM TUNBRIDGENSE. TUNBRIDGE FILMY-FERN. (Plate 6, fig. 4.) Cha. — Frond pinnate. Pinnae pinnatifid, erect. Lobes serrated. Rachis winged. Involucre orbicular, serrated at the top. Syn. — Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense, Smith, Willd. , Hook., Mack., Swz., Gray. — Trichomanes Tunbridgense, Linn., Huds., With., Bolt., Ligh(f. — Trichomanes pulchellum, Salisb. Fig E. B. — 1G2. — Hook, in Flo. Lon. 71.— Bolt. 31 .—Flo. Dan. 954.— Hedw. 3. — Forst in Flo. Tonb. {excellent .) Newm. p. 92. Des. — Root black, fibrous, hairy, extensively creeping, rather upon than under the surface of the ground. Rachis naked on the lower part, capillary, black, broadly winged all the way down. Fronds solitary, at intervals along the creeping stem or root, 1 to 2 inches high, of a light green color. Pinna; alternate, growing quite upright, their veins dichotomouslv branched. Lobes sharply Hymenophyllum .] FERNS. 61 serrated or toothed, linear and blunt pointed, running into each other, and seated chiefly on the upper side of what may be called the midrib of the pinna, but not wholly confined to that side, as in the next species. Receptacles formed from and in the place of the last lobe, on the upper side of each pinna ; thus they appear in two rows, one on each side of the rachis. The receptacle is composed o£ two flat or slightly convex, roundish valves, folding over each other, and sharply serrated at the points ; between which is a free column covered with thecae. Sit. — On damp, shady rocks, generally among moss. Hab. — On the moist and shady sides and fissures of the various rocks near Tunbridge Wells, viz., the High Rocks, and the rocks in Eridge Park (abundant, 1835), Mr. W. Pamplin. Clefts of the rocks at Wistman’s Wood, Dartmoor; rocks by Dunsford Bridge, Becky Fall, &c., Devon, Flo. Dev. Greenfield, near Saddleworth (very rare), Mr. W. Wilson. Near Halifax, Mr. Leyland. Near Cader Idris and Dolgelle, Mr. Bowman. Very abundant and fine near the Upper Lake, Killarney, Mr. W. Wilson. Powerscourt Waterfall, Glencree, and other places in the county of Wicklow, Mr. Mac/cay. Geo. — This and probably the next species are scattered over Europe from 2.— HYMENOPHYLLUM WILSONI. NORTHERN FILMY- FERN. SCOTTISH FILMY-FERN. (Plate 6, fig. 5.) Cha. — Frond pinnate. Pinnae semi-pinnatifid, recurved. Lobes serrate. Rachis not winged. Receptacle ovate, entire. Syn. — Hymenophyllum Wilsoni, Hook in Br. Flo., Mack., Newm. Fig. — E. B., suppl. 2686. Newm., p. 94. Des. — Rachis rigid, capillary, winged at the top. Frond 1 or 2 inches high, dark green. Pinnae alternate, bent backwards, growing horizontally rather than vertically as in the last species, besides which the lobes curve downwards, so that when the edge of them is looked at they have a falcate appearance, although they are oblong and blunt, and it may be added, very sharply serrated. When in fruit, all the leafy expansions turn in one direction, and the fruit in the opposite. The receptacles are situated as in the last species, but are larger, very convex, perfectly ovate, and entire. The absence of wings to the rachis, the different habit, the semi-pinnatifid character of the pinnae, and the entire, convex receptacles, serve to distin- guish this from Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense, with which it was confounded, until shown to be distinct by that accurate botanist, Mr. W. Wilson. — Miss Beever has sent me fronds from Coniston, which are much branched. Sit. — On moist alpine rocks, near waterfalls, Sec. 62 FERNS. [Trichomanes . P,!!,AVrate^! ab°Ye Ambleside- Westmoreland, Mr. J. Bowerbank Black Rocks of Great End, in the Scawfell ran^e and at Scalp pnr Buttermere, Cumberland, (1833,) Mr. H. C° Watson GrLSu ’ n6ar feardiT°hh’ “p Silverdale> Lancashire, Miss Beever. — W a l . : On Snowdon near Llanbems Pass, and on the adjacent mountains, especially near Twll Du ’ s Kvzjgtt nssrs.-, irr £3 «i Mtt. C/ikmh£C St/tecte*. clQ ’ r.. TRICHOMANES, Linn. BRISTLE-FERN. (^’ WOf' a hair’ and Iofe or lonS ; from the free hairs which terminate the receptacles.) A, pinnule of Trichomanes brevisetum. B, portion ofdittowith fruit, enlarged. C, ditto, still more greatly enlarged, to show the loose cellular structure of the jrond. D, longitudinal section of the sorus magnified . E, theca , with trans- verse ring. F, spores. All the species of this beautiful genus, amounting to forty -six in number, are very cellular and tender, their fruit attached to the midrib of a lobe, as in the last genus, but here the receptacle is one -valued, and the midrib not terminated y . ec\ Q . ■ A r , A JUJJl inLdtU* h>QrtG4* Uu * ) A thUKfZ-' (U OSMUNDA, Linn. ROYAL-FERN. ( Osmund , Sax., strength; this being the largest and strongest of our Ferns (?) A, portion of a frond of Osmunda regalis, natural size. B, mass of fruit magnified. C, theca separated. D, ditto splitting open. E, spores. F, trans- verse section of the stem. G, cuticle of a pinnule. H, cuticle of the stem. In this genus the upper part of the leafy frond becomes changed into a com- pound spike of fructification, without any indusium, receptacle, or annulus. Osmunda is a small genus, the species of which very much resemble each other in size and character. They are natives of Europe and North America. OSMUNDA REGALIS. ROYAL-FERN. WATER-FERN. FLOWERING-FERN. (Plate 7, fig. 1.) Cha. — Frond bipinnate. Pinnules oblong, nearly entire, slightly auricled. Sori terminal. Syn. — Osmunda regalis, Linn., Willd., Bolt., and all modem botanists. Fig. — E. B. 209. — Bolt. 5. — Flo. Dan. 217. — Flo. Lon. 150. — Ger. 1131. — Newm,, page 97. 64 FERNS. {Botrychium . Des. — Root a thick, short, scaly, and fibrous tuber. Rachis smooth, rigid, upright. Fronds several, 3 to 6 feet high, bright green, twice pinnate. Pinna; distant, nearly opposite. Pinnules almost sessile, oblong, blunt, with waved or slightly crenate edges, frequently auricled. Those pinnae on the top of the frond are either wholly or partially changed into fructification, when they appear like a compound spike, each bunch of which seems composed of a number of circular bundles of capsules. The thecae are petioled and beautifully reticulated. Spores nearly globular. Vir.— The internal parts of the root, as well as the young fronds, were once used in pharmacy as a cure for bruises, and as conferring strength. Sit.— In wet woods, swampy moors, &c. (See Introduction, page 11.) Hab.— Sco.: Head of Loch Fine, to the N. E. of Inverary, Argyleshire, and near Loch Lomond, (Dumbarton side,) Mr. H. C. Watson. At the side of the loch at Inchnedamff, Sutherlandshire, Dr. Johnston. Aberdeenshire and coast of Kincardineshire, Dr. Murray.— En g. : Warwickshire, Rev. W. Bree. Ellesmere Lakes and West Felton, Salop, Mr. W. Leighton. Plentiful at Speke, near Liverpool, Mr. T. B. Hall. Chat Moss, Mr. W. Christy. Woolston Moss and other places near Warrington, Lancashire, Mr. W. Wilson. Isle of Man Mr Forbes. Pottery Car, near Doncaster, Mr. S. Appleby. Near Leeds,’ Mr. Denny. Bulwell, Notts, (near the upper mill,) Mr. T. H. Cooper. Norfolk' Miss Bell. Kavanah’s Wood, Great Warley Common ; also near the barracks’ on Little Warley Common, Mr. It. Castle. ' Near Leith Hill, Surrey ; and in’ several places from 5 to 8 miles S. W. of Dorking, Mr. W. Pamplin. On Bagshot Heath, Mr. J. Lloyd. In a wet shady spot, by the river side, between Fnmley \ illage aud Frimley Green, Surrey; also sparingly on Esher Common, by the entrance to the lane leading thence towards Epsom, Mr. H. C. Watson Tonbridge, Mr. Trevelyan. Comer of the lake at Uckfield, Sussex, near Chudleigh, on the banks of the Teign ; also near Ivy Bridge on the Erme ; and on the Goonhilly Downs, about St. Ives, Jones's Tour. Isle of Wieht Rev G P ^Tnn . A LL, If.. TJr 1 1 /i .11 — - ® * * * * Geo.— Europe, chiefly the northern parts, and all the United States. A, fertile branched spike of fruit of Botrychium lunaria. B, part of ditto IfiYfiPfl . P. flit t n 'i/vif/i //»« .... 1 . ts , * The fruit in this somewhat extensive genus is produced upon a compound spike distinct from the leafy expansion, though attached to it at the stem. The theca- are opaque and sessile. There is only one British species. (See Introduction.) BOTRYCHIUM, Linn. MOON-WORT. (From £o7f>of| a bunch ; as its fruit is borne in clusters.) c enlarged. C, ditto with the thecce opened. D, spores, of the stem. E, transverse section Botrychium. j KERNS. (J.'» BOTRYCHIUM LUNARIA. COMMON MOON-WORT. (Plate 7, fig. 2.) Cha. — Frond pinnate, solitary. Lobes flabelliform, crenate. Syn. — Botrychium lunaria, Swz., Willd., Honk., Mack., Smith in E. FI., Gray. — Osmunda lunaria, Linn., Smith in FI. Br. and E. B. , Bolt., Lam , Dicks., Ehrh. — Osmunda lunata, Salisb. — Lunaria minor, Ger. , Ray, Matth., Carrier., Fuchs., Gesner, Sfc. Fig. — E. B. 318. — Bolt. 4. — Flo. Dan. 18, f. 1. — Flo. Lon. G6. — Newm., p. 100. Des. — Root of thick, smooth, yellow fibres. Frond of a dull, yellowish green, 2 to 6 inches high, rarely more than one from a root, quite smooth in every part. Stem hollow, rather succulent, half way up it divides into two branches, one being a pinnatifid or pinnate frond, the other the fruit. Pinnules of the leafy part five or six pair, opposite, decurrent, fan-shaped, regularly crenate. Fruit covering the upper part of the other branch of the stem in a compound spike, not in aggregate clusters, as in Osmunda, but separate, though nearly touching each other, and arranged in single lines along the branches of the spike. The thecse are opaque, sessile, round, smooth, yellow at first, afterwards brown. Spores oval, smooth, generally attached to each other in pairs. Vir. — Its virtues are more imaginary than real, more magical than physical. Its name Lunaria, or Moon-wort, is taken from the shape of the leaves, and gathered by the light of the moon, was said to “ doo wonders.” Gerard men- tions a remarkable instance of the properties attributed to it by the alchemists and witches, “ that it will loose locks, and make them fall from the feet of horses that do grase where it doth grow ; ” “ too drowsie a dream” for even the credulous Gerard to believe ; but he adds, that it is singular for wounds.” Sit. — In pastures chiefly in the northern and mountainous countries. Ilf Hab. — Sco. : Bernerside Hill, W. of Berwickshire, Mr. W. Baird. South side of Loch Tay, and ascending to 3000 feet on adjacent mountains ; Clova and Pentland Hills, &c. Mr. H. C. Watson. Blair Athol, Perthshire, Mr. W. Brand. Moray, Rev. G. Gordon. Orkney, Rev. C. Clouston. Aberdeenshire, Dr. Murray. — Eng. : Sea banks near Tynemouth, Northumberland, Miss Hancock. Higher Tees, Mr. J. Hogg. Newcastle Town Moor, Mr. R. Bowman. Common about Settle, Yorkshire, Mr. J. Tatham. Warwickshire, Rev. W. Bree. South- port, Lancashire, Mr. Rylands. Greenfield, near Manchester, Mr. J. Merrick. Cheshire and Derbyshire, Mr. W. Wilson. Pottery Car, Mr. S. Appleby. Clifton, Norton, Fiskerton, Newstead, and Sherwood Forest, Notts, Mr. T. //. Cooper. Shotover Hill, Oxen, Mr. Baxter. Linton, Cambridgeshire, Mr. C. C. Babington. Near Titchborne, Hants (1836), Mr. Forder. Leith Hill, , Surrey ; Shirley Common, near Croydon, Surrey; between Dartford and Foot’s Cray, Kent ; and S. W. of Petersfield, Hants, Mr. W. Pamplin. Deep Dean, near Dorking, Mr. J. Nash. South Kent, Rev. G. E. Smith. Near Barnstaple, Devon (1836). — Wal. : Near Wrexham, Mr. J. E. Bowman. Near Rodney’s Pillar, Montgomeryshire, Rev. A. Bloxam. 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