A-4

THE

FERNS OF GREAT BRITAIN:

ILLUSTRATED

BY

JOHN E. SOWERBY,

PROPRIETOR OF SOWERBY's ENGLISH BOTANY.

THE DESCRIPTIONS, SYNONYMS, &c.

BY

CHARLES JOHNSON, ESQ.,

BOTANICAL LECTURER AT GUY'S HOSPITAL.

LONDON:
JOHN E. SOWERBY, 3 MEAD PLACE, LAMBETH.

1855.

TO

THE PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS

OF

THE LINNEAN SOCIETY/

THIS WORK

is

WITH THEIR PERMISSION
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY
THEIR OBLIGED AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,

THE PROPRIETOR.

THE

FERNS OF GREAT BRITAIN.

INTRODUCTION.

FERNS constitute a series of vegetable productions of consider-
able extent, amounting to upwards of two thousand known species,
the greater proportion of which is found in tropical climates, but
very unequally distributed; the general habit of the fern leading it
to develop most freely under the joint influence of shelter from the
sun and wind, and an atmosphere replete with moisture. Hence
the open prairie, the pampa, and the steppe offer conditions most
unfavourable to their growth ; while the land covered with dense
forests, or the mountain with its rocky clefts and caverns, affords
the requirements upon which it depends, especially where such
occur in association with a warm and vaporous climate. The pro-
portion that ferns bear to the aggregate vegetation of different
countries, though in some measure dependent upon such circum-
stances, conveys no definite idea of their real numbers : thus, when
we learn that in the British Islands they compose ^yth of the con-
spicuous vegetation of the land, and in tropical America ^th, we
are not to conclude that the numbers in the two countries at all
approximate, but that amidst the exuberant development of the
torrid zone the ferns maintain an equal proportion to that which

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they have in our less productive region. The actual amount of
species, indeed, almost constantly diminishes with the increase of
latitude beyond the tropics.

In a work intended as an aid to the less scientific observers and
admirers of natural productions, it is not considered desirable to
enter into those minutiae of organic composition, by which the
physiologist is guided in his studies of the relative structures and
affinities of the various groups composing the vegetable kingdom ;
but, as certain general characters appertain to that before us, and as,
in describing families and species, it is convenient to employ a few
conventional terms, expressive of features and conditions not be-
longing to other plants, a concise view of the peculiarities by
which ferns are collectively distinguished, becomes a necessary in-
troduction to their examination in detail.

With much of the aspect belonging to the higher orders of vege-
tation, and occasionally rivaling in port and habit the more ma-
jestic of their forms, ferns have a structure indicative of a much
lower grade in organization, and may be regarded as occupying an
intermediate position, or rather as representing the most compli-
cated type of that class characterized by the absence of flowers.
They are, with slight exception, perennial plants, but vary much in
habit, and especially in the development of the stem ; this is gene-
rally either procumbent or it extends itself below the surface of the
soil, and from its root-like appearance is denominated a rhizoma,
though some writers designate it as the caudex. Rarely, and almost
exclusively in very warm and humid climates, ferns are arborescent
the stem growing erect like the trunk of a tree, when it is called
the stipes, and in some species attaining a height of forty or fifty
feet : it is cylindrical, of equal diameter throughout, and bears
leaves only at the summit, like a palm, the necessary result of its
growth being only from the termination of the axis. Occasionally
a tendency to upright elongation of the rhizoma is observed in
some of the larger species of the British Ferns. The leaves, usually

termed fronds, are generally more or less divided in a wing-like
manner, rarely simple or entire : when the divisions extend to the
rachis or continuation of the leaf-stalk or its branches, the fronds
are described as pinnate, bipinnate, or tripinnate (once, twice, or
thrice winged), the first or primary divisions being called pinna,
the subsequent ones pinnules; when they are only partial, the
fronds are said to be pinnatifid or wing-cleft, and the divisions are
denominated lobes or segments. The disposition of the leaves of
plants in the bud, generally regarded by botanists as an important
feature, is called their vernation, and in the ferns is circinate (except,
in one small group), the divisions as well as the entire frond being
coiled inwards previous to expansion like the spring of a watch, a
disposition beautifully exhibited by those of some of the larger
species.

The reproductive germs of the flowerless plants are very minute,
indeed generally microscopic, and, notwithstanding the gigantic
size of some members of the Fern tribe, no exception occurs in
this respect ; their production apparently taking place under dif-
ferent laws to those which regulate the fructifying function in
flowering plants : they are not called seeds, but spores or sporules,
and are enclosed in little cases denominated thecce; which, in the
ferns, are mostly aggregated in small clusters of different size and
shape, termed sort, and arise from the veins on the under surface
of the frond, or from their extremities upon its margins : in some
instances the thecse, instead of forming sori, are associated in spikes
or clusters called panicles, formed by the depauperation of the
fructifying frond or of its lobes. The primary development of the
thecae takes place in immediate contact with the vein, and beneath
the epidermis or outer covering of the leaf, which is forced up by
their enlargement in the form of a whitish membrane, constituting
the indusium or protecting cover of the sori. During the advance
of the fructification towards maturity, the indusium separates partly
or wholly from the surrounding epidermis, and subsequently either

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shrivels and becomes hidden by the bursting of the thecse, or falls
off altogether. In some instances, the opening takes place in the
centre, the indusium investing the sorus like a cup, when it is
styled, though erroneously, an involucre ; while in others, the epi-
dermis from both surfaces of the leaf extends beyond the margins,
including the thecae between them, and fulfilling the office of indu-
sium without being regarded as such : occasionally this marginal
separation and extension of the leaf-membrane takes place unin-
terruptedly along the whole edge, but it is often only local and
about the soriferous extremities of the lateral veins. In a few
genera the indusium cannot be traced, the sori appearing to be
produced externally : but this, probably in all cases, arises from
the very early period of growth at which the disruption takes
place, as careful examination of some species of Polypodium readily
discovers.

The application of the term frond to the leaf of a fern is
objected to by some botanists ; but the association of organs, that
in other plants are simply conservative, with the reproductive
function in those before us, is a feature sufficiently remarkable
to justify the distinction, and it has thus become almost universally
adopted.

The elegance and variety of the foliage of ferns, rendering them
valuable objects in amateur cultivation, with the modes of treatment
that experience has proved most successful, will be found in detail,
accompanying the descriptions of the several species; but, as a
previous provision of material is requisite, and a few general rules
applicable in most instances, much repetition may be avoided by
a short preliminary notice. No plants are better adapted than are
the hardy species of ferns, for filling up shaded nooks in the garden
and shrubbery, and for covering the sheltered parts of ruins,
grottos, and rock-work, or the margins of ponds and fountains ;
shade and moisture being generally favourable to their develop-
ment, as is evinced by the natural localities affected by most of the
species, which flourish especially under the shelter of woods and

thickets, in the crevices of rocks, and in the mouths of wells,
mines, and caverns, where they have little light, and enjoy an
atmosphere of almost uninterrupted humidity. But while moist-
ure is an important agent in securing, and even enhancing, that
beauty which belongs to them in the wild state, drainage is no
less necessary to the preservation of the greater number, and must
be so far provided as to prevent the lodgement of water in a stag-
nant state about the roots. The subjoined materials will be found
more or less requisite to those engaging in the cultivation of this
interesting tribe : viz.

As draining media.

1. Shards, or fragments of garden-pots broken to the size of an
inch, or larger.

2. Fragments of sandstone, limestone, slate, &c. for forcing into
the soil around the roots, in planting.

3. Charcoal, broken into pieces, from the size of a filbert to that
of a walnut.

As soil.

1. Peat, or bog-earth. The best is that of a blackish or dark-
brown hue, and spongy texture.

2. Decayed leaf-mould, or rich garden soil.

3. Loam. The best is of a yellowish hue, containing much
vegetable fibre.

4. Sand. The white or silver sand being preferable, though not
essential.

5. Mortar from old buildings.

Where the collection is large or increasing, a compost, prepared
by mixing the first four in equal proportions, is desirable, as being
always at hand, and capable of modification as necessity may re-
quire. The old mortar is only for occasional use, but a small

quantity may generally be added with advantage. The compost
should be kept slightly moist, but not wet. In potting, the shards
must occupy at the least one or two inches of depth at the bottom ;
and it is better to place over them a thin layer of moss, to prevent
the soil from falling between and interfering with the ready
passage of the superfluous water. A few fragments of charcoal
should be placed over the moss ; and the soil being then thrown
in lightly around the root of the fern, and some pieces of stone
or slate forced into it vertically, the whole may be settled by
watering.

Without referring to the variety of adaptations of which a fern
garden is susceptible on a large scale, either as ornamental, or as
affording place for the reception of species of every kind of habitat,
from the river-side and the swamp to the mountain-rock and the
church-tower, I will confine my suggestions as to out-door plant-
ing, within the compass attainable by those who have only a small
space wherein to operate. Selecting a spot in the garden sheltered
from the direct rays of the sun, but if possible not subject to the
drip from trees ; a bank of loose soil, or common garden-mould
mixed with brick-rubbish and old mortar, may be thrown up to
the height of from two to four feet above the general level ; in
which, when settled by the rain or copious watering, so as to avoid
farther sinking, excavations of different depths may be made for
the reception of those species that require the most moisture,
keeping up the surrounding soil with fragments of stone or burs
from the brick-kiln. In planting, it is sufficient, in a general way,
to supply the compost soil to the extent of five or six inches around
the ball of root, as most of the larger ferns readily spread their
radicles into the looser and rougher material of the bank. Around
the deeper and larger excavations for the marsh and flowering
ferns, a wall of loose porous stones or old bricks, with a mixture of
sandy peat and decayed mortar spread between them, will afford a
congenial site for the smaller rock species, especially those of the

genus Asplenium ; and, if the wall be carried up higher than the
adjoining part of, the bank, so that the latter may be raised against
it, the Common Polypody will be induced to overrun the slope
with luxuriance and pleasing effect, its matted rhizomes being at
first kept firm, by disposing here and there a few heavy pieces of
chalk-flint, or other stones.

It must be understood that the chief recommendations of such a
bank, are the facility with which it is constructed, and the insurance
of good drainage. Of course the water readily running off the
higher parts, renders it necessary that evaporation should be
checked as much as possible, and in order to effect this, irregular
masses of stone, and cemented brick, from the kiln or the old
furnace, may be scattered upon the surface around the roots of the
ferns ; these will not only retain a considerable degree of moisture
beneath, but afford shelter to the foliage, and, carefully selected
and disposed, may be rendered more subservient to the picturesque
than elaborately constructed rock-work.

Many persons, in following out fancies of the latter kind, with
more of the grotesque than good taste, employ the vitrified clinkers
from the potteries and glass-works; but, as the object to be ob-
tained is less ornament than utility, I prefer the brick, on account
of its porosity and the quantity of water it is capable of retaining ;
and that the ferns have a similar preference, is evident from the
complicated masses of root-fibre and spongioles that form on the
surface of the soil, and even ramify into the pores and crevices of
these rude masses wherever they have remained for a few months
undisturbed.

The classification of the Ferns being very arbitrary and unsettled,
and our view comprising only those of a particular locality far from
rich in the number of species, I have not considered it requisite to
disturb the sequence of the genera by allusion to it in the body of
the work. As at present constructed, the British Ferns are in-

eluded in three principal groups or orders, the characters and
genera of which are stated below.

I. POLYPODIACE^E.

Thecse collected in sori on the back or margin of the frond, pel-
lucid, reticulated ; invested by an articulated, elastic, more or less
complete annulus or ring. Vernation circmate.

The annulus is a continuation of the stalk of the theca ; in other
words, it is the middle vein of the minute circinate leaf that forms
the latter, which is torn open by its extension.

* Annulus vertical.

1. Polypodium. 6. Athyrium. 11. Pteris.

2. Woodsia. 7. Asplenium. 12. Allosorus.

3. Lastrea. 8. Scolopendrium. 13. Adiantum.

4. Polystichum. 9. Ceterach.

5. Cystopteris. 10. Blechnum.

** Annulus horizontal or oblique.
14. Trichomanes. 15. Hymenophyllum.

II. OSMUNDACE.E.

Fructification developed upon depauperated portions of a more
or less compound frond. Thecse stalked, membranaceous, reti-
culated, destitute of annulus, opening vertically with two valves.
Vernation circinate.

16. Osmunda.

III. OPHIOGLOSSACEJE.

Fructification developed upon depauperated simple or compound
fronds. Thecae sessile, coriaceous, opaque, without any trace of
annulus or reticulation, bivalvular. Vernation straight

I O

17. Botrychium. 18. Ophioglossum.

Genus 1. POLYPODIUM.

GEN. CHAR. Sori circular, naked. Margin of the frond not re-
flexed.

One of the most extensive and diversified genera of the order,
chiefly distributed over the tropical countries of the Western hemi-
sphere. Of the four British species, three have been occasionally
referred to 'other genera, on account of the supposed presence of
an indusium, noticed by Roth, a celebrated German botanist, but
certainly not to be detected, in any stage of development, in those
specimens that have passed under my own observation, either wild
or cultivated, which latter I have diligently examined at every
period of their growth.

The generic name is formed from 770X1)9, many, and TTO?S, foot,
in allusion to the form of the branched rhizoma in the most common
native species.

POLYPODIUM VULGARE. Common Polypody. TAB. I.

Fronds lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid; segments linear-lanceolate,
obtuse, indistinctly serrated, approximate.

Polypodium vulgare, Linnaeus. Ctenopteris vulgaris, Newman,
Hist. Brit. Ferns, 41.

Very frequent about the roots and moss-grown trunks of trees,
on rocks, shady hedge-banks, walls, and old thatched roofs. The
rhizoma branches in all directions, the branches, when it has grown
long undisturbed, crossing each other and forming a thick mat-like
substance : it is at first clothed with a cuticle densely covered with
yellowish -brown, membranaceous, lanceolate scales, which, falling
off, or becoming obliterated during the winter, leaves the surface
nearly smooth and of a yellowish hue. The young fronds begin to
appear 'in May, rapidly attaining the full size, which varies accord-
ing to situation from the length of five or six inches to that of
twelve or eighteen : where much exposed, and at a distance from
the ground, they have generally in maturity a drooping habit, and
even become almost pendent, but in sheltered localities often retain
their original erect position throughout. The rachis is smooth,
grooved on the upper face, and bare about half or one-third of its
length.

The lateral veins of the segments are alternate, and each divides
into from three to five branches, of which the lowest, directed up-
wards, always terminates midway, while the others are continued
nearly to the margin; all of them in the barren segments being

B

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thickened in a club-like manner at the extremity. The fructification
is, in most instances, confined to the upper divisions of the frond
only, but sometimes they are all fertile. The sori, of a bright
yellow or orange colour, changing in maturity to brown, are desti-
tute of indusium, and very regularly disposed in a line on each side
of the mid- vein, halfway between it and the margin ; a disposition
resulting from their development at the extremity of the first branch
of the lateral vein. In very vigorous fronds the regular dotted line
of fructification thus formed is sometimes disturbed, by the pro-
duction of a sorus at the extremity of one or even two of the upper
branches of the same vein ; indeed, the thickening of this part seems
to be the first stage in the development of the sorus.

The fronds of this fern are in perfection from August to Novem-
ber, but are, in exposed situations, always disfigured by the first
frost. Under shelter it becomes evergreen, retaining the old fronds
until the appearance of the new ones. In cultivation it does not
generally succeed so well as do most of our native species : Mr.
Newman observes that it is somewhat parasitic, and I believe he is
right, never having been able to keep it in luxuriance, until it was
accommodated with a large proportion of decayed wood, moss, and
straw, mingled with the compost previously employed, into the
interstices of which the delicate root-fibres very soon penetrated,
lining every cavity with their brown hair-like spongioles.

Several varieties are met with, distinguished chiefly by the divi-
sion and serrature of the segments, viz. :

1. bifidum, in which each segment is divided at the extremity
into two diverging lobes, — not an uncommon occurrence, indeed,
in the frond itself.

2. serratum, characterized by the more distinct or deeper ser-
ratures.

3. Cambricwn, Welsh Polypody, with a broader frond and the
segments irregularly cleft : this is always barren. Linnaeus, by
whom it was first described, regarded it as a distinct species.

4. Hibernicum, Irish Polypody, distinguished by the broader
frond being bi- or tri-pinnatifid and fertile. A very striking and
beautiful variety, found by Mr. Mackay, in the Dargle, in the
county of Wicklow, Ireland.

Intermediate varieties connect all of these with the normal or
common form.

The rhizoma is mucilaginous and has a sweetish flavour, but by
long boiling it becomes bitter. An infusion of it in a recent state
is sometimes administered in the country as a mild cathartic. It
was once highly esteemed by the faculty as an expectorant, and
especially recommended for hooping-cough; but although still
occasionally employed as a domestic remedy, it has long been
excluded from the list of orthodox medicines.

POLYPODIUM PHEGOPTERIS. Mountain Polypody. TAB. II.

Fronds triangularly lanceolate, acuminate, subpinnate : pinnae
linear-lanceolate, acute, deeply pinnatifid, with obtuse, entire lobes ;
the lowest pair distant, deflexed. Sori nearly marginal.

Polypodium Phegopteris, Linnceus. Polystichum Phegopteris, Roth.
Lastrea Phegopteris, Newman. Gymnocarpium Phegopteris,
Newm. Hist. Brit. Ferns, 49.

Not unfrequent in the alpine and subalpine or rocky districts of
the south-western and northern counties of England, and in Wales
and Scotland ; but apparently of rare occurrence in Ireland. Its
favourite habitats are moist woods, and shady spots about moun-
tain lakes, rills, and waterfalls. The rhizoma is of a blackish hue,
slender, wiry, branching and creeping in every direction, so as often
to form a network over the face of the moist rock where there is
no trace of soil, striking its hair-like rootlets into every crevice.
The fronds make their appearance about the same period, or rather
earlier than those of the common Polypody, and are in perfection
from July to September : they are of a pale green colour, hairy, and
vary from five or six inches to a foot in height, of which the leafy
portion occupies less than half, its general outline being triangular,
but much acuminated. The pinnae are mostly opposite, the lowest
pair being rather distant from the others and directed downwards
and forwards, forming a very remarkable feature by which this
fern is readily recognized ; they are likewise perfectly distinct, and
attached to the rachis by a short stalk : the upper ones, on the
contrary, point toward the apex of the frond, and, with the occa-
sional exception of the second pair, are sessile, and attached by
their entire base, so as to appear confluent, as indeed those toward
the extremity usually are. The lateral veins of the lobes are alter-
nate, mostly simple, and extend to the margin, bearing, each, near
the end a small circular sorus, the whole fructification thus forming
an intromargiual line of spots.

It is an elegant species under cultivation, spreading very freely,
and requiring little attention in planting, except to secure the
almost universal requirement of the Fern, shade. Exposure to the
sun, though only for a very short time, changes the delicate green
hue of the frond to brown, and soon destroys a plant naturally
adapted to those moist situations in which alone it luxuriates.

POLYPODIUM DRYOPTERIS. Tender three-branched Polypody.
TAB. III.

Fronds ternate, glabrous; branches pinnate, drooping; pinnae
pinnatifid, with obtuse crenated segments. Sori nearly marginal.

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Polypodium Dryopteris, Linrueus. Polystichum Dryopteris, Roth.
Lastrea Dryopteris, Newman. Gymnocarpium Dryopteris,
Newm. Hist. Brit. Ferns, 57.

Not unfrequent in dry stony woods and shady rocky places in
the mountainous parts of the north of England, and in Wales and
Scotland ; often very luxuriant about waterfalls, where it is kept
constantly moistened by the spray, but rarely in this case producing
fructification. The rhizoma, very slender, often almost filiform,
spreads widely, forming, with its complicated branches and dark-
coloured radicles, a dense turf-like mass. The fronds spring up
in April, and present a remarkable form of vernation, the three
branches being separately coiled, so as to resemble, as observed
first by Mr. Newman, three little balls supported on slender wires.
In maturity they vary from three or four inches to a foot in height, are
of a pale bright green, perfectly smooth, and supported by an erect,
very slender brittle stalk or rachis, clothed with a few scales at the
base. A general tendency to droop is characteristic of the whole of
the leafy portion of this delicate fern, affepting not only the primary
branches, but giving a striking convexity to all of the segments, a
circumstance well expressed in our figure. The fronds are mostly
barren ; the fertile ones rise higher than the others, and are farther
distinguished by the comparative narrowness of their segments.
The lateral veins of the segments are generally branched, and,
where fertile, the sori are produced near the extremity of the upper-
most branches ; in luxuriant specimens their regular arrangement
is often disturbed by development from some of the other branches
of the vein. Fructification in June and July.

In cultivation, shade is even more essential t</ this species than
to the preceding. Next to the delicacy of texture and graceful
habit, the vivid green hue of the foliage constitutes its principal
beauty, and this latter is entirely lost by exposure to direct sun-
light. Abundant moisture, though recommended by many, is so
far from being necessary to its flourishing condition, that, unless
drainage is at the same time complete, it will soon destroy the
plant by causing the decay of the rhizoma. Attention to these
circumstances will ensure the fact, that one of the most elegant
and beautiful of our smaller ferns is likewise one of the most free
growers and most easily kept.

POLYPODIUM CALCAREUM. Rigid three-branched Polypody.
TAB. IV.

Fronds triangular, subtcrnate, erect, glandular; branches pin-
nate ; pinnae of the lower ones piiwiatifid, with obtuse segments,
those of the upper branch nearly entire. Sori marginal.

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Polypodium calcareum, Smith. Lastrea Robertiana, Newman.
Gymnocarpium Robertianum, Newm. Hist. Brit. Ferns, 63.

Apparently confined in its natural growth to limestone districts.
Sir J. E. Smith first noticed it as a distinct species, and it is
perhaps more frequent than generally supposed. In the rocky
parts of Derbyshire it is far from uncommon, occurring among
grass and bushes in broken limestone and tufa ; the Cheddar cliffs
and Ingleborough are other stations ; and the growing specimens
in my garden are from the vicinity of Kenil worth, where it accom-
panied P. Dryopteris, a species with which it has often been con-
founded, although in habit and other respects very dissimilar.
The rhi/oma is thicker and less spreading than that of the latter
plant ; the frond less distinctly ternate or three-branched, the lower
branches being shorter than the terminal or middle one ; all the
three are rigid, expanding upward on the same plane, and not at
all drooping. The colour of the frond is of a dull green, owing to
the presence of numerous minute stalked glands that give a mealy
appearance to the surface, and similar glands communicate a
glaucous hue to the rachis. The sori arising from the extremities
of the lateral veins of the segments form a more distinct intro-
marginal series than those of P. Dryopteris, and generally become
confluent when the thecse open.

Being of less compact growth than the last species, and more
rigid, it is a much less ornamental plant ; but it bears exposure
better. Most persons who have had it under cultivation complain
of its liability to die off, but 1 believe this to be the effect of con-
finement and superabundant moisture : left to itself, few ferns are
more hardy, but it likes pure air and perfect drainage. Even in
the wild state it cannot be styled a " free-grower," and being a
very local plant, its natural condition must be considered as much
as possible in our efforts to naturalize it in the fern garden. It
flourishes best on a sloping bank, planted near the surface, with
an admixture of lime rubbish to the ordinary compost, the ground
about it being studded with fragments of stone or burs from the
brick-kiln to prevent evaporation. Under these circumstances it
does not seem to be injured by daily exposure to four or five hours
of the mid-day sun. If grown in pots, they should be large, and
about one-third filled with draining material.

Genus 2. WOODSIA.

GEN. CHAR. Sori circular ; invested by an inferior involucre, the
margin of which is divided into numerous jointed, generally
capillary segments.

A very small genus of alpine ferns, named in memovy of Joseph

14

Woods, a British botanist. Chiefly remarkable on account of the
singular character of the so-called involucre, which is however only
a modification of an indusium, opening in the centre, and splitting
more or less regularly into the conferva-like filaments accompanying
the magnified sorus in our figure of W. Ilvensis. Its true nature
is very obvious on examination of the immature sori. The two
British species are among the rarest of our indigenous plants:
notwithstanding a considerable difference in habit, and in the
divisions of the frond, many modem botanists regard them only as
varieties.

WOODSIA ILVENSIS. Oblong Woodsia. TAB. V.

Fronds lanceolate, pinnate; pinnse oblong, deeply pinnatifid,
chaffy beneath. Rachis chaffy.

Woodsia Ilvensis, R. Brown. Acrostichum Ilvense, Linnaus.
Polypodium arvonicum, Withering. Polypodium Ilvense,
Swartz.

Only found growing in the crevices of moist rocks about the
summits of our higher mountains, and so sparingly distributed in
these localities as to be regarded exceedingly rare. The recorded
habitats are few, viz. Falcon Glints, Teesdale, Durham; Clogwynn-y-
Garnedd, Snowdon, and Llynn-y-cwn, on Glyder Vawr, Wales ; and
the Clova mountains, Scotland. A careful explorer of the bleak
regions over which many other rarities of our alpine flora are
distributed, would however probably find reason to conclude that
its extension is far less limited. This remark is not one at ran-
dom ; but the wanton appropriation, or it might rather be styled
depredation, exercised by certain wholesale collectors, not of spe-
cimens only, but of entire plants, has rendered the true botanist,
in cases like the present, averse to the promulgation of his dis-
coveries.

The fronds grow in a tuft at the extremity of a very short
rhizoma, seldom exceed two or three inches in height, and in
very dry or exposed situations are sometimes not above one inch.
In general outline they are lanceolate and pinnate, with mostly
opposite, oblong, deeply-lobed pinna?. The under surface is more
or less covered with glossy, jointed hairs, accompanied, especially
about the mid-veins, by long, attenuated scales, which, with the
capillary segments of the indusium, often nearly conceal the sori.
The sori are produced at or near the extremities of the lateral
veins of the lobes, a crenation of the margin of the latter generally
attending their development. They attain maturity in August
and September.

15

The hairiness of the rachis, always conspicuous on the young
fronds, is sometimes obliterated in their after-growth.

WOODSIA HYPERBOREA. Alpine Woodsia. TAB. VI.

Fronds linear-lanceolate, pinnate; pinnse obtusely triangular,
pinnatifid, with rounded segments.

Woodsia hyperborea, Brown. E. B. 2023. Smith. Hooker and
Arnott. Woodsia alpina, Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 79.
Woodsia ilvensis, var., Babington. Acrostichum alpinum,
Bolton.

Met with in similar situations as the preceding, but apparently
of rarer occurrence. The habitats hitherto recorded are, Clogwynn-
y-Garnedd, and Moel Sichog, Snowdon, in Wales; Ben Lawers,
Mael-dun-Crosk, and Craig-Challiach, Perthshire ; and, according
to Dr. Balfour, in Glen Fiadh, Forfarshire, in Scotland. In habit
it is not unlike W. Ilvensis, but the narrower fronds are of a
thinner texture, and less hairy and chaffy ; while the pinnse, al-
most invariably alternate, are shorter, and nearly triangular in
their general outline, and their lobes fewer and more rounded.

Our figures of these two ferns will convey the idea of specific
distinction, and those of Mr. Newman, above quoted, are even
more decided in this respect ; but the comparison of specimens of
both from different localities, and even from the same gathered in
different years, renders it very doubtful whether they ought to be
regarded as other than mere varieties of one species.

For successful cultivation of the Woodsia, shade, a moist atmo-
sphere, and perfect drainage about the roots, are points of the
utmost importance, and are especially indicated by its natural
localities. Owing to their rarity as British ferns, few persons
have ventured to plant them in the open air ; in which, however,
sheltered from the sun in summer, and from the drying easterly
winds of spring, I am informed they may be grown luxuriantly.
When potted, sandy peat, mingled with a small quantity of /yellow
loam, broken limestone and slate, affords a soil among which the
black wiry roots readily extend; and if the pot be previously half
filled with small fragments of stone and sand sifted among them,
the plant will not be liable to suffer from the accumulation of
moisture. Although a damp atmosphere is favourable during the
growing season, these ferns will not bear confinement in close
frames or cases ; however vigorously they may grow at first, they
art soon rendered feeble by the want of a free r-irculation of air.

16

Genus 3. LASTREA.

GEN. CHAR. Sori nearly circular, seated upon the back of the
lateral veins ; covered by a rcniform iudusium attached by its
sinus.

The ferns included in this and the following genus, Polystichum,
are by some botanists associated under the general name of Aspi-
dium, to which genus they are referred in " English Botany." A
difference in the form and attachment of the indusium has been
considered a feature of sufficient importance to warrant their divi-
sion. The name Nephrodium, originally suggested by Mr. Brown,
has given way to that of Lastrca, bestowed upon it by Presl in
honour of M. De Lastre of Chatelleraut.

LASTREA THELYPTERIS. Marsh Fern. TAB. VII.

Rhizoma creeping. Fronds lanceolate, pinnate : pinnse linear-
lanceolate, pinnatifid ; lobes oblong, obtuse, the fertile ones with
revolute margins. Sori submarginal.

Lastrea Thelypteris, Presl. Aspiclium Thelypteris, Swartz. Smith.
Hooker. E.B. the fig. a mistake. Hemestheum Thelypteris,
Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 123. Acrostichum & Polypo-
dium, Linn.

A very local species, found only in a wet spongy soil, in marshes
and bogs; not unfrequent in England and Wales, but rare in
Scotland and Ireland. Where met with it is generally abundant,
in consequence of its creeping habit, which is not unlike that of
the common Brake (Pteris aquilina), the long, slender rhizoma
growing rapidly, and branching in every direction. It is a colonizer
of wet soils, as the latter fern is of dry ones. The fronds are of
two kinds, barren and fertile, and spring up at short intervals,
never in tufts: the barren ones make their appearance in the latter
end of April or the beginning of May, and in their ultimate growth
seldom attain more than a foot in height; the fertile, produced
about July, are taller, not unfrequently reaching three feet or even
four, tae lower half or two-thirds of the rachis being devoid of
pinnae. The lateral veins divide in pairs about halfway between
the mid-vein and the margin, anu, in the fertile fronds, bear the
sori, one on each division, forming thus an intromarginal series
just within the rccurvation. In maturity the sori become con-
fluent, and all traces of the reniform indusium are obliterated.

The species is a very elegant one, and not at all difficult of cul-
tivation ; it docs not seem to be injured by moderate exposure to
the sun, provided the soil in which it is planted be sufficiently

17

retentive of moisture to prevent the roots from becoming withered
during dry weather. I have grown it for many years on the same
bank with Polypodium calcareum, vulgare, and other rock and epi-
phytic species, planting it at first in a hollow less than a foot below
them, and covering the rhizoma with pieces of peat turf and frag-
ments of stone and brick. The fertile fronds under these circum-
stances attained a height of nearly three feet, although under the
influence of the direct rays of the summer sun from eleven o'clock
until two. This circumstance is referred to, because it is a common
notion that in the cultivation of bog or marsh plants abundant
moisture is most essential to their luxuriance, and the unli-
mited supply furnished in consequence too frequently occasions
their destruction. The Marsh Fern will endure a more continued
maceration of its roots than most others, but in lieu of forming an
undrainable bed for its reception, as often recommended, it would
be following nature more closely were we to permit all unabsorbed
water to filter through the subsoil. My own specimens (originally
brought in their native turf from Epping Forest) are grown in the
black peat of Wimbledon Common, laid about four inches in depth
on the common garden loam, and covered as mentioned above, for
the purpose of preventing the evaporation that would take place if
the soil were left bare. Their share of the general watering is all
that the plants receive, and they have flourished for six years under
this treatment.

LASTREA OREOPTERIS. Heath Fern. Mountain Fern. TAB. VIII.

Fronds tufted, lanceolate pinnate : pinnae linear-lanceolate, pin-
natifid, sprinkled with resinous glands beneath; lobes oblong,
obtuse, flat. Sori marginal.

Lastrea Oreopteris, PresL Aspidium Oreopteris, Swartz. Smith.
Hooker. E. B. Polypodium montanum, Vogler. Lastrea
montana, Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 129. Polypodium fra-
grans, Linnaus.

A native of mountainous and upland heaths and of woods, more
abundant in the north of England, and in Wales and Scotland,
than in our southern counties, where, however, it is still of frequent
occurrence. In Ireland it is considered rare. The fronds make
their appearance about the beginning of May, springing in a circle
from the apex of the short rhizoma, and attaining a medium height
of two or three feet, but varying in different situations and expo-
sures from one to four or even five feet. The general outline is
lanceolate ; but the pinna? are gradually shorter from the middle
downwards, until, near the base of the rachis, they often wholly
lose their pinnatifid character, and assume that of small triangular

c

18

leaflets with serrated margins. The under surface of the lobes is
profusely sprinkled with minute, glossy, gold-coloured, glandular
globules, which give a rich golden hue to the expanding fronds,
that renders this beautiful fern very conspicuous when planted
among others. To the secretion by these glands is probably due
the peculiar odour of the fronds when bruised, which, being far
from unpleasant in the open air, occasioned Linnaeus to name the
species Polypodium fragrans. The ordinary venation of the lobes,
and the position of the sori, are shown in our figure; but, it may be
remarked, that the latter are sometimes much more crowded, in
consequence of the lateral veins dividing, as exhibited in the two
lower ones, and bearing a sorus on each branch.

Many persons complain of a difficulty in rearing or establishing
L. Oreopteris, and of its liability to dwindle and die under culture ;
and there seems to be a diversity of opinion respecting the soil and
treatment that it requires, even among those whose experience is
far from being limited. Thus, one recommends it to be planted in
well-drained pots, with an admixture of turfy peat, broken char-
coal and sand, and kept only moderately supplied with water;
while another plants it in yellow loam, without any admixture of
other soil, and keeps the pots constantly standing in water. Both
methods may succeed ; but the open air and free ground answer
better than either. And, in regard to soil, a plant that in a state
of nature grows here in the yellow loam, there in the black peat,
and elsewhere in the fissure of the sand-rock, or on the side of the
gravel-pit, can scarcely be much affected by the difference. A very
good general rule to follow in the transplantation of the wild fern,
is to carry with it a portion of the soil in which it grows ; or, at
least, to imitate this as nearly as possible. And I believe the reason
why L. Oreopteris often fails, is, that this rule is not attended to ;
ana that the plants, having their constitution adapted to the situa-
tion where their seedling growth commenced, do not readily change
it under the new conditions in which they may be placed.

Some slight general resemblances between this species and L.
Thelypteris, especially in the form and proportions of the frond and
in the marginal fructification, which might mislead an inexperienced
collector, render it necessary to remark upon the more obvious fea-
tures by which they are distinguished. The fronds of the present
species always grow in tufts ; they are leafy almost to the very base
of the rachis, which latter is copiously covered with pale brown
scales, while in L. Thelypteris it is nearly smooth, and in the lower
part devoid of pinnae through about one-third of its height. The
golden glands, and the perfectly flat instead of recurved margin of
the fertile lobes, are characters — especially the former — that, if
attended to, render it impossible to confound the plant before' us
with its congener.

19

LASTREA FILIX-MAS. Male Fern. TAB. IX.

Fronds tufted, lanceolate, bipinnate : pinnse linear-lanceolate ;
pinnules oblong obtuse, serrated. Sori in a line on each side of
the midvein.

Lastrea Filix-mas, PresL Aspidium Filix-mas, Swartz. Smith.
Hooker. E. B. Polypodium, Linnceus. Dryopteris Filix-mas,
Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 183.

The most common of our indigenous Ferns, with the exception
of Pteris aquilina, occurring in woods, thickets, and on banks and
hedge-bottoms in almost every kind of soil. The fronds spring in
a circular manner from the extremity of the large scaly rhizoma,
presenting vase-like tufts, hollow in the centre, a habit that renders
this species highly ornamental when occupying situations sheltered
from the wind ; they vary according to age or exposure, from two
to three or four feet in height, growing nearly erect, but with a
slight determination outwards : their development commences in
May, the circinate vernation, at first gradually uncoiling, being
soon obliterated by the liberation of the apex, which, hanging
downwards, gives the upper part of the frond a bend resembling
that of a shepherd's crook, a character, however, it should be ob-
served, not peculiar to this fern. The rachis, leafy through about
two-thirds or three-fourths of its length, is more or less densely
clothed with thin membranous pointed scales, of a pale, often
purplish hue, especially towards the base. The lower pinnse are
much shorter than those of the middle, but never approach the
diminutive size of those of L. Oreopteris, nor do they extend so
far downwards. The pinnules, generally distinct at the lower part
of the pinnse and thus justifying the specific character, bipinnate,
are confluent above ; they are likewise liable to vary from the ordi-
nary oblong and obtuse to the more lanceolate form, and the margin
from crenate to serrate, the serratures occasionally terminating in
slender spines. The sori are produced on the upper branch of the
forked lateral veins a little above the furcation, and hence form a
line on each side of the midvein, but seldom extending much more
than half the length of the pinnule ; they are covered by a very
conspicuous smooth reniform indusium, of a more permanent cha-
racter than that of most other British Ferns, and attached by its
sinus. The fructification is usually matured in August, but the
fronds retain their beauty to the close of the year, and often, in
mild seasons and sheltered situations, throughout the winter.

Variations from the normal form of L. Filix-mas are not of
unfrequent occurrence, and in a few instances they are of so striking
and permanent a character as to claim a separate notice, viz. :

1. incisa. Frond robust, broadly lanceolate: pinnse distant;

c2

20

pinnules distinct, elongate, narrow, acuminate, deeply incised, the
lobes serrated. Sori extending nearly the entire length of the
pinnules. Lastrea Filix-mas, /3. incisa, Moore, Handbook Brit.
Ferns, 50. Aspidium Filix-mas, /3. erosum, Hooker and Arnott.
Dryopteris affinis, Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 187.

2. abbreviata. Frond small, lanceolate, pinnate. Sori confined
to the base of contracted or obsolete pinnules, forming a linear
series on each side of the midvein of the pinnae. Lastrea Filix-mas,
/3. abbreviata, Babington. Polystichum abbreviatum, DeCandolle.

3. Borreri. Frond narrow lanceolate. Rachis clothed with
ruddy-golden scales and hairs. Sori few, large, two or three pairs
at the base of each pinnule. Dryopteris Filix-mas, var. Borreri,
New. -nan, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 189.

Of these, the variety incisa is far from uncommon ; abbreviata
has been found on Ingleborough, Yorkshire, on the basaltic cliffs
of Teesdale, and in the Peak district, Derbyshire, everywhere appa-
rently in dry localities ; Borreri seems to be common, though first
observed by Mr. Borrer in Devonshire, as a variety " with more
copious and brighter coloured scales on the rachis, and with a
bright golden-yellow tinge on the whole frond." Brit. Flora.

Abbreviata retains its distinguishing features in all soils and
under different treatment in cultivation, and may perhaps even-
tually prove a separate species.

The rhizoma of this species has been employed as an anthel-
mintic ever since the time of Theophrastus, and it is still a favourite
remedy in worm cases in many parts of the Continent. The
attention of modern medical practitioners was probably first directed
to it, in consequence of its being the ostensible remedy of Madame
Nouffer of Switzerland, who sold her secret method of expelling
the tape-worm to Louis XVI. for 18,000 francs. The inner parts
of the rhizoma, carefully dried and reduced to powder, and a de-
coction and ethereal tincture of the same and of the unexpanded
fronds or fern buds, are the preparations employed, but in this
country they are now rarely resorted to, because other medicines
have been found more effectual. The anthelmintic property resides
in an essential oil, and is lost by keeping the powder otherwise than
in well-stopped bottles, hence the fresh preparations are always
preferred.

There is no difficulty in the way of cultivating the Male Fern ;
it will grow readily in the common soil of a garden, but is ren-
dered more luxuriant by planting it in the compost described in our
introduction, and selecting a shady and moist situation. Its com-
pact growth, large size, and bright green hue are well adapted to
contrast with the naked trunks of trees in plantations, and to
break the uniformity of shrubberies and wilderness walks, but it
should be so planted that its natural growth may not be disturbed

21

by that of its neighbours, as much of its beauty is dependent upon
the regular development of the fronds, and the erect vase-like form
of them in the mass.

LASTREA. CRISTATA. Crested Fern. TAB. X.

Fronds linear-oblong, nearly bipinnate ; pinnae short triangular-
oblong, deeply pinnatifid with oblong serrated lobes ; the lower
lobes or pinnules often almost pinnatifid. Sori chiefly confined to
the upper part of the frond.

Lastrea cristata, Presl. Aspidium cristatum, Swartz. Smith.
Hooker. E. B. Polypodium cristatum, Linneeus. Polypodium
Callipteris, Ehrhart. Lophodium Callipteris, Newman, Hist.
Brit. Ferns, 169.

One of our rarest English Ferns, or at least extremely local in
its distribution, being confined to boggy heaths and moors, and
found hitherto in only four of the counties of England. The re-
corded habitats are — Westleton, Suffolk; Holt Heath, Fritton, Der-
singham, Edgefield, and Bawsey Heath, Norfolk ; Oxton Bogs and
Bulwell Marshes, Nottinghamshire; and Wybunbury Bog, Cheshire.
The Suffolk station is doubtful. Several years back I searched the
locality where Mr. Davy is said to have found it, without success,
though guided to the alder bushes where his specimens were col-
lected, nor could I meet with the plant anywhere in the neigh-
bourhood. According to Mr. Newman, it does not appear to have
been found there by any recent examiner.

It is remarkable that L. Filix-mas should have been frequently
confounded with the present species, considering the striking dif-
ference in habit that exists between them ; but the desire to add a
rarity to his collection will occasionally lead even an accomplished
botanist into a similar mistake to that by which we have a Suffolk
habitat recorded for a fern that probably does not grow there.

The rhizoma is stout and strong, and, branching occasionally in
different directions, frequently occupies in old plants a considerable
space, sending up annually a tuft of erect fronds from the extre-
mity of each branch or crown. The fronds attain a height of two
feet or more under favourable circumstances, and are peculiarly
erect, so as to render it next to impossible for a person who has
once seen it growing naturally to confound it with any other native
fern. Kather more than one-third of the rachis is bare of pinnae,
and more or less covered with scattered broad obtuse pale brown
membranaceous scales ; the pinnae, nearly equal in length except
toward the apex, are in rather distant and generally opposite pairs ;
their segments, often assuming the character of distinct pinnules in
the lower part, are deeply serrated, and sometimes even pinnatifid,

22

the serratures terminating sharply. The lateral veins of the lobes
divide into several branches, the uppermost of which bear the sori,
which thus form a line on each side the midvein about half-way
between it and the margin, extending to the extremity of each lobe
or pinnule. The indusium is nearly circular, very permanent, and
conspicuous from the contrast of its white or pale leaden hue with
the black or dark-coloured thecae. The regular arrangement of the
sori is frequently disturbed in luxuriant specimens by super-develop-
ment, and they generally become confluent in maturity, a state
attained in the latter end of August. The fronds remain green in
mild seasons throughout the winter.

This is not at all a shy species under cultivation : it succeeds best
in turfy peat, without admixture of any other soil, and, though
naturally an inhabitant of boggy ground, seems to bear drought
better than some of those belonging to drier situations ; neither is
shade so essential as to render exposure to the sun a matter of any
importance : indeed I have this summer a specimen, two feet high,
and in fine condition, growing on a sloping bank, and quite unshaded
from sunrise to three o'clock in the afternoon.

The specific name, cristata, has been cavilled at by some botanists,
but was evidently bestowed on it by Linnaeus, in consequence of a
fanciful comparison between the cluster of its peculiarly erect fronds
and the aigrette of vertical feathers on the head of the peacock, Pavo
cristatus: that of Ehrhart, Callipteris, literally beautiful fern, adopted
by DeCandolle, associates ill with a species not at all remarkable
among its congeners for the attribute expressed.

LASTREA RIGIDA. Rigid Lastrea. TAB. XI.

Fronds triangular-lanceolate, bipinnate, glandular : pinnules ob-
long, obtuse, lobed, the segments broad, rounded, 2-5-toothed.
Indusium persistent, fringed with glands.

Lastrea rigida, Presl Aspidium rigidum, Swartz. Smith. Hooker
E.B. Lophodium rigidum, Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 175
Polypodium fragrans? Linnaus.

This appears to be a very local species, having hitherto been
almost exclusively found in the mountainous districts of the north
of England. It was first noticed as a British fern by the Rev. Mr.
Bree, who met with it growing on Ingleborough, and subsequent
researches have shown that it is abundantly distributed along the
limestone formation of Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Lancashire.
Mr. Finder and others have remarked upon the profusion in which
it grows, at intervals, between Arnside Knot (near Silverdale, West-
moreland) and Ingleborough, springing from the deep fissures of

23

the natural platform, and occasionally high in the clefts of the rocks.
It is generally, he observes, much shattered by the winds, or cropped
by the sheep, which seem to be fond of it. Mr. Tatham found it
abundant in the fissures of limestone rocks, near Settle, in York-
shire,' at an elevation of 1550 feet; and also on White Scars, above
Ingleton. A single plant, found by Mr. Vize, near Bath, and one
Irish habitat furnished by Mr. Darby, who gathered it at Townley
Hall, Louth, from a wall " built of clay-slate, and much overhung
with trees," are scarcely to be regarded as exceptions to the fact
that its natural site in this country is limited to the district above
recorded, as in both of the latter instances circumstances seem to
indicate that it was planted.

The fronds spring in tufts from the summit of a thick, slowly-
lengthening rhizoma : they grow nearly erect, varying much in
height according to situation, from six inches to two feet or more :
the leafy portion occupies about two-thirds of the length, the lower
part of the rachis being densely covered with reddish-brown mem-
branaceous scales, broad at the base, but attenuated upwards and
terminating very acutely. In general outline the frond varies, but
is mostly of an elongated triangular form. Mr. Newman, however,
remarks that this form is only met with in young or weak specimens,
and that an elongate-lanceolate one prevails in older and stronger
plants ; he has figured both of these varieties, the latter having the
lower pinnae gradually shortening from the middle of the frond.
The figure in Mr. Moore's ' Handbook of British Ferns/ page 54,
accords with this, and, as far as my own observation extends, con-
veys a very erroneous notion of the general character of the species,
a circumstance to be regretted, because it is almost the only faulty
representation in one of the most valuable manuals ever published.
Mr. Newman's left-hand figure is very characteristic of that which
is generally regarded the normal condition of the plant. The pinnae
are alternate, linear-lanceolate, and all pinnate : the pinnules are
oblong obtuse, sometimes slightly decurrent, more or less deeply
lobed or pinnatifid ; the segments broad and terminated with from
two to five very acute, but not spinulose teeth, the number of
which is determined by the branching of the lateral veins. The
sori are disposed on the upper branches of the veins, which are always
the result of the first bifurcation, and thus form two parallel lines,
one on each side of the midvein ; in maturity they become con-
fluent. The indusium, reniform and attached to the vein by a short
stalk at its sinus, is very permanent and conspicuous, and is fringed
round the margin with stalked globular glands. Similar glands
with shorter pedicels are found scattered over the whole surface of
the frond, and to their secretions is probably due the not unpleasant
odour that obtained for this plant the early specific name of fra-
grans, a name, however, which undoubtedly occasioned the frequent

24

confounding of it with L. Oreopteris. Fructification chiefly con-
fined to the upper part of the frond. Mature in August and
September.

The geological relations of L. rigida, its occurrence only in lime
stone districts, and its absence, in those districts, where other rocks
come above the surface, might induce the notion of the necessity of
imitating as much as possible its natural conditions in cultivation ;
hence it has been recommended to plant it among fragments of
limestone or old mortar, and to water it with lime-water, — precau-
tions altogether unnecessary. As a rock-plant, it requires good
drainage ; as a fern, moisture and shade during the growing season
are favourable to its development ; but it will flourish in the ordinary
garden soil, and seems almost indifferent of exposure to the sun.
In habit and general aspect it is not at all a distinguished member
of its tribe, being less ornamental than most of them, and rather
valuable in grouping, from the contrast it affords to more graceful
forms than for individual beauty. When grown in pots, a mixture
of peat and loam with broken stone or shards below, occupying
about a fourth of the depth in order to ensure the -ready percola-
tion of water, affords the best medium, and the pots should never
be placed in water. Mr. Moore recommends planting it with the
crown of the rhizoma a little above the surface.

LASTREA SPINTJLOSA. Narrow prickly- toothed Fern. TAB. XII.

Fronds erect, linear-lanceolate, bipinnate : pinnules oblong, in-
ciso-pinnatifid, with serrate, spinose-mucronate lobes. Indusium
persistent, not fringed. Scales of the rachis broad, ovate, pale.

Lastrea spinulosa, PresL Babington, Man, Moore, Handb. As-
pidium spinulosum, Smith. Hooker. Lophodium spinosum,
Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 157.

Much confusion exists in regard to this and the following species,
of which it is by some regarded as a variety. Though found in
various parts of the kingdom sparingly distributed, it seems to be
chiefly confined to the southern and western counties of England,
growing in marshy places and wet woods and thickets. The rhizoma
elongates slowly, branching in old plants in every direction, so that
when once established in any particular locality, the clusters of
fronds are generally numerous. It is an early grower, the fronds
making their appearance in April, and rapidly attaining their full
development, which varies from one to two or even three feet in
height : they are nearly erect, bipinnate, long and narrow in the
general outline, the pinnae being of nearly equal length throughout,
except toward the acuminating apex. The leafy portion occupies

25

about half of the length, and is perfectly flat, never convex as in
L. dilatata ; the rachis is more or less clothed with thin, almost
diaphanous, rounded or oval scales, terminating with a little point,
but not at all acuminated. The pinnae are rather distant; the
pinnules more or less deeply pinnatifid, and sometimes even almost
again pinnate, especially in the lower part of the large fronds. All of
the segments are deeply serrated, the serratures terminating in a
sharp point or mucro curving towards the apex of the pinnule.
The venation is somewhat complicated, a branch of the lateral vein
extending to each serrature: the sori being produced upon the
uppermost branch of each lobe, are opposite to the sinuses, and
form a line on each side of the midvein ; in luxuriant specimens
this arrangement is often disturbed by superdevelopment. Fruc-
tification is perfected on the earlier fronds in July, and on the
later in September. The sori are generally small, the indusium
persistent, reniform, flat, a little waved on the margin, but never
ciliated with glands. As the thecse expand, the clusters frequently
become confluent, especially where the plant occupies an exposed
situation.

The ordinary compost, shade, and moisture, are the only requi-
sites for the successful cultivation of this fern. It will bear expo-
sure, if well supplied with water ; but, to obtain it in its beauty,
it must be screened from the direct rays of the sun : the mottled
and ever-shifting light and shade produced by the intervention ol
trees, is always favourable to the growth of this beautiful tribe of
plants, even of those species which in a natural state occupy the
most unsheltered habitats. Compared with some others, this, like
L. rigida and L. cristata, is not perhaps so remarkably ornamental
that it would be included in a selection for planting with a view to
effect, but its character is much improved by judicious appropriation
of a site sheltered from wind and sun.

In retaining this as a species, I am by no means inten ding to decide
that it has any positive claim to be so considered. The diversity
in habit, outline, and division of the frond, and other anomalies,
so frequently met with in ferns the specific identity of which can-
not be questioned, forbid any such assumption ; but amidst the
uncertainty and difference of opinion that prevail respecting the
species of this and the following genus, Polystichum, it seems better
to retain a name that has been applied to a certain well-known
form like that before us, than to discard it altogether. In appoint-
ing the limits between species and varieties, our conclusions are too
frequently drawn from very partial or imperfect data.

LASTREA DILATATA. Broad prickly-toothed Fern. TAB. XIII.

Fronds arched, ovato-lanceolate, bipinnate : pinnules pinnatifid

D

26

or pinnate, with serrate, spinose-mucronate lobes. Indusium
evanescent, fringed with stalked glands. Scales of the rachis long,
lanceolate, dark in the centre.

Lastrea dilatata, Pvesl. BaUngton, Man. Aspidium spinulosum /9,
Hooker. Lophodium multiflorum, Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns,
147.

One of the most common and most generally distributed of
British ferns, growing in woods, and on sheltered hedge-banks,
throughout the kingdom. Contrary to the character of that of
L. spinulosa, the rhizoma of this species is not at all creeping,
rarely branches, but forms a strong, enduring, erect, stem-like
base, that, in very old specimens, not unfrequently rises from six
inches to a foot above the soil. The fronds grow symmetrically in
a circular or vase-like cluster, arching over in every direction so as
to occupy a considerable space, attaining, in mature plants and in
favourable situations, a length of five feet, with a breadth in the
widest part of a foot and a half; their ordinary size is, however,
considerably less, viz. from a foot and a half to two feet in length :
in general outline they vary from triangular to lanceolate or ovato-
lanceolate, the triangular form being characteristic of the young
plant, in which state it is often completely deltoid. The rachis is
clothed, especially toward the base, with long lanceolate or linear-
lanceolate, acuminated scales, of a deep brown or blackish hue
along the centre, and nearly diaphanous at the extremity and mar-
gins. Any particular description that might be given of the divi-
sions of the frond, beyond that already recorded under the specific
character, would be of little avail in the decision of a species so
protean as the present. The pinna? are distant, so much so in the
fructifying fronds as to frequently give a peculiarly meagre aspect
to the plant, especially when accompanied by that convexity of the
pinnules and lobes, which is an almost inseparable feature of the
most common variety in exposed situations. The venation is very
similar to that of L. spinulosa, and the situation of the sori on the
upper or anterior branches is accordant likewise. The indusium is
irregularly reniform, and ciliated with stalked translucent glands ;
it soon disappears. The fructification is less regularly disposed,
and instead of being chiefly confined to the upper end, as is the
case in the preceding, is scattered over the whole under surface of
the frond ; it is mature in August.

Some of the forms of this fern are very elegant, when grown in
shade and plentifully supplied with water ; but although it bears
exposure well, and will live and even flourish under the circum-
stance, it soon loses all pretension to beauty, and remains disfigured
throughout the summer. The same treatment answers equally
well for this and L. spinulosa.

27

A vast amount of labour and ingenuity has been expended on
the consideration of these two ferns (L. spinulosa and L. dilatata)
and their varieties, with the view of establishing decided limits
between the latter, or of elevating the most marked deviations
from what has been agreed upon as the normal form, to the rank of
species. The result has not been at all satisfactory ; that which was
a point of dispute a generation or two back, still remains so ; and
although botanists freely discuss opinions with each other, and
maintain or controvert according to present conviction, every new
work, nay, every new edition proves the instability of their own ;
the species of one day becomes the variety of another, the variety
of yesterday may be the species of the morrow, or it may be dis-
carded altogether. This has been the case over and over again
with the ferns before us. Being of wide distribution, and appa-
rently indifferent, so far as mere capability of growth is concerned,
to soil, elevation, and exposure, they assume a diversity of aspect
according to circumstances : to what extent the influence of such
causes may have contributed to the multiplication of supposed
species in this and other genera, future observation must decide ;
the whole genus Lophodium of Newman, a well-marked group
among British ferns, may be implicated.

On these grounds, added to the uncertainty of definition afforded
by characters too slight and variable to be depended upon, I leave
the alleged varieties of L. dilatata to be determined by the fancy of
the observer.

LASTREA F<ENISECII. Recurved prickly-toothed Fern. Hay-
scented Fern. TAB. XIV.

Fronds curved, elongate- triangular, sub trip innate : pinnules
pinnate or deeply pinnatifid, with serrate spinose-mucronate lobes.
Indusium jagged at the edge. Scales of the rachis narrow lan-
ceolate, laciniate, pale.

Lastrea foenisecii, Watson. Babington, Man. Moore, Handb. As-
pidium recurvum, Bree. A. dilatatum, var. concavum, Ba-
bington. A. spinulosum var., Hooker and Arnott. Lophodium
foenisecii, Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 135 (the figure far from
characteristic).

This fern, though rather widely distributed in the British islands,
ia generally regarded as originally a wanderer from the Azores, or
other Atlantic groups ; in corroboration of which opinion we find
it most abundant in the south-western counties of England and
Ireland, the situations toward which it would naturally be drifted
by the tidal wave, or where its sporules would be wafted by the
prevalent south-westerly winds. That it is among the later addi-

D2

28

tions to the recent vegetation of these lands, seems farther evinced
by the fact of its not having hitherto been found in the central
counties of Great Britain. To speculate upon the geological epoch
at which its introduction took place, would be useless ; but it is
highly interesting to the philosophic observer, to trace the suc-
cessive distributions of a plant, which, like the present, indigenous
to the islands of the North Atlantic from the Cape de Verde to
the Azores, wafted by wind and wave, arrives on the coast of Sus-
sex, Devon, and Cornwall ; beyond, the same agents land it in
Somersetshire, Glamorganshire, Merioneth, and Anglesea; still
onward, it reaches Lancashire and Cumberland, the western islands
and mainland of Scotland, and plants a colony in Orkney ; lastly,
the returning current lodges the later wanderers in Angus, and,
southward, at Scarborough in Yorkshire : in the latter county, its
most inland habitats seem at present to be attained in the vicinity
of Ripon and Settle.

Few ferns are more indifferent to soil or exposure : it is met
with in damp woods, and under the shelter of moist hedge-banks
and thickets, attaining in such localities a height of one or two
feet, and a degree of luxuriance surprising to those previously only
acquainted with its smaller forms ; for, although shelter and abun-
dant moisture are favourable to its full development, it is often
found growing from the clefts of sandstone and other rocks in the
most exposed situations, the fronds being only from two to six
inches long. The fronds spring in a circular manner from a broad
crown, curving downward very gracefully in large specimens, as
they extend : they are of a pale but lively green hue, and remark-
able for their curled or crisped appearance, arising from the mar-
gins of the lobes and pinnules being curved upwards so as to
render their upper surface concave. The leafy portion occupies
about one-half of the length, and is of an elongated triangular
form, in young specimens nearly deltoid ; the rachis, especially at
the lower part, being rather densely clothed with pale, diaphanous,
long, narrow, and generally laciniated scales. In mature plants,
the tripinnate character is very constant at the base of the frond
and of its principal divisions ; and the tertiary pinnules and lobes
being all serrated, the serratures terminating in short spines, give
a complexity of outline so peculiar as to render it difficult, even
at the first glance, to confound this with any other species or
variety, especially when combined with the concavity of surface, so
strikingly opposed to the convexity of that of L. dilatata. Minute
globular sessile glands are scattered over the whole under surface
of the frond, whence the odour resembling new-made hay, from
which the specific name is derived. The sori are nearly equally
distributed over the frond; they are covered by roundish, reni-
form, generally evanescent indusia, which are irregularly cut or

jagged on the margin, and occasionally fringed with a few glands
similar to those mentioned above.

This is a very beautiful species under cultivation, especially
when the contingencies of shade, moisture, and good drainage are
properly secured. Though of supposed tropical derivation, it is
one of our most hardy native ferns, and perfectly evergreen. I
have now, September 4th, before me a green frond of last year,
just gathered from a plant that was exposed throughout the winter
in a pot laid sideways on the fern-bank in my garden. This
character renders it valuable in the greenhouse, to which its mode-
rate size, lively green hue, and elegantly crisped habit, are farther
recommendations. Whether grown in the open ground or in pots,
the ordinary compost will suffice.

Regarded by some botanists as a variety of L. dilatata or spinu-
losa, this still bears so much the impress of distinctness, that it
can scarcely be other than a species. In 1821, I first noticed it in
the vicinity of Dolgelley, and again in the Vale of Festiniog, and,
though marking its peculiarity, supposed it in my inexperience to
be a form of Aspidium dilatatum of Smith; it had not then re-
ceived name or notice among recent botanists, though apparently
referred to both by Ray and Plukenet ; nor was attention directed
to its very distinct character, even as a variety, until, in 1831, the
Rev. W. T. Bree described it in the f Magazine of Natural History/
under the name of recurvum • since which period, opinion has been
divided respecting its claim to rank as a species. It is to be
regretted that the name fognisecii, afterwards bestowed upon it by
Mr. Lowe, should have been adopted in preference to that of re-
curva, the odour differing very equivocally from that of other species
of fern, while the latter name expresses a positive feature by which
the plant is at once recognized.

In regard to the other recorded species of the genus Lastrea,
viz. Aspidium dumetorum of Smith, and Lophodium collinum, glan-
dulosum, and uliginosum of Newman, they are at present too doubt-
fully circumstanced between the variable forms of spinulosa and
dilatata to be admitted, without farther and stricter observation
than has yet been bestowed, to occupy a separate station in a series
already encumbered with uncertainty. Mr. Moore, in the second
edition of his valuable ' Handbook/ makes L. spinulosa a variety
of L. cristata, and observes : — " I unite the following forms under
one species, because, although the two extremes are apparently
distinct, they are so closely connected by the intermediate form
(uliginosa} as to be undistinguishable from one or other of the
conditions which the latter assumes." My own acquaintance with
uliginosa, confined to a single growing specimen, is too limited,
perhaps, to justify an opinion, but it inclines to an opposite con-
clusion, namely the entire exclusion of cristata from the equivocal
series now before us.

30

Genus 4. POLYSTICHUM.

GEN. CHAR. Sori circular, seated upon the upper branch of the
lateral veins -, covered by a circular peltate indusium attached
by its centre.

This genus, separated from Lastrea in consequence of the dif-
ference of the form and attachment of the indusium, is farther
characterized by the rigidity of its foliage, and of the sharp spinous
processes by which all the ultimate divisions of the frond are ter-
minated, while the upper basal lobe or pinnule is always larger
than the others. The British species are very nearly allied, and
present a series of varieties between the simpler and more compli-
cated forms that renders their determination difficult. The name,
not well chosen, is compounded from the Greek TroXu?, many, and
?, series, in allusion to the regular linear arrangement of the

son.

POLYSTICHUM LOXCHITIS. Holly Fern. Rough Alpine Shield-
Fern. TAB. XV.

Fronds rigid, linear-lanceolate, pinnate : pinna5 spinose-serrate,
auricled at the base above, oblique below.

Polystichum Lonchitis, Roth. Babington. Moore. Newman.
Aspidium Lonchitis, Swartz. Smith. Hooker and Arnott.
E. B. Polypodium, Linnaeus.

Its exclusively alpine habitats have caused this beautiful fern to
be generally described as among our botanical rarities : in England
and Wales it seems to be confined to the mountains of Yorkshire
and the Snowdon district ; but, in the mountainous parts of Scot-
land, it is widely and abundantly distributed, and in the north
and west of Ireland. It is generally found springing from the
clefts of the rocks in the highest and most exposed situations ; but
occasionally lower down, in the glens and mountain-passes, espe-
cially in the crevices and on the ledges of their most precipitous
sides. The fronds grow in a tuft from the extremity of a very
slowly lengthening rhizoma, varying from a few inches to a foot
and a half in height : they are generally of a rigid texture and
erect growth, but in some situations thinner and spreading, or
even almost pendulous ; the latter character, it has been remarked,
belongs almost exclusively to English and Welsh specimens. The
colour is of a deep glossy green. The general outline of the
frond is linear, more or less acuminated at the upper part, and
simply pinnate. The pinna? are short, arranged alternately and

31

obliquely on the rachis, and extending nearly to its base, which is
rather densely clothed with red dish -brown chaffy scales : they are
somewhat crescent-shaped, auricled at the base on the upper side,
oblique below, and so closely disposed as to overlap each other
when pressed flat; the margin is deeply serrated, the serratures
terminating in sharp spinous processes, which, added to the rigidity
and almost leather-like character of the leafy texture, and its ever-
green habit, renders the English name " Holly Fern" very appro-
priate. The lateral veins are alternate, generally three-branched,
the upper branch bearing the sorus ; on the auricle, the venation
is more complex, and the production of sori indefinite. The fruc-
tification is most frequently confined to the upper part of the frond,
but is sometimes irregularly scattered likewise over the lower pinnae
even to the base. The sori are disposed in a regular series on
each side of the midvein, and often become confluent in maturity.
The indusium is circular, opening all round, and remaining attached
to the venule by a short central stalk, the distinguishing character
of the genus.

The cultivation of the Holly Fern is not attended with very satis-
factory results in the eastern parts of England, especially about
London, where few persons have succeeded in keeping it for any
length of time, unless as a potted plant, and sheltered in the
greenhouse or in a cool frame; and, even under these circum-
stances, it is exceedingly liable to " damp off," an expression that,
like " blight," is often applied to denote the action of causes we
do not understand. In potting P. Lonchitis, or any other alpine
fern, the natural condition of the plant should never be lost sight
of; however moist that may be, it is always well drained; a rill
may constantly lave its roots, or a cascade perpetually sprinkle its
leaves, but the water never stagnates, and even the scanty soil is
changing from time to time, by the addition or rather substitution
of new particles, as the older are washed away to maintain the
fertilization of the valley below. In order to insure drainage, the
pot should be large, and at least one-fourth filled with broken
stone or shards mingled with charcoal and pieces of turfy peat.
The ordinary compost will suffice; but fragments of slate or sand-
stone placed perpendicularly around the rhizoma, though not in
immediate contact with it, the soil being firmly settled between
them, afford an imitation of at least one important circumstance
belonging to the natural site that will be found serviceable to the
possessor. In the open air I once had a small specimen of this
species growing for four years, but it died during the next winter
after removal ; and it is a very general complaint, that although it
will live and apparently flourish for a season, it rarely survives the
winter and spring when exposed to their influence. The absence of
the snow cover, that in their native habitats shelters the alpine plants

32

alike from the excess of cold and drying influence of the winds,
is the chief cause of their not flourishing generally under exposure
in this part of England ; added to which, is the frequent alterna-
tion of excessive wet, during those seasons when the vital energies
of the plants are dormant : the injurious results arising from both
of these circumstances may be obviated, in a degree, by covering the
plants individually with an inverted garden-pot or a hand-glass at
the period in question, exposing it only in mild and dry weather.
This is a plan by which I have often succeeded in preserving some
of the higher alpine species of flowering plants that are otherwise
incapable of cultivation in the vicinity of the metropolis, and it
was the protection afforded to the above-mentioned specimen of the
fern before us.

In England, the distribution of P. Lonchitis may probably be
found to be less confined than has hitherto been supposed, Mr.
W. H. Hawker having discovered it in July of last year (1853) on
Swarth-fell, near Ulleswater, and this year in one or two other
stations in the Lake district.

POLYSTICHUM ACULEATUM. Prickly Shield-Fern. TAB. XVI. —
XVII.

Fronds rigid, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, bipinnate : pinnules
confluent, obliquely decurrent, or attached by the point of their
wedge-shaped base; the upper basal ones largest; all spinose-
serrate, more or less auricled at the base.

Polystichum aculeatum, Roth. Babington. Moore. Newman.
Aspidium aculeatum, Swartz. Smith. Hooker and Arnott.
E. B. Polypodium, Linntws.

Common on hedge-banks and on the borders of woods and
thickets throughout the kingdom, and occasionally met with in
more exposed situations on heaths and mountains. The rhizomt
is large and woody, increasing in length very slowly, so that even
in old plants it is very short in comparison to its bulk. The fronds
grow in a tuft, in young specimens spreading out horizontally, but
in older becoming nearly erect in maturity, and attaining the
height of two or three feet : during the early period of develop-
ment they are usually very limp in texture, and the newly un-
folded pinnae and circiuate apex are liable to hang down with their
own weight, as if drooping for want of nourishment, but as
growth advances they acquire the characteristic rigidity so remark-
able in the foliage of this beautiful genus. The general outline
varies greatly in different specimens, and even in fronds belonging
to the same plant, being in some instances almost linear, in others
even broadly lanceolate : the division too is equally diversified, and

33

though the bipinnate character is tolerably constant in full-sized
plants, the pinnae are rather lobed or pinnatifid than pinnate in
those of smaller size, and this difference is often independent of
age. The first upper division at the base of each pinna, whether
lobe or pinnule, is always larger than the others, and, standing
parallel with the main rachis, the two series thus formed present a
very peculiar appearance in the general aspect of the frond, espe-
cially of the upper face. All of the principal divisions terminate
in a sharp spinous process, and are more or less fringed on the
margin with spiny serratures. The rachis is leafy to within a few
inches of its base, and is clothed throughout with reddish-brown
or rust-coloured scales, which are broad and densely crowded below,
but become gradually fewer and more attenuated towards the
extremity of the frond. There is nothing peculiar in the fruc-
tification, beyond the regularity of the disposition of the sori,
and their occurrence almost exclusively on the upper pinnae only ;
they are generally rather large in proportion, and often become
confluent.

A fern liable to assume such diversity in outline and division as
this, could scarcely fail of becoming a subject of contention among
botanists, relative to the individual claim of its more permanent
varieties to the rank of species. To enter into any minute detail
of the differences presented by the so-called species of Polystichum,
as figured or described by past writers, would be to little purp.ose ;
it will be sufficient here to remark that three apparent forms of
the plant now before us have been so distinguished, and named
respectively lobatum, aculeatum, and angulare. The first two are now
universally admitted to be merely different states of the same plant,
dependent on age or other circumstances ; the last occupies, though
somewhat equivocally, a more decided position as a separate species,
in the works of the most recent botanists ; that position I will
leave it, but rather that its prominence may lead to farther inquiry,
than from any conviction of its being other than a false one : loba-
tum and angulare, indeed, appear to me the extremes of a series
connected by so many intermediate modifications of form and
habit, that, in the absence of more important differential fea-
tures than have hitherto been established, it is utterly impossible
to determine the limits of either. As varieties, the three may be
thus defined : —

1. lobatum. Frond rigid, simply pinnate : pinna lobed or pin-
natifid. TAB. XVI.

2. aculeatum. Frond rigid, sub-bipinnate : pinnules more or
less decurrent. TAB. XVII.

3. angulare. - Frond lax, bipinnate : pinnules distinctly stalked.

Under all its varieties of form, Polystichum aculeatum is among

34

the handsomest of the larger British ferns ; it is evergreen, the
foliage of a bright hue and glossy ; and, its growth being scarcely
suspended from the first development in April until the setting in
of winter, — so that the pale yellowish-green of the young fronds
contrasts very strikingly with the deep holly-like appearance of the
older ones, throughout the whole of the summer and autumn, — it is
more constantly ornamental in the fern- garden than most others.
The cultivation is attended with no difficulty; it will grow in
common garden soil, but flourishes best in a mixture of sandy
loam and peat, and although not injured by moderate exposure
to the sun, prefers the shelter of trees and shrubs, or a
shaded bank. \Vhen grown in pot, the ordinary compost must
be employed, and full drainage ; and unless kept in the greenhouse
or otherwise protected, the pot should be plunged in a dry border
during the winter. All the varieties are well adapted for house
culture, and their beauty is much enhanced by careful treatment ;
but they require a great deal of room, large pots, and space to
extend their fine evergreen fronds, if the cultivator is desirous of
witnessing their most advantageous development.

POLYSTICHUM ANGULARE. Angular or Soft prickly Shield-Fern.
TAB. XVIII.

Fronds lax, drooping, lanceolate, bipinnate : pinnules distinctly
stalked, with an obtusely-angled base, more or less obtuse at the
apex, spinose-serrate.

Polystichum angulare, Presl. Newman. Babington. Moore.
Aspidium augulare, Willdenow. Smith. E. B. Hooker and
Arnott.

This is certainly less common in its distribution than the pre-
ceding, but inhabits similar situations; the differences between
them are sufficiently striking where the contrast is made with the
extremer forms of each : the habit of this is flexile and drooping,
the leafy texture not so firm as that of P. aculeatum, the upper
basal pinnules often scarcely larger than the lower ones, and all of
them somewhat crescent-shaped, auriculate on the upper side,
rounded below, and attached to the partial rachis by a very distinct,
slender stalk, instead of being decurrent. Several deviations from
this normal form have been noticed, and two especially seem
marked varieties, and are well known in cultivation : —

1. subtripinnatum. Lower pinnules deeply pinnatifid, the lobes
sometimes distinct.

2. anymtutum. Pinnules all narrow, very acute.

The latter is frequently proliferous, or rather viviparous, by the
production of bulbils about the bases of the lower pinnae and pin-

35

nules ; this is especially the case where the plants are grown in
pots in the greenhouse, or in very sheltered situations in the open
fernery.

P. angulare and its yarieties are less hardy than aculeatum, and
are not so strictly evergreen, a consequence probably of the greater
laxity of their tissue. They seem to require more careful drainage,
a lighter soil, and complete shelter from the sun and cold winds.
It might be a subject of question, whether these facts may not
indicate that very specific distinction which previous remarks tend
to set aside ; but in opposition to any suggestion of this kind, it
may be remarked, that division, variegation, or laxity of the foliage,
constituting variety among the higher orders of plants, is almost
universally accompanied by a less robust constitution than that
belonging to the normal condition of the species.

Genus 5. CYSTOPTERIS.

GEN. CHAR. Sori roundish. Indusium attached by its broad
hooded base beneath the sori, with a lengthened, fringed, free
margin, opening towards the apex of the segment.

The British species of this genus are small, elegant ferns, of a
very delicate, almost fragile texture; they are well adapted for
house culture, throwing out their beautiful fronds, profusely
sprinkled with fructification, in all seasons, when sheltered from
the frost, the first approach of which, however, destroys them in
the open air. They grow naturally on rocks and walls, chiefly in
alpine and subalpine districts ; and notwithstanding their delicate
appearance, few of the smaller ferns are equally capable of living
in a dry atmosphere, or exposed to the action of the sun.

The indusium is hollow at the base, forming a sort of hood fixed
by its inner margin, that is curved beneath the sorus; the remark-
able extension of the outer margin is best observed when the thecse
have recently burst through their membranaceous cover, which is
then seen to be broken unequally into a fringe of narrow, often
capillary segments, that becomes eventually reflected.

The generic name is a Greek compound of /cuo-n?, a bladder,
and TTxept?, a ferny in allusion to the peculiar character of the
indusium.

This genus is very nearly allied to Woodsia, differing from it
chiefly, if not solely, in the form and attachment of the indusium ;
which, in the latter, has its point of attachment beneath the sorus,
inclosing it equally all round, and opening in the middle, when it
divides into numerous capillary segments forming an involucral
fringe around the thecae. In Cystopteris, on the contrary, the
attachment of the indusium is rather lateral than basal, and the

margin is connected on the outer side with the back of the frond.
In habit and general appearance our native species of Woodsia are
at first sight very dissimilar to the species of the present genus,
but Woodsia Perriniana, a North American species, is so like Cys-
topteris fragilis, as to be generally confounded with it by a casual
observer, while the indusium is only fringed on the margin, thus
leaving its involucral character the sole feature of distinction.

CYSTOPTERIS FRAGILIS. Brittle Bladder-Fern. TAB. XIX. —
XX.

Fronds erect, lanceolate, bipinnate : pinnae lanceolate : pinnules
ovato-lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid, the segments ovate or lanceolate,
sharply toothed or serrated.

Cystopteris fragilis, Bernhardi. Hooker and Arnott. Babington.
Moore. Newman. Cystea fragilis, Smith, Eng. Fl. Cyathea
fragilis, Smith, Fl. Brit. E. B. Polypodium, Linnaeus.

Abundantly distributed over the mountainous and rocky di-
stricts throughout the kingdom, and occasionally on old walls and
buildings in the lowland counties. It seems to prefer the moist
crevices of limestone rocks in the vicinity of waterfalls, but is by
no means exclusive in selecting a site, and though most flourishing
and exuberant in its growth under the conditions of shade and
moisture, is often met with occupying the most exposed situations.
The rhizoma is creeping, but extends slowly, branching and forming
new crowns around the old one, often several in number during
the same summer and autumn. The fronds rise in tufts from
these crowns in April, rapidly attaining maturity, and fading in
succession as their place is supplied by others throughout the
season, until the development is checked by frost. They vary in
height, according to circumstances, from two or three inches to a
foot or more, and differ much in form and division, even on the
same crown : the general outline is lanceolate, more or less elon-
gated ; the pinnse, distinct to the apex, occupy more than half the
length of the slender rachis, which is smooth, and nearly destitute
of scales ; they are for the most part distant, especially the lower
ones, not very regularly arranged, but with a tendency to alternate :
the pinnules are similarly arranged, equally distinct, and sharply
and deeply serrated, the lower ones being often, in fronds of larger
size, deeply pinnatifid, or even pinnate. The venation, easily dis-
tinguished owing to the delicate translucency of the leafy texture,
varies according to the division and serratures of the pinnules : in
most instances each secondary vein bears a sorus, not at its extre-
mity, but about half-way from its base ; thus the sori form a line
on each side, rather nearer to the midvein than to the margin, but

37

they are generally crowded, often much confused, and in maturity,
or rather on the dehiscence of the thecae, frequently become confluent
and cover the whole under surface. A tolerable notion of the posi-
tion of the indusium may be obtained from the enlarged view on
Tab. XIX., but it is difficult to portray its actual insertion and
mode of opening ; it is soon obliterated by the extension of the
sorus.

So much difference of opinion exists regarding this normal
species of Cystopteris and its kindred species or varieties, and so
uncertain at present are our rules for specific distinction in this
tribe of plants, that it is with some diffidence I venture to adopt
even a very slight departure from the arrangement of my prede-
cessors ; but having cultivated them for nearly thirty years, and
observed them at intervals in their various native habitats for a
longer period, their present allotment is the result of an experience
to myself satisfactory, and the more so, because in the main point,
viz. the separation or rather retention of C. dentata as a species,
my decision is not a solitary one.

In the Supplement to the 'English Botany/ Tab. 2790, a
figure of a fern, under the name of Cystopteris angustata, was
published, which, with its description, was evidently a mistake.
In the second edition of 'English Botany' (]841), this figure was
introduced, contrary to my expostulations regarding its incorrect-
ness, and the description in the text quoted from that of the Sup-
plement, with only one remark for which I am answerable — " That
it (C. angustatd) is only a variety can scarcely be questioned, but
it is nearer C. fragilis than C. dentata." I am the more confirmed
in that opinion from later observation, and now introduce it as a
variety of the species before us : —

C. FRAGILIS, var. ANGUSTATA. TAB. XX.

Frond oblong-lanceolate, bipinnate : pinnules linear-lanceolate,
more or less decurrent, acutely pinnatifid or toothed; ultimate
divisions narrow-oblong or linear.

Cystopteris dentata, ft. Hooker, Brit. Fl.

Found in similar situations to those in which C. fragilis grows,
and occasionally accompanying it, especially on the loose stone
fences of North Wales and Cumberland.

Few ferns are cultivated with greater facility than C. fragilis :
although growing more luxuriantly, and assuming its more graceful
aspect when planted in soil and situation corresponding to its
natural habitat, the ordinary garden mould, unless very adhesive,
is not ill adapted to its preservation. It may be grown in the
open border, forming, when not too fully exposed to the sun,
beautiful and elegant tufts that contrast well with the smaller

38

species of herbaceous plants ; requiring only the occasional re-
moval of its rapidly maturing fronds to maintain the lively green
appearance of the masses throughout the summer. The delicate
feathery character of the foliage renders it a favourite species for
pot culture, and in a cool greenhouse it becomes highly ornamental ;
but it is not well adapted for planting in closed cases, though often
recommended for the purpose, the slender rachis being too rapidly
extended in the damp confined atmosphere to support the length-
ened frond, while the attacks of mildew and other fungoid pests,
to which it is liable under confinement, often prove fatal to the
other species in its vicinity.

All of the British species or varieties of Cystopteris are seen,
under cultivation, to the greatest advantage when planted on
shaded rock-work : like other rock and wall plants, they require
good drainage, a condition readily effected by the admixture of
about one-fourth of small fragments of old mortar with the soil
or compost employed ; the value of this addition is farther indi-
cated by the natural preference they seem to evince for limestone
districts.

CYSTOPTERIS DENTATA. Toothed Bladder-Fern. TAB. XXI. —
XXII.

Fronds oblong-lanceolate, bipinnate: pinnules ovate-obtuse,
bluntly toothed. Sori submarginal.

Cystopteris dentata, Hooker, Brit. Fl. E. B., 2nd ed. Cyathea
dentata, Smith, Flora Brit. Cystea dentata, Smith, Eng.
Flora. E. B. 1588. Cystopteris fragilis, var. dentata,
Moore, Handb., ed. 2, 76.

Not unfrequent in the rocky parts of Wales, Scotland, and the
North of England, though very liable to be passed over as a form,
of C. fragilis, with which most modern botanists indeed seem
inclined to confound it. The present is, however, in maturity a
smaller plant, differing considerably in the general outline of the
frond, and in the form, division and arrangement of the pinnae,
which are so placed, that their upper faces, instead of being vertical,
tend more or less towards a horizontal position ; this character is
difficult to express by figure, where, as in the ordinary state of the
fern, the pinna3 are distant, but it will be understood by reference
to Tab. XXII., representing an assumed variety, C. Dickieana. The
pinnules vary in division according to the luxuriance of the frond,
being deeply toothed, or, rarely, pinnatifid, but the teeth or seg-
ments are always remarkably obtuse, without the slightest ten-
dency to become pointed at the extremity. The sori, produced at

39

the termination of the veins, have a disposition almost marginal,
and indeed, where numerous and becoming confluent, as they
usually do in maturity, form a complete and striking border to the
under surface of the pinnules, very different to those of C. fragilis
and C. angustata. The rachis is very slender, smooth, and almost
universally of a deep brownish-purple hue.

The variety C.Dickie 'ana ,Tab. XXI I. , is a very marked and peculiar
one, apparently retaining its distinguishing characters under culti-
vation. The general outline of the frond is ovate-lanceolate, and
all of its divisions are broader and more rounded than those of the
normal C. dentata; they are likewise nearer together, and their
greater breadth occasions an overlapping of each other, that, added
to the more decided tendency to horizontality of the pinnae, give it
at first sight the aspect of a distinct species. A close comparison,
however, with the latter plant soon dispels the illusion. The
pinnae and pinnules are often more or less confluent, instead of
being quite distinct, thus departing from the bipinnate character.
The sori are never confluent in maturity, but have the intromarginal
position. Mr. Newman remarks, on the authority of Mr. Wol-
laston, that the spores of C. frayilis " are always echinate, those of
Dickieana simply verrucate"; the latter is the case with those of
C. dentata, but whether a constant character of that species I am
not prepared to assert.

This remarkable variety was found by Dr. Dickie in 1846,
growing in a cave by the sea near Aberdeen, and has not hitherto
been met with elsewhere.

Whether the arrangement of the four allied forms of the genus
here adopted or proposed be correct or otherwise is of little import-
ance ; under either circumstance the two named as species, and
which I have always considered as such, will be useful as rallying-
points to those who may feel inclined to discuss the subject. Mr.
Moore, who has placed all the four as varieties of C. fragilis, re-
marks : " I am inclined to think C. dentata to be sufficiently
distinct to take rank as a species, and to look upon C. Dickieana
as an extreme form of it." Mr. Newman, on the contrary, ob-
serves : " My own judgment, improved, but by no means matured,
by the observations of sixteen years, regards dentata as a nonentity,
angustata as a synonym of that nonentity, and Dickieana as a
possible, but by no means established species." Farther on, he
adds : " The propriety of separating Dickieana from fragilis rests
on these grounds, — it is a perfectly healthy plant, not monstrous
or distorted, and produced freely from seed, becoming a perfect
weed ; whereas fragilis, under similar treatment, rarely reproduces
itself. Cultivated in the same soil and in the same pot with
fragilis, the latter becomes larger and more vigorous, Dickieana
smaller and less vigorous : and the more care the cultivator be-

40

stows on these two plants, the more will he find they recede from
each other ; whereas all differences between the so-called C, fragilis,
angustata, and dentata, are speedily lost in cultivation." If there
be any value attaching to physiological facts of this kind, regarding
the determination of species, it must depend upon their corre-
spondence under all circumstances, and the above remarks do not
agree with my own experience. Of C. Dickieana I know but
little, indeed nothing beyond that which the examination of the
plant affords as to its general characters and structure, growing
specimens not having come into my possession until within the
last two or three years ; but of the others, cultivation from the
wild state for nearly thirty years has led to very different results.
The plants have retained during that period all their original
features, while their spore-scattered offspring have grown up as
types of the parent forms, except that fragilis has generally, but
not uniformly, produced angustata instead of its own : the latter
circumstance seems significant of the effect of difference of soil or
situation in the production of varieties among ferns, and may
account for the discrepancy of the two statements ; my own speci-
mens being chiefly grown in the open air, and never having any
other protection than a cold frame or occasionally a hand-glass,
while Mr. Newman's may have had the advantage of a closed case
or greenhouse.

CYSTOPTERIS ALPINA. Alpine Bladder-Fern. TAB. XXIII.

Fronds lanceolate, sub-tripinnate : pinnae ovate : pinnules con-
fluent, oblong-ovate, deeply pinnatifid; the lobes broadly and
shortly linear, obtuse, with two or three erect blunt teeth.

Cystopteris alpina, Desvaux. Hooker and Arnott. Moore. Ba-
bington. Cyathea regia, Forster. Cyathea incisa, E. B. 163.
Cystea regia, Smith. Polypodium, Linnaeus.

Though admitted by most botanical writers into the catalogue
of British Ferns, this species has no other claim to be regarded as
such, than the fact of its having at one time grown very plentifully
on a garden wall at Lojv Ley ton, near Walthamstow, Essex, where
it was first noticed by Mr. Forster : about thirty years back, the
wall needing repair and fresh pointing, it was obliterated from this
habitat, or nearly so, the occasional discovery of a specimen either
there or on other walls in the neighbourhood being of late vears
looked upon as a rarity. It has been recorded by some of the
older botanists as occurring both in Wales and Scotland, but as the
habitats mentioned by them have been searched in vain, it is now
generally considered that dwarf and deeply-divided specimens of
one or other of the preceding have been mistaken for it. It is

41

very common on the Alps and Pyrenees, and most of the growing
plants in our collections are of continental origin. Mr. Moore,
however, observes that he has received specimens from Mr. Shep-
herd, of Liverpool, gathered in Derbyshire and Yorkshire, but
without any particular habitat being assigned. The species is very
distinct in character, when closely compared with any form of C.
fragilis or C. dentata : the fronds are, strictly speaking, bipinnate,
but the pinnules are so deeply lobed or pinnatifid, that, although
always confluent, they give them at first sight the appearance of
being again pinnate : the lobes are linear, very obtuse, and gene-
rally divided on the margin with two or three blunt teeth pointing
upwards. The venation is more or less compound, according with
the division and toothing of the pinnules, and the small roiindish
sori are sub marginal. The fronds are variable in height, from
two to six or eight inches in foreign plants, but I have never seen
any British specimens from the wall at Low Leyton above three or
four inches long.

It is not at all difficult to cultivate and multiply when once
established ; but is more susceptible of injury from the accumula-
tion of moisture about the roots than C. fragilis; good drainage is
therefore more imperative, but otherwise it may be similarly treated.
A sheltered situation in the out-door fernery is better than confine-
ment under glass.

CYSTOPTERIS MONTANA. Mountain Bladder-Fern. TAB. XXIV.

Fronds triangular bipinnate : pinnules of lower pinnae pinnate ;
ultimate pinnules and lobes deeply pinnatifid, their segments
toothed at the apex.

Cystopteris montana, Link. Hooker and Arnott. Babington. Moore.
Cystopteris Myrrhidifolium, Villars. Newman, Hist. Brit.
Ferns, 97. Polypodium montanum, Allioni. Aspidium mon-
tanum, Swartz.

First found as a British species in 1836, by Mr. W. Wilson, on
Ben Lawers, one of the Breadalbane mountains, and since by others
in several localities on the mountains of Perthshire and Forfarshire,
but so sparingly distributed that it maybe considered as one of our
rarest ferns. The rhizoma is filiform, branching and creeping, like
that of Polypodiwn Dryopteris, or P. calcareum,ihe latter of which,
especially, this species nearly resembles in habit and general appear-
ance. The fronds might almost correctly be regarded as ternate,
the two lower pinnae, which are opposite, being so much larger than
the others as often to be nearly equal to them in the aggregate ; it
is in this pair only that the pinnules are pinnate, all those of the
upper pinna3 being only deeply lobed : the lower inferior pinnule of

42

the same pair is always larger than the upper corresponding one,
and more divided ; the disproportion gradually decreasing in each
of the following, until toward the apex of the pinna the opposite
pinnules are nearly equal : the upper pinnse show very little ten-
dency to this irregularity. The venation does not present any
striking peculiarities ; the lateral veins are alternate, and generally
terminate in the sinus between two serratures, thus determining
the arrangement of the fructification. The sori, generally nume-
rous, are small, nearly circular, and very prominent in maturity.
The indusium accords in position and attachment with that of other
species of the genus ; but, unless examined previous to or imme-
diately after dehiscence, its presence will often not be recognized,
so that the species might be regarded as a Polypodium, with certain
members of which genus its habit and the form of its fronds so
nearly associate.

Not having yet had living specimens of this fern in my pos-
session, I cannot offer any remarks upon its cultivation, resulting
from my own experience. From the little I have seen of it in the
keeping of others, and the complaints made respecting its liability
to " damp off," it seems to me probable that a treatment similar
to that recommended for Polypodium calcareum would be likely to
succeed ; not indeed exposure to the sun, which all ferns are better
without, and especially those of alpine localities, but fresh air and
free drainage. In regard to the supply of water, there is less
danger in comparative drought than in superabundance. See the
remarks on Polystichum Lonchitis, p. 31.

Our figure is from a specimen kindly forwarded by Mr. Borrer,
gathered by himself in Corrach Dh'Oufillach.

Genus 6. ATHYRIUM.

GEN. CHAR. Sori oblong-reniform or crescent-shaped. Indusium
attached along the upper side of the lateral veins, opening
towards the mid-vein, with a free margin fringed with capillary
segments, at length reflexed.

This genus is adopted, rather to avoid the misplacement of one
of the most common and at the same time most elegant of British
Ferns, than under the idea of its distinctive character being other
than very equivocal. A. Filix-fcemina, the Lady-Fern, differs so
greatly in habit from all the indigenous species of the next
genus, Asplenium, to which in point of fructification it approaches
the nearest, that few amateur collectors would think of seeking
among them for its description : I have therefore followed the
example of most of my contemporaries, in regarding it as the type
of the present.

43

The name, first applied by Roth, from the Greek dOvpos, open,
probably refers to the turning back of the indusium.

ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCEMINA. Lady-Fern. TAB. XXV.

Fronds lanceolate, bipinnate: pinnae linear-lanceolate, acuminate:
pinnules oblong-lanceolate, deeply serrated or pinnatifid.

Athyrium Filix-fcemina, Roth. Babington. Moore. Newman.
Asplenium Filix-foemina, Bernhardi. Hooker and Arnott.
Aspidium Filix-fo3mina, Swartz. Smith. E. B. Polypo-
dium, Linnaus.

It occurs in most parts of the kingdom, less universal in its
distribution than Lastrea Filix-mas, but equally abundant in those
localities that are adapted to its growth. Moist, shady situations
are essential to its full development, and though occasionally a few
stunted plants may be found on the exposed heath and hill- side, it
is on the sheltered hedge-bank, and in the damp wood and ravine,
that it attains the graceful and almost fragile character, which
acquired for it in long past times the popular name. The fronds
appear in May, springing in succession from the crown of a thick
and more or less elongated rhizoma, which occasionally, in old
plants, rises above the ground, in the form of a trunk or stipes,
from a few inches to a foot or more in height : their early develop-
ment is very similar to that described under L. Filix-mas, p. 19,
and they not unfrequently assume the vase-like arrangement of
those of the latter fern; in which case, and when of large size
especially, few vegetable productions equal this in grace and beauty.
In the subalpine parts of the country I have often noticed speci-
mens so charactered, in which the central fronds had a height of
between four and five feet and were nearly erect, while the outer
ones drooping in every direction around them, the whole comprised
the most lovely arrangement of light green feathery foliage that it
is possible to conceive. I once counted thirty-seven fronds com-
posing such a tuft. The general outline varies from a broad,
almost ovate, to a linear-lanceolate, and the rachis, generally bare
from about one-third to a fourth of its length, is sometimes feathered
with pinnae gradually diminishing in size almost to its base. The
pinnae are much diversified as to disposition, being either alternate
or opposite, distant or close together, in different specimens. In
some instances the bipinnate character is departed from, the pin-
nules being decurreut. The division and serrature of the pinnules
are equally variable, and though the venation, owing to the delicate
texture of the frond, is readily traced, it is far from presenting that
regularity in its branching which would render it worthy of notice.
The position of the sori is always on the upper or anterior side of

F2

44

the branch veins, but they are very irregular in form, being some-
times straight, and in other instances so short as to appear nearly
circular, although the curved reniform or semilunar outline is the
most common : in some varieties they are distant, in others so close
as to become eventually confluent, even to completely covering the
under surface. Such differences have afforded a wide scope for
speculative botanists to indulge their fancies in the multiplication
of species and varieties, and were the wishes and advice of all my
kind correspondents to be attended to in regard to the latter, I
might exhaust the Greek alphabet from alpha to omega in prefixes.
The claim advanced on behalf of a few of the varieties to rank as
species, should be very cautiously examined before its admission ;
those who recommend or incline to their adoption would do well
to bear in mind the plasticity of vegetable nature, and the very
uncertain tenure of specific distinction in the aggregate, not in this
class only, but in groups far higher in grade, and in which features
of more determinate character can be arraigned in evidence of sup-
posed dissimilarity. The three principal forms, including the
normal one, that are considered best entitled to the rank in question
are thus characterized : —

1. incisum. Fronds more or less drooping, broadly lanceolate :
pinna? distant : pinnules lanceolate, distinct, flat, pinnatifid with
toothed lobes. Sori distinct. A. Filix-foemina, Roth.

2. inolle. Fronds nearly erect, lax, lanceolate : pinnse approxi-
mate : pinnules oblong, connected by the wing of the midrib, flat,
toothed. Sori distinct. A. molle, Roth.

3. convexum. Fronds nearly erect, rigid, narrow-lanceolate :
pinnae distant, convex : pinnules distant, linear, toothed or pinna-
tifid, convex, with deflexed margins. Sori short, numerous, even-
tually confluent. A. rhseticum, Roth. Moore, Handb. 136. As-
pidium irriguum ? Smith. E. B. 2199. This is, unquestionably,
the most decidedly charactered of all the forms, and less positively
associated with them by intermediates.

Besides the numerous slight variations in habit, and in the out-
line and division of the frond, several remarkable monstrosities are
met with in cultivation ; of these the variety crlspum is the most
common, and its dwarf, clustered, and much-divided fronds resemble
a tuft of curled parsley — a figure of one of the fronds is given by
Mr. Moore, Handb. 142. It was originally found by Mr. A. Smith,
on Orah Hill, Antrim, Ireland, and since by Sir W. C. Trevelyan,
in Braemar, Scotland. Another Irish variety, still more peculiar,
is given by Mr. Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 218.

The cultivation of the Lady-Fern is not attended with any diffi-
culty, as it will grow in almost any kind of light soil, provided the
situation be not too dry or exposed to the sun. To obtain it in its
beauty, however, it should be planted in a mixture of turfy peat

45

and sand, and supplied during the growing season with abundance
of water. When potted, the ordinary compost will suffice ; but the
pots should be large, the bottom covered with small lumps of char-
coal, and placed in pans of water. In a shaded greenhouse, under
these circumstances, this beautiful fern may be grown to great per-
fection, and it assumes a delicacy of hue and texture resembling
those of tropical development. In the open air its beauty is much
enhanced by planting at such a distance from others as to allow the
foliage from each tuft to spread without interference, and this is a
good rule to be observed in the arrangement of all the larger tufted
species of the tribe ; even in artificial wilderness scenery, if it be
not attended to, the general effect of the masses is greatly dete-
riorated.

In Ireland, A. Filix-fcemina abounds on most of the bogs, occu-
pying in the open parts of the country the position of the common
brake on our heaths, and, like that, is employed as a packing ma-
terial for fish and fruit.

Genus 7. ASPLENIUM.

GEN. CHAR. Sori linear-oblong, straight, attached along the upper
or inner side of the veins. Indusium opening toward the
mid-vein or inwardly.

The sori are in some species, as in A. fontanum, so short, that at
first sight the generic character may appear doubtful, but the posi-
tion of the indusium is more to be attended to in this genus than
the outline of the masses of fructification. The mid-vein is not
always present, a circumstance that has given rise to a division of
the genus by some botanists, and which is here adopted in the
arrangement of the species, on account of the difference of habit to
which it is allied.

The name, from the Greek a, privative, and o-TrX^v, the spleen,
was bestowed on one of the European species, formerly in repute
as a remedy in diseases supposed to originate in an enlargement of
the spleen, and even considered capable of dissolving that organ if
administered in excess.

* Ultimate divisions with a distinct midvein. Asplenium.
ASPLENIUM FONTANUM. Smooth Rock Spleenwort. TAB. XXVI.

Fronds linear-lanceolate, rigid, bipinnate, glabrous : pinnae ob-
long-ovate : pinnules obovate-cuneate, with a few large angular
mucronate teeth. Rachis winged throughout. Sori short, oblong.

Asplenium fontanum, Bernhardi. Smith. Hooker and Arnott.
Moore, Handb. Aspidium fontanum, Swartz. E. B. 2024.

46

Athyrium fontanum, Presl. Babington, Manual. Polypo-
dium fontanum, Linnaeus.

This may be considered a rarity in England; indeed most of our
botanists doubt its title to admission among British species. It
seems to have been first noticed here by Hudson, as growing
"above Wybourn, in Westmoreland/' and afterwards as being
found on Agmondesham or Amersham church, Buckinghamshire,
but these localities have been since searched in vain. The herba-
rium of the Botanical Society of London contains specimens, pre-
sented by Mr. Newnham, from Cavehill, Belfast, and others col-
lected in 1 838, on rocks in Wharncliffe Wood, Yorkshire, by Mr.
Redhead : Mr. Moore mentions its having been gathered " on rocks
near Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, in a spot since destroyed by the
construction of a railway/' and likewise at Matlock, in Derbyshire.
As it is a not uncommon fern in rocky districts on the continent of
Europe, it is not unlikely that the preceding habitats may be cor-
rectly stated; but it has been unfortunately circumstanced, like
Cystopteris alpina, in being so scantily distributed as to escape the
observation of succeeding inquirers, or to be obliterated by the
march of improvement ; the latter was the case in the only instance
in which I ever met with it otherwise than under cultivation, viz.
on an old wall on Tooting Common, Surrey, where the ruthless
hand of repair had already commenced its destruction. The
Rev. W. H. Hawker found it last year " growing in some quantity
on a very old wall near Petersfield, in Hampshire."

The fronds grow in a dense tuft, varying from two or three to
five or six inches in length ; they are smooth, of a deep green hue
and very rigid texture, are more or less erect and of a linear or nar-
row lanceolate outline: the rachis is slightly winged and leafy
almost to the base, the lower pinnse gradually diminishing in size
and becoming more distant, the upper ones being shorter and more
crowded as they approach the apex ; the pinnules are often decur-
rent, they are of an obovate form tapering below, and deeply divided
with from two to five sharp spinous teeth. The sori, two or three
generally on each pinnule, are very short, sometimes approaching
to circular ; their disposition is far from regular, and they often
become confluent.

In cultivation this pretty fern has with many a very indifferent
character for endurance : in the open air it is exceedingly liable to
die off during the winter, unless the situation be well sheltered and
the drainage complete ; indeed, I have never known it to exist be-
yond the second year in the vicinity of London, unless when planted
on a fragment of an old and mouldering wall, under the shade of
some aged trees, but at the same time so aiTanged as to avoid their
drip. Under glass, in a close frame or shaded greenhouse, there

47

is no difficulty in keeping it ; but it should be planted in sandy
peat, and the drainage secured by filling the pot about one-fourth
with pieces of old mortar and charcoal intermixed. Mr. Moore
recommends elevating the caudex a little above the level of the sol1
between two or three pieces of soft sandstone, and I have no doubt
the plan would be advantageous in securing the growth of a small
specimen ; though, if the arrangement below be such as to prevent
any accumulation of superfluous moisture about the roots, a plant
once established is not liable to damp off under ordinary care.
Although a comparatively small species, I have found that it requires
considerable space to extend its roots, and that it is safer to use a
large than a very small pot, so that when settled it may remain
undisturbed for two or three years at the least. The increase by
division of the main caudex should be avoided by those who may be
desirous of retaining a fine specimen, as its growth is slow, and,
unless assisted by the temperature of a hothouse, liable to receive a
check that the plants do not readily recover. This remark is ad-
dressed to the amateur cultivator not possessing all the appliances
requisite to ensure success in propagation, and it is induced by
having witnessed the destruction of two noble specimens under the
infliction. It is an evergreen species, and, under cover, continues
its growth throughout the year.

ASPLENIUM LANCEOLATUM. Lanceolate Spleenwort. TAB. XXVI.'.

Fronds lanceolate, bipinnate : pinnae ovate-lanceolate : pinnules
obovate, deeply and sharply toothed. Rachis not winged. Sori
short, nearly marginal.

Asplenium lanceolatum, Hudson. Smith. E. B. 240. Hooker and
Arnott. Moore. Babington. Newman.

A very local species in this country, where it is almost exclusively
confined to the maritime counties of the south of England and
of Wales. Being a native of the Atlantic Islands and of the south
of Europe, it may be regarded rather as naturalized than indigenous.
In the Channel Islands, Jersey especially, it is most abundant. Its
favourite localities are in the crevices of rocks and old walls, and
lining the sides of wells and the shafts of deserted mines. The
fronds rise from a tufted base or crown, varying greatly according
to situation, in size, position, form, and even texture : they are of a
bright green colour, the lower part of the rachis excepted, which is
purplish-black, when growing exposed to light. In shady and
moist places they attain a length of twelve or eighteen inches,
while on dry rocks and walls they often do not extend to more than
two or three inches ; sometimes they are erect in growth, sometimes

48

drooping or even spreading horizontally. The rachis is more or
less covered with bristle-like scales. The general outline of the
frond varies from linear-lanceolate to a broader and more directly
lanceolate form, and in some, specimens it is nearly triangular: the
pinna? and pinnules are equally variable, and the former are often,
and not in young plants only, lobed instead of pinnate ; the ultimate
divisions in either case are deeply and sharply toothed or serrated,
a branch of the lateral veins extending to the extremity of each
serrature. The sori are remarkable, compared with those of other
species of the genus, both as to form and position ; they are produced
near the. terminations of the branch veins, usually one to each ser-
rature,, and are at first, while yet covered by their thin white indu-
siurn, oblong or even linear, but become circular as they enlarge,
and eventually often confluent, so as to form a line round the whole
under-margin : their arrangement in luxuriant specimens is very
irregular. When the frond approaches the triangular outline, this
fern is apt to be mistaken for the following species, A. Adiantum-
nigrum, the peculiarity of the sori constituting the most marked
differential character between them.

Like other maritime species of ferns, natural importations from
a warmer climate, the Lanceolate Spleenwort is not at all adapted
for cultivation in the open air in the eastern parts of England ; this
may be understood by noticing the limited extent of its distribution
here, reaching, it is true along the whole southern coast from the
Land's End to Kent, and along the western as far north as Caer-
narvonshire ; but still confined to localities influenced by the great
current and swell of the Atlantic, and chiefly to those so situated
as to receive their continuous flow, — the counties between the Chan-
nel and the estuary of the Severn. A treatment similar to that
recommended for the last species, A. fontanum, I have found to
succeed the best hitherto, except that it makes less root, and does
not require so large a pot in proportion to the size of the plant.
Another circumstance to be noted is, that it is very susceptible of
injury under close confinement, and consequently not adapted for
the Wardian cases. From observation of several plants placed
under different conditions, I believe this injury to the fern in ques-
tion to arise from the accumulation of water on the surface of the
fronds : breathing a moist atmosphere, it must be admitted, is very
distinct from drowning, and to the latter process the moisture-
loving fern is too frequently subjected by the mismanagement of
a very useful invention. In Nature, superfluous moisture is re-
moved quickly by evaporation, and although some plants are capable
of adapting their functions according to the circumstances in which
they may be placed, others are less pliant, and our Asplenium is
one to which a perpetual vapour-bath is death. Under all its forms
it is ornamental, and, like most of its congeners, evergreen.

49

ASPLENIUM ADIANTUM-NIGRUM. Black Spleenwort. TAB. XXVIII.

Fronds triangular attenuated or ovate, twice or thrice pinnate :
pinnae triangular : pinnules ovate or ovate-lanceolate, inciso-pin-
natifid, sharply toothed. Sori linear-elongate, approximate to the
midvein.

Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum, Linrueus. E. B. 1950. Generally
adopted.

One of the most generally distributed, of our smaller ferns, being
found in almost every part of the kingdom, growing in the crevices
of rocks and old walls and on shaded hedge-banks. The fronds
spring in tufts from the crowns of a slowly-branching rhizoma,
and vary greatly in development in different habitats, being often
on exposed walls and rocks not above two or three inches in length,
while under the influence of shade and moisture they extend to one
or two feet. The rachis is bare about half of its length, and this
part is glossy and of a deep purple almost black. The leafy portion
of the frond is mostly of an elongated triangular outline, but
sometimes perfectly deltoid, the lowest pair of pinnae being always
longer than the others, unless occasionally in very small specimens
when an ovate-lanceolate form prevails. The pinnae are pinnate,
obliquely triangular, and generally point upwards toward the apex
of the frond ; they differ much in division, but it is only in very
large fronds that the tripinnate character is fully developed. The
ultimate divisions are unequally toothed, the teeth being more or
less attenuated or obtuse, but always terminating in a point. The
venation is very distinct, and varies with the division of the frond,
the fructification being always produced on the inner or upper side,
near the separation of the branches from the midvein, and thus
occupying the middle of the pinnules. The sori are linear, covered
at their first appearance with a white indusium attached on the
outer side to the vein ; in maturity this is covered by the expansion
of the thecse and the sori become confluent, often spreading so as
to occupy the whole under surface.

The protean character of this fern is apt to mislead the too
sanguine collector in his search for novelties, and an assemblage
of all its diversities of form would certainly puzzle the discrimina-
tive faculties of any one beholding them for the first time : a little
farther acquaintance, however, and especially the results obtained
by cultivating them under corresponding treatment, will soon
dispel any illusion regarding specific distinction. A very striking
difference is presented in contrasting the two extremes of form to
which it is liable, the intermediate and most common one being
that on which the foregoing description has been chiefly framed.

50

When of small size, as before remarked, the form of the frond is
often less triangular, and in such case it is less divided, and the
divisions are broader and more obtuse : — this not unfrequent con-
dition, dependent on accidental circumstances, presents us with the
original Asplenium obtusum of Willdenow, the variety obtusum of
later authors.

A second form has acquired more importance on account of its
being still regarded by some as a separate species, viz. Asplenium
acutum, Bory (Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 231). Mr. Newman's
figure represents a luxuriant frond from Ireland, to which country,
in the text, he confines its British habitats. I have met with the
same, smaller in size, in several parts of North Wales, and have
preserved specimens collected in 1821 from the walls of the Cathe-
dral at St. Asaph, between which and those of Irish growth I am
unable to trace any difference. In regard to its being a species,
such claim is very doubtful, resting apparently at present solely
upon a slight difference in texture, not appreciable by the aid of
the microscope, and the narrow linear form of the ultimate divisions
of the frond.

The Black Spleenwort was formerly employed medicinally in
diseases of the chest, its real or supposed efficacy in asthma, cough,
&c. being probably based upon a slight tonic quality belonging to
the ferns generally, and the relief afforded by its mucilaginous
juices.

All the forms are ornamental and well adapted for rock-work,
but though it will live in exposed situations, the more luxuriant
states are only obtainable in the shade. It will grow in any light
soil, but succeeds best when planted in a mixture of sandy peat and
old mortar. It is well fitted for the stove or greenhouse, but the
pots should be carefully drained. In the close case, it soon becomes
mouldy and decays.

ASPLENIUM MARINUM. Sea Spleenwort. TAB. XXIX.

Fronds linear, pinnate: pinnae stalked, oblong-ovate, inciso-
serrate, oblique, obtuse, unequally wedge-shaped, and more or less
auricled at the base. Rachis winged.

Asplenium marinum, Linnaus. Smith. E. B. 392. Hooker and
Arnott. Babington. Moore. Newman.

Frequent on rocks and cliffs, and especially in caverns, near the
sea ; it grows likewise on old walls, castles, and churches, but very
rarely in inland situations. Its principal localities are on the
southern and western shores of the island, commencing with the
sand cliffs of Hastings ; but it is distributed at intervals around
the Scottish coast, terminating on the eastern side about Scar-

51

borough in Yorkshire. On the shores of Ireland and in the
Channel Islands it is most abundant. Few of our native ferns
vary more in size and general aspect than this ; in exposed situa-
tions the fronds being often not above an inch in length, while in
warm and sheltered ones they are not unfrequently one or two feet
or even more. The rhizoma is short, firmly fixed by long and very
slender wiry radicles that penetrate deeply into the crevices of the
rocks, which renders transplantation difficult and precarious; it
forms new crowns or branches that divide very slowly, so that in
plants of large size the fronds compose a dense tuft. The rachis
is bare for about one-third of its length, glossy, and of a dark
purplish- brown colour, passing into black at the base. The pinnae
are nearly equal in length throughout, except towards the apex,
giving the frond generally a linear but slightly acuminated out-
line ; they are of a deep green above, pale beneath, in maturity
of a firm, almost leathery texture, and so placed as to point more
or less obliquely forward ; in form and distance on the rachis they
vary according to size and exposure, the general figure being an
oblong-oval, with an unequal base, more or less auricled on the
upper side and truncated below ; the margin is serrated, and occa-
sionally so deeply as to become lobed. The lateral veins are alter-
nate and forked, bearing the linear sori on the upper division.

Although so common and so widely distributed along our sea-
shores, this is a troublesome fern in cultivation ; it will not bear
exposure at all in the vicinity of London, I have tried it several
times on rock-work, and under various treatment as to soil and
elevation, but have never succeeded in keeping it through the
winter. In many of its native habitats it occupies caverns and
narrow crevices, of such depth that the light must be almost totally
excluded; in these it attains the greatest luxuriance; and in an
imitation cleft, a small Devonshire specimen, planted this spring,
bids fair to rival its wild associates, and, judging from present
appearance and progress, to find itself quite at home. Independent
of the effect of cold upon plants, we do not pay sufficient attention
in cultivation to the circumstances attending their natural growth.
I have previously referred to the necessity of observation in this
respect, and believe the want of such observation to be a main
obstacle to that success, the failure of which is so often deplored
by the fern amateur. Now, in regard to the species before us, it
will be found, almost universally, growing sheltered from the wind,
and so disposed as to avoid the lodgement of rain upon the fronds ;
the latter is a point most essential to the health of an evergreen
fern, and if attended to, would, as I know from experience, ensure
that duration which is in many instances so equivocal. In pot-
cultivation, A. marinum requires the same care of ensuring perfect
drainage that is necessary to rock-plants generally. The soil may

52

be a mixture of peat and sand in about equal proportions, or an
additional fourth of the latter material may be added to the ordi-
nary compost ; pieces of broken slate or angular fragments of gra-
nite forced through the loose soil at the time of planting and be-
fore settling the whole by watering, assist the after- drain age, and
form a medium over which the growing radicles are encouraged to
extend their ramifications. The pots may be kept in a cold frame
or green-house ; in the latter case, it is better to cover it with a
glass shade. In the hot-house it will attain a large size, and when
the air is kept moist, does not require a glass. In such circum-
stances I have seen the fronds eighteen or twenty inches long;
certainly it luxuriates in warmth.

The distribution of this species, extending from the north of
Africa and the Canaries and Madeiras, along the shores of Spain
and France, and its absence in other parts of Europe, apparently
well authenticated, is a curious geographical phenomenon, pointing
to a probability of its having taken place prior to the great disrup-
tion of the chalk and the vast deposit of alluvial matter along the
eastern coast of England, especially when added to the fact of its
sparing occurrence in Hampshire and Sussex, and to its non-
existence throughout the former line of connexion between this
country and the continent, and even beyond this northward to
Flamborough Head.

The pinnae of A. marinum are occasionally very narrow, and the
serratures so deep as to give a totally different aspect to the plant;
but no permanent or decided varieties exist deserving more than a
passing notice.

ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES. Common Wall Spleenwort. Com-
mon Maiden-hair. TAB. XXX.

Fronds linear, pinnate: pinna opposite, roundish-oblong, ob-
tuse, crenated, stalked, truncated and cuneate below. Kachis
purple or black.

Asplenium Trichomanes, Linnaus. Smith. E.B. 576. Hooker and
Arnott. Babington. Moore. Newman.

This beautiful little evergreen fern is one of very general distri-
bution on shaded rocks, old walls and buildings, generally selecting
a northern aspect, or at least a position not exposed to the sun ;
occasionally it is met with covering hedge-banks in a sandy soil!
The fronds grow in tufts from a short, dense rhizoma, erect or
spreading according to circumstances, and vary in length from two
or three inches to a foot. The rachis is smooth, glossy, of a deep
purple approaching to black, and leafy almost to the base. The

53

pinnae, mostly opposite, vary in distance, and are of a roundish oval
form, sometimes nearly rhomboidal; they are of a deep glossy
green colour, slightly crenated on the margin, and attached to the
rachis by a very short stalk formed by the attenuation of the
wedge-shaped base. The lateral veins divide about midway into
two or rarely three branches, the upper one bearing a sorus near
its extremity, obliquely pointed towards the apex of the pinna.

The fronds are occasionally forked or even multifid at the apex ;
but this is not a character sufficiently permanent to constitute a
variety. Plants having the pinna? of a thin texture, and more or
less deeply pinnatifid, are sometimes met with, and such have
retained this character under cultivation, constituting the variety
incisum of some botanists. It is generally barren.

The common Spleenwort is very easily cultivated, and is among
the most elegant of the smaller ferns, and, above all, admirably
adapted for the decoration of shaded rock-work. Of course we
must be guided in our treatment by bearing in mind, as in regard
to other species, the conditions of its natural growth. Many
persons think that if they put the root of a plant into soil, and
water it, they have done all that is necessary, and are surprised and
disappointed when their expectations are not realized. Now, the
wall and rock ferns require something more than this, or they will
not grow to please us. The thin succulent extremities of the wiry
roots, insinuating themselves into every crevice, and absorbing on
all sides the scanty moisture retained by the coarse material upon
which they vegetate, are in removal generally left behind; and yet
the plant is expected to live and nourish, for the simple reason
that, as it must have been half-starved upon the dry wall, and now
has plenty to feed upon, it ought to do so. The decayed mortar
and the mouldering brick, while they afford the potash, lime, and
other mineral substances necessary to fern-structure, ensure the
grand requisite of drainage, and admit no accumulation of moisture
beyond that which is essential to vegetable life. Stagnant water,
and especially when lodged in soil abounding in decomposing
organic matter, is fatal to most of the species of this genus ; and
though A. Trichomams will flourish under shelter in almost any
kind of compost employed by the fern-grower, I have never found
it succeed so well in the open air, under exposure to the alternate
wet and frost of winter, as when planted in old mortar mingled
with a very small proportion of sandy peat. It may be grown in
pots in the green-house or in a cold frame, but does not like con-
finement for any length of time ; and though the shelter of a bell-
glass is favourable to its full development within-doors, frequent
change of air will alone prevent it from eventually becoming un-
healthy.

ASPLENIUM VIRIDE. Green Spleenwort. TAB. XXXI.

Fronds linear, pinnate : pinnse alternate, rhomboidal or roundish-
ovate, crenated, stalked. Rachis green.

Asplenium viridc, Hudson. Smith. E. B. 2257. Hooker and
Arnott. Babington. Moore. Newman. A. Trichomanes
j amosum, Linnaeus.

Chiefly confined to mountainous and rocky districts, and delight-
ing in the vicinity of rills and waterfalls, but occasionally found
elsewhere. It is a local rather than a rare species, and is very
liable to be passed over as a form of A. Trichomanes, which it
nearly resembles in general appearance, though usually growing
more erect than the ordinary state of that species. The whole
plant is however of a paler hue, especially the rachis, which, though
dark brown or purple at the base, is always light green or yellowish
above. The fronds are tufted, in dry situations two or three inches
long, in moist ones ten inches to a foot. About one-third of the
rachis is bare : the pinna? are usually more distant than those of
the preceding fern; they are very variable in form, but most
frequently tend to the rhomboidal ; the margin, too, is more or
less deeply crenated. The lateral veins are generally alternate
and forked, and the sori are produced near the point of division,
rarely at or iiear the extremity of the upper venule as in A.
Trichomanes.

A tendency to divide dichotomously is more remarkable in the
fronds of this fern than in those of the preceding, and originated
the Linnsean specific name.

In the vicinity of London the cultivation of A. viride is far from
being satisfactory ; it does not succeed well in the open air, and is
apt to damp off under confinement. Among the various kinds of
treatment to which it has been subjected, I have not hitherto had
reason to congratulate myself as to the result ; the plants live, but
cannot be said to flourish ; they send out new fronds strong and
well-conditioned in the early summer, and then, in whatever situa-
tion they may be placed, gradually assume an unhealthy appear-
ance, which characterizes them during the greater part of the year.
A mixture of broken freestone and sandy peat seems to succeed
best as soil, and the pots should be one-third filled with draining
material, the upper part of which should consist of charcoal broken
into small fragments : I believe the chief value of this latter me-
dium, as applied to fern cultivation, consists in its absorbing and
antiseptic qualities, which enable it to retain moisture, and at the
same time to counteract the effects of it in a stagnant condition
upon the soil. The foregoing remarks are only to be considered
as applicable to the metropolitan climate; in a purer air and moist

55

sheltered situation it seems almost, if not quite, as much at home
as among its native alpine rocks.

** Ultimate divisions without a midvein. Amesium, Newman.

ASPLENIUM RUTA-MURARIA. Wall-Rue. White Maiden-hair.
TAB. XXXII.

Fronds deltoid, bipinnate : pinnules rhomboid-wedge-shaped,
notched or1 toothed on the upper margin. Indusium jagged.

Asplenium Ruta-muraria, Linnaus. Smith. E.B. 150. Hooker
and Arnott. Moore. Babington. Amesium Ruta-muraria,
Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 253.

Very common on old walls throughout the kingdom, but indi-
genous to the mountainous and subalpine portion of it, where it
grows in the fissures of the rocks : its original migration from the
latter is indicated by the fact of its occurrence being gradually less
frequent as we advance from the central counties of England toward
the eastern coast. Its predilection for brick walls was noticed at
an early period, hence the common English name, and it may be
accounted for by the preference it exhibits in the wild state for
rocks of calcareous composition. In general appearance and sta-
ture it is very much diversified ; in the low countries, as a wall-
plant, we are familiar with it as one of small size, with fronds
sparingly divided, from half an inch to two inches in length;
while, in the rocky clefts of the hills of Derbyshire, Wales, and
Scotland, they attain a length of six or eight inches, and a branched
habit that might readily induce the casual observer to regard it as
a different species. Our figures are rather to be taken as expressive
of the ordinary than of the alpine form, which latter is subject
to considerable deviation. The fronds grow in tufts from the ex-
tremity of a slowly extending and branching rhizoma ; they are of
a thick, almost leathery substance and deep green colour, but in
exposed situations always covered with a glaucous secretion, whence
the name White Maiden-hair. In young and starved specimens,
the fronds are sometimes undivided or only simply pinnate with
roundish or reniform pinna?, but the more compound character and
triangular outline above assigned prevail even in comparatively
small plants. The normal arrangement of both pinna? and pin-
nules is alternate, but they are not unfrequently opposite in the
dwarfer forms, and the latter vary in figure from bluntly wedge-
shaped to rhomboidal, more or less attenuated in both directions,
so as to become in some instances almost linear ; under all circum-
stances the upper margin is irregularly toothed or serrated, the
wedge-shaped base entire. The veins diverge in a flabelliform man-

56

ner from the stalk-like base of the pinnules, branching above and
extending to the teeth or serratures, without any apparent mid-
vein. The sori, produced on the inner side of the veins, are linear
elongated and eventually become confluent, covering the whole under
side of the pinnule. The indusium, only traceable in the earlier
condition of the fructification, is white, and the free inner margin
if examined at the time of separation is more or less jagged or
uneven, a character of small importance in specific distinction, un-
less far more decided than will be found in this instance (see the
following species).

Those who would cultivate this fern should endeavour to obtain
it with the roots uninjured, which it is impossible to effect by any
other means than removing the brick- or stone-work among which
it grows, a process not always agreeable to the owner. When
obtained from the fissures of rocks, the principal portion of the
fibres is often left behind ; circumstances exceedingly adverse to its
after-establishment. Grown in pots, brick rubbish or old mortar
with a very small admixture of sandy peat, a strict attention to
drainage, free air, and little water, are the conditions on which it
may be expected to live, but, like many other common plants, care
kills it. Wall specimens, removed with the mortar in which their
roots are imbedded, and placed between bricks or stones piled in
imitation of the stone-hedges of Wales, and with a little old mortar
scattered between them, will generally establish themselves readily,
especially if sheltered from the sun and cold winds; for though the
plant is often found naturally developed from seed in very exposed
places, a certain degree of exclusion may generally be traced in its
choice of a habitat.

ASPLENIUM ALTERNIPOLIUM. Alternate-leaved Spleenwort. TAB.
XXXIII.

Fronds pinnate : pinnae alternate, distant, wedge-shaped, ascend-
ing, bifid or trifid at the apex. Indusium entire.

Asplenium alternifolium, Wulfen. Smith. E. B. 2258. Hooker
and Arnott. Asplenium germanicum, Weiss. Babington.
Moore. Amesium germanicum, Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns,
258.

As a British species this is extremely rare, and, though widely
distributed, far from common on the Continent. Its localities agree
with those of A. Ruta-muraria, which however it is not found to
accompany. Three habitats have been recorded in Scotland ; three
miles from Dunfermline, Fifeshire; Stenton Rocks, near Dunkeld,
Perthshire ; rocks on the Tweed, two miles from Kelso, Roxburgh-
shire. In England it has been met with on Kyloe Crags, Northum-

57

berland ; in three or four places about Borrowdale, Cumberland,
growing in the clefts of the rocks ; and Mr. W. Hawker writes that
he met with two plants of it this summer (1854) growing with
Asplenium septentrionale, on a precipice near Scaw-fell. In North
Wales, it has been collected near Llanrwst, and in the Pass of
Llanberis. The habit of this fern approaches so nearly that of the
preceding, that many botanists consider them to be merely varieties
of the same species ; and some forms of A. Ruta-muraria certainly
do resemble it in foliation, to a degree that appears at first sight
to render the question of identity far from doubtful : the general
outline of the frond, however, and its division are very different ;
in the present it is narrow lanceolate or linear, and never more than
simply pinnate, it is likewise of thinner texture and lighter green
colour. The pinnae, though varying in form and size upon the
same frond, are always distant and directed upwards; they are
generally of a narrow wedge-shape rapidly attenuated downwards
into a slender stalk, toothed or notched at the extremity, and, the
lower ones especially, not unfrequently divided into two or three
lobes ; not however showing any tendency to the bipinnate charac-
ter. The sori are developed like those of its near ally, but differ
in the margin of the indusium being entire. The fronds are usually
from two to four inches in height, but some preserved specimens
from the Tyrolese mountains measure six or seven inches.

The scarcity of this fern has hitherto prevented experiment upon
its growth in the open air, in which it would probably succeed as
well as the preceding. It is usually kept in the house covered by
a bell glass, but is liable to die off during winter, and even in the
full growth of summer, without frequent attention to change of
air, and avoiding the accumulation of moisture upon the fronds.
In planting it is advisable to keep the crown a little elevated above
the surface, and the soil may be a mixture of sand and peat, to
which some add a little decayed vegetable mould ; I do not con-
sider the latter necessary, if it be not injurious, by contributing to
the retention of water around the roots, the supply of which ought
to be limited so as merely to prevent positive drought.

It is remarkable that the plant before us should occur both in
this country and on the Continent in company with Asplenium
septentrionale, and always very sparingly. To even hint at any
probability of connection between them will perhaps horrify some
of our modern manufacturers of new species, accustomed as they
are to measure differences by half hair -breadths, but under the
risk of being classed as an innovator against all the established
laws of specific distinction among ferns, I believe this may be the
case ; indeed, that if the three British species of the Amesium series
are not really varieties of the same, dependent upon circumstances
influencing their primary development, the affinity of the present

58

plant is nearer to the latter than to A. Ruta-muraria. The ordi-
nary form of A. septentrionale is certainly very different, but under
cultivation it occasionally produces branched fronds, the lateral
lobes of which so nearly resemble the pinnse of A. alternifolium,
that the most practised eye would find it difficult to trace any
difference. The character of the indusium is the same.

ASPLENIUM SEPTENTRIONALE. Forked Spleenwort. TAB. XXXIV.

Fronds linear, bi- or tripartite ; the segments alternate, elongate,
acutely two- or three-toothed above. Margin of the indusium
entire.

Asplenium septentrionale, Hull. Smith. E. B. 1017. Hooker and
Arnott. Babington. Moore. Amesium septentrionale, New-
man, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 265. Acrostichum septentrionale,
Linnaus.

A very local species in this country, growing in the fissures of
rocks and the interstices of the loose stone walls that occupy the
place of hedges in the northern and western parts of the kingdom.
The habitats are too numerous to record, beyond general notice of
the districts in which they may be expected : it is rather a sub-
alpine than mountain species, not being found at any great eleva-
tion. The extreme western and northern counties of England, the
Snowdon district in Wales, the southern and central parts of Scot-
land, yield it in tolerable abundance, so as scarcely to warrant the
epithet of rare applied to it by most writers, though it is doubtless
much more so than formerly, in consequence of that insatiate spirit
that too often prevails among the petit maitres of natural science,
so numerous and so enthusiastic at the present day. The rhizoma
creeps and branches, forming when left undisturbed a compact
mass of stem and root fibre of large size compared with that of the
upward growth. The fronds are generally simple, of an elongated
linear-lanceolate form, gradually diminishing in breadth down-
wards into the rachis, and are from two to four inches in length ;
the broad part has usually two or three lateral alternate teeth, often
so deep as to become lobes, and the extremities of these as well as
of the main frond are usually furcate, whence the English name :
the variation to which this form is liable has been already referred
to in the concluding remarks on A. alternifolium. The venation is
dependent on the divisions of the frond, a vein or branch extending
into each point or segment. The sori are usually more elongated
than in the other species of the series, and become confluent in
maturity.

The same plan may be pursued in the cultivation of this as re-
commended for A. Ruta-muraria, but it is less adapted for exposure

59

in the open fernery, at least in the eastern parts of England, the
evergreen fronds being liable to suffer from frost, and especially
during the dry piercing winds of spring. It will however live and
flourish when planted in a sheltered cavity better than under con-
finement. If potted, a cold close frame, where it may be kept
with A. marinum, fontanum, &c., shaded alike from the sun and
cold, will answer better than the greenhouse, bearing in mind that
the absence of all superfluous moisture must be strictly attended
to, and the fronds of larger ferns must not be allowed to spread
over it. The crown should be elevated.

Genus 8. SCOLOPENDRIUM.

GEN. CHAR. Sori linear-elongate, straight, growing on the lateral
veins, two together, approximate in one line. Indusia two,
opening down the middle of the apparently simple sori.

This genus was separated from Asplenium on account of the very
remarkable difference of its fructification. The sori are double, each
pair being disposed between two parallel branches of the lateral
veins, and so closely approximating as to appear as one. The two
series of theca3 composing each apparent sorus, arise individually
from the opposite sides of the outer branches of two principal lateral
veins, each being covered at first by its appropriate indusium : the
confined space thus allowed for their development occasions the two
sori to become confluent, while the margins of their indusire, sepa-
rating in opposite directions, appear like one opening down the
middle. The double or compound character of the sori may be
readily traced by careful examination, and will be very evident when
observed in an early stage of growth.

The regularly parallel lines of fructification, disposed at equal
distances on each side of the mid- vein of the long, entire frond of
S. vulgare, bear some resemblance in arrangement to the legs of a
Scolopendra or Centipede, hence the name.

SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE. Common Hart's-tongue. TAB. XXXV.

Fronds entire, linear or oblong-lanceolate, cordate at the base.
Rachis shaggy, with narrow membranous scales.

Scolopendrium vulgare, Symons. Smith. E.B.1I5Q. Hooker and
Arnott. Babington. Moore. Phyllitis Scolopendrium, New-
man, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 271. Asplenium Scolopendrium,
Linnaeus. Scolopendrium officinarum, Swartz. S. Phyllitis,
Roth.

One of our most common ferns, growing on moist shaded banks,
in the clefts of rocks, about old buildings, and in the mouths of

H 2

60

wells, mines, and caverns. It varies greatly in size, according to
the locality : in the open vault, by the great hall in Conway Castle,
I have gathered fronds upwards of three feet long and nearly four
inches in breadth ; but in more exposed and drier situations their
ordinary length is from six inches to a foot. The rhizoma is very
compact and deeply rooted; it does not elongate, but increases
slowly by the formation of new crowns around the older, attaining
thus, when left undisturbed, considerable bulk and an almost sphe-
rical form. The fronds grow in circular tufts, unfolding at first in
an erect position, but afterwards radiating and curving outwards :
when springing from the side of a rock, or in the mouth of a well,
they are often pendulous : in outline they are linear-lanceolate or
strap-shaped, more or less acuminated at the apex and cordate be-
low, with an entire slightly- waved margin. The rachis is generally
of a dark purple hue, especially the petiolate portion, which con-
stitutes about a third or fourth of the length of the frond, some-
times smooth throughout, but more frequently beset with chaffy
membranous pale-brown scales, that give it a shaggy appearance,
and are often distributed along the under side of the midrib like-
wise. The parallel linear sori are usually very regular in their
disposition, but liable to vary in length, and sometimes form two
series, alternately longer and shorter : their peculiarity of develop-
ment has been already referred to, under the generic character of
Scolopendrium, and is illustrated, as well as the venation, in the
outline figure of a portion of the frond on our plate.

So many deviations from the normal form are presented by the
varieties of this fern, and so closely do they approach each other,
that it is very difficult to select those deserving a separate notice.
In some instances the diversity arises from the division of the
rachis, in others from peculiarity in the marginal development of
the leaf, and occasionally from a combination of both. Among
the apparently endless and far from constant forms thus resulting,
the following, well known to the fern cultivator, are the most
marked and permanent : —

1. polyschides. Fronds narrow linear, deeply and irregularly
crenato-lobate on the margin. Moore, Handb. Brit. Ferns, 174,
fig. 8, 178. Phyllitis polyschides, Ray.

The narrow linear form is the distinguishing character of this,
the division of the margin being often very obscure. The fronds
are generally fertile.

2. crispum. Fronds thin, strap-shaped, the margins much undu-
lated or curled, the base cordate-auriculate. Moore. Handb. Brit.
Perm, 175, fig. 7, 178.

The dilatation of the margin, which occasions the curled charac-
ter, is the probable cause of this very elegant and permanent variety
being almost uniformly barren.

61

3. lobatum. Fronds strap-shaped below, dilated at the upper
part and divided there into two or more acute lobes. Moore, Handb.
175, fig. /3, 178.

When the midrib divides only once, it is the variety furcatum.
The lobes are generally flat, and fertile like the lower part of the
frond. In some instances the primary division of the rachis occurs
in that part which may be regarded as the petiole. This constitutes
the variety ramosum, of which however a correspondent form is met
with in the next.

4. multifidum. Fronds strap-shaped below, dilated above, repeat-
edly divided toward the extremity ; the lobes more or less obtuse,
undulated, crowded. Moore, Handb. 175. Phyllitis multifida,
Ray.

This is a very beautiful variety when grown luxuriantly, but is
liable to pass into the preceding form in dry seasons and situations.
The lower part of the frond is fertile, the undulated terminal lobes
barren.

5. lacer atum. Fronds broad, the margins deeply and irregularly
inciso-lobate, or pinnatifid. Moore, Handb. 175.

This remarkable variety was found by Mr. Young of Taunton,
on a wall in that neighbourhood, and he has kindly favoured me
with original specimens of it and of another, which he has named
endivaefolium, obtained by sowing its spores ; the latter chiefly dif-
fering in having the fronds broader, more deeply divided, and the
lateral lobes lacerated and toothed at the extremity, while the broad
apex is repeatedly divided like that of multifidum, which it resem-
bles in having the terminal divisions barren, while the rest of the
frond bears sori abundantly. The leading character in these two
varieties seems to consist in the deep incision and lobing of the
lateral margins, and in the greater comparative breadth of the
frond, which is sometimes almost as broad as it is long. I include
them under the same general denomination, because the distin-
guishing features of the so-called endivcefolium do not appear to me
to be permanent ; such at least was the case this year in the grow-
ing specimens at Kew, originally forwarded by Mr. Young, in
which the two extreme forms and several intermediate ones were
developed from the same root.

The broad bright-coloured patches formed by this fern and its
varieties render it highly ornamental in contrast with our other
native species in cultivation, and its evergreen habit is an especial
recommendation to abundant plantation out of doors, as well as in
pots among the less hardy exotics of the greenhouse. Though
not absolutely requiring the same degree of shelter that is neces-
sary to the preservation of many ferns, the Hart's-tongue may be
regarded as a free-growing plant : it can only be obtained in its
more luxuriant and ornamental condition by keeping it shaded

62

from the sun and furnished with a copious supply of water during
the growing season. In order to avoid the effect of drought, a
larger proportion of yellow loam may be added to the ordinary
compost to render it more retentive of moisture, but it will grow
in almost any kind of soil that is not too stiif for its roots to
penetrate.

It was formerly in repute medicinally as an astringent and vul-
nerary, and an ointment prepared from the bruised leaves is still
used in some parts of the country as a dressing for wounds, espe-
cially burns and scalds.

Genus 9. CETERACH.

GEN. CHAR. Lateral veins alternate, irregularly branched, the
branches anastomosing towards the margin. Sori oblong or
linear, attached to the upper side of the anterior principal
branches, except the lowest, which is on the opposite side of
the lower or posterior branch. Indusium obsolete. Whole back
of the frond covered with densely imbricated chaffy scales.

The apparent want of indusium and the anastomosing veins are
the chief features that separate this genus from Asplenium or
Scolopendrium, to both of which it has been referred. The indu-
sium is however present in the British plant, partly covering the
sorus in an early stage of development, and subsequently as a nar-
row nearly erect membrane attached to the back of the vein. The
Arabian and Persian physicians, by whom the normal species has
been long esteemed for its supposed medicinal qualities, call it
Chetherak.

CETERACH OFFICINARUM. Scaly Spleenwort. TAB. XXXVI.

Fronds linear-lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid; segments oblong-
obtuse, waved or slightly lobed on the margin.

Ceterach officinarum, Willdenow. Hooker and Arnott. Babington.
Moore. Scolopendrium Ceterach, Symons. Smith. E. B. 1244.
Grammitis Ceterach, Swartz. Hooker. E. B. ed. 2, 1408.
Asplenium Ceterach, Linnaeus. Notolepeum Ceterach, New-
man, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 277.

The countries bordering on the basin of the Mediterranean and
the islands and eastern shores of the North Atlantic appear to have
been the original stations of this remarkable fern. In the British
islands its distribution is too partial to admit of its being regarded
as strictly indigenous, though probably naturalized here at a period
little subsequent to the arrival of Asplenium marinum. It occurs
here on limestone rocks, but more frequently on old walls and

63

ruins, rooted deeply in the decaying mortar, and often accompany-
ing Asplenium Ruta-muraria and Trichomanes. Like other natural
importations from the south, it is found most abundantly in the
western maritime counties that receive the more direct flow of the
tide, and has progressed slowly towards the northern and central
parts of the kingdom ; in Scotland it has not yet traversed beyond
Perth, and is still regarded as a rare species ; while in Ireland its
copious distribution seems to indicate an earlier arrival. The fronds
are evergreen, the new ones making their appearance in May, and
at intervals throughout the summer: they vary considerably in
size according to situation, and our figure may be regarded as re-
presenting the medium, from three to five inches in length, but
where much exposed they are often not more than a third of this,
and in very sheltered places sometimes extend to eight or ten
inches. Some specimens sent from Teneriffe and Madeira mea-
sure more than a foot and a half, with a greater proportionate
breadth, that induced me at first to believe them of a different
species. It is, however, a fern that cannot be mistaken, and I am
informed that seedling plants, raised from the spores of these
giants, assumed the general aspect of those of British growth. The
general outline of the frond is varied from linear to linear-lanceo-
late, and the alternate segments are occasionally so far separated
by the extension of the rachis as to assume the character of pinnae,
especially where growing in the deeper fissures of rocks. The
whole of the under surface is densely clothed with brown, pointed,
imbricated scales, finely serrated on their margins, the outermost
of which extend beyond the margins of the segments and often
overlap them ; on the unexpanded fronds these scales are white
and silvery. The venation is not very readily iraced unless in the
young state of the frond, or by carefully removing the sori and
scales from the back of an old one, when they will be found to
accord with the description of them given under the generic cha-
racter. The sori are oblong; their disposition has been already
noticed, as well as the obscure nature of the indusium : the latter
organ, if we are justified in so terming it, is rendered unnecessary
as a protecting cover to the thecse, in consequence of the disposi-
tion of the scales ; which are arranged in regular series along each
side of the veins and venules, pointing outwards, and conceal the
sori by their broad bases, which completely overlap them in their
immature condition.

The medicinal value of Ceterach has long been exploded by
European practitioners, though still believed in among those of
the East. It seems to have been the true Asplenium of the Greeks,
mentioned by Dioscorides and others, and which, according to
Vitruvius, annihilated the spleen of the Cretan swine that fed
upon it.

64

It is not at all easy to cultivate this fern successfully : it is too
impatient of confinement to live long in the greenhouse, and the
cold frame, so useful for the protection of other half-hardy species,
is almost certain death to this. The metropolitan cultivator is told
that London air disagrees with it, and yet the only plant of it I
possessed in my early career, lived in a nook of an old wall, in a
back area in Hatton Garden, for several years, and may be there
still, unless eradicated by repair ; sun never reached it, and ancient
mortar, which, constantly moist, had somewhat the consistence of
paste, probably agreed with its constitution ; a very necessary point
to be studied in planting, as when left to its own selection, or in
the wild state, it seems universally to prefer a calcareous habitat.
Whether planted in the open fernery, or grown in pots, great care
must be exercised as to drainage, and in the latter case especially to
avoid wetting the fronds in watering.

Genus 10. BLECHNUM.

GEN. CHAR. Sori forming a continuous line on each side of the
mid-vein, and parallel to it : covered with a continuous indu-
sium opening inwardly.

Named from the Greek, /3X^%vov, applied to the following or
some other species of fern.

The arrangement of the fructification is very peculiar in this
genus, and is dependent upon an equally characteristic form of
venation, which latter, however, being in most instances very ob-
scure, I have omitted from the generic character. The lateral veins
are alternate, and extend, in our British species, obliquely upward
about half-way towards the margin, when, by a sudden turn, each
runs parallel to the mid-vein and anastomoses with the one above it,
thus forming an apparent longitudinal vein on each side of the
middle one. The sori occupy the upper or inner sides of these
lateral veins, from the bend to the point of contact with the next,
and thus become blended into an uninterrupted line, which the
cont inuity of their indusia renders more decided.

BLECHNUM BOREALE. Hard Fern. TAB. XXXVII.

Fronds linear-lanceolate, of two forms: fertile ones erect, pectinate-
pinnate, with distant, narrow linear acute pinnas: barren ones spread-
ing, pinnatifid, with broadly linear blunt approximate lobes.

Blechnum boreale, Swartz. Smith. E. B. 1159. Babington. Hooker
and Arnott. Blechnum spicant, Roth. Withering. Moore,
Handb. Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns. Osmunda spicant,
Linnaeus.

Very common in almost every part of the kingdom, on heaths

65

and uncultivated ground, in woods and thickets, and on rocky
hills, especially about pools and water-courses. Its continental
distribution is wide, extending from Swedish Lapland to the bor-
ders of the Mediterranean. The barren fronds, which remain
throughout the winter, are always more or less spreading in their
habit, and, where uninterrupted by surrounding vegetation, gene-
rally prostrate; they are pinnatifid, smooth, dark green, and leafy
nearly to the base, the leafless portion of the rachis being shaggy
with lanceolate membranaceous scales; the segments are linear,
flat, obtuse at the extremity, more or less approximate, and re-
markably regular in disposition : the ordinary length of these
fronds is from six to twelve inches. The fertile fronds are always
erect, from one to two feet in height, and distantly pinnated : the
pinnae are contracted, linear, generally pointed, and with the mar-
gins recurved, not above half the width of the barren segments,
one to two inches in length on the upper half of the rachis, but
little more than rudimentary below : the rachis is in most in-
stances of a dark purple hue, smooth and glossy. The peculiarity
in venation above described, in the remarks on the generic charac-
ter, does not belong to the barren frond, the lateral veins of the
lobes branching dichotomously about the middle, and their divi-
sions extending to the margin, the main or upper branches not
anastomosing. The fertile fronds may be found from May to
October, but they soon wither away after the dispersion of the
sporules.

Like most other ferns, this is liable to deviate from the normal
character, and occasionally such deviations may under peculiar
treatment become permanent in cultivation, but my own experience
has not confirmed this : it is true that specimens sometimes occur
in which the frond of Blechnum boreale is divided at the extremity,
and more frequently, in which the intended fertile frond has all of
its pinnae abortive, the rachis merely developing their rudiments ;
but I have found the recurrence of such monstrosities too uncer-
tain to admit of enrolling them as varieties.

It is a highly beautiful fern, well worthy of cultivation as an
evergreen little liable to injury by frost, and, during the summer,
presenting an elegant contrast in its varied fronds, and a habit
totally dissimilar to that of all our larger species. In moving it
from its natural habitat, care should be taken to bring away as
much of the soil as convenience will admit ; otherwise our labours
will be probably disappointed, as it does not readily form new
roots. From want of attention to this circumstance I used to
regard it as one diflicult to establish, a character quite undeserved,
as few of our native species are more readily naturalized in the
garden. When planted among rock- work, it must be so placed as
to receive abundant moisture, and the soil employed should be more

i

66

retentive than usual ; a mixture of peat and stiff loam in equal
proportion I have found to answer well : in the wild state it grows
in almost all kinds of soil, from sand and gravel to the most re-
tentive clay. Shade is necessary to its more luxuriant growth, but
it will bear exposure better than most others, especially if well sup-
plied with water. It may be kept in large pots, but does not like
confinement.

Genus 11. PTERIS.

GEN. CHAR. Fructification forming a continuous marginal line,
covered by the attenuated recurved margin of the frond.

The fructification in this genus is very obscure in regard to its
primary development, and much difference of opinion has prevailed
among" pteridologists respecting the presence or absence of indu-
sium : were it one of small extent, this would be of little import-
ance, but the contrary is the case ; and, although the local botanist
can have no difficulty in recognizing our solitary indigenous species,
from the above superficial character, a correct understanding of
those points of structure that are generally adopted in the asso-
ciation or distinction of genera in this tribe of plants, is serviceable
to the general student. A close examination of the fructifying
frond of Pteris aquilina shows us that the lateral veins of the lobes
divide one, two, or three times before they reach the margin, and
that the extremities of the branches become anastomosed near the
latter, forming an intromarginal vein ; it is from this vein that the
thecse arise, the margin of the lobe recurving with them, not over
them. The thecse are not produced on the under surface, as in
the true dorsiferous ferns, but on the edge of the frond, the sub-
stance of which terminates with the vein in question, while the
epidermis is extended beyond it from both surfaces, and thus en-
closes the fructification in its earliest stage of development between
two membranes, the folding of which backward with their contents
has occasioned all the equivocality originally attaching to this part.
Both of the membranes have their margins ciliated with jointed
hairs, and under the microscope their cellular structure will be
found to differ in accordance with that of the upper and under
epidermis from which they are individually extensions.

Pteris, Trre/w, the common Greek name for fern, signifying wing
or feather, well accords with the appearance of the fronds of P. aqui-
lina, the most common and most generally distributed of European
ferns.

PTERIS AQUILINA. Common Brake. Braken. Eagle Fern.
TAB. XXXVIII.

Fronds deltoid, with an elongated stem-like petiole, bi-tripinnate ;
primary pinnae opposite ; ultimate segments oblong, obtuse.

Pteris aquilina, Linnceus. Smith. E. B. 1679. Hooker and Arnott.
Babington. Moore. Eupteris aquilina, Newman, Hist. Brit.
Ferns, 23.

Abundant on heaths and moors, and on stony and sandy pastures,
as well as in woods and thickets, throughout the kingdom. The
rhizoma, of a dark colour and velvety exterior, extends far below
the soil, branching and creeping in every direction, so as to form,
where long established, a densely interwoven horizontal network at
a greater or less distance below the surface, according to the cha-
racter of the subsoil. It has often been observed that the plant is
not found over chalk, a circumstance, however, apparently due
rather to the ordinary shallowness of the soil over that rock in
England, than to any prejudicial influence of the chalk itself. The
repeatedly compound fronds grow upward, at intervals, to the
height of from six inches to eight or nine feet, according to the
fertility of the spot, or as they are more or less exposed or sheltered ;
in a moist wood, near Hampstead-heath, I once measured one up-
wards of thirteen feet long; such inordinate growth is rarely
attended with the production of fruit. The stem-like portion of
the rachis is light yellowish-green, passing into a purplish-brown
or black at the lower part ; the leafy part of the frond deep green,
and smooth on the upper surface, pale and hairy beneath. The
compound character varies according to size and other circum-
stances ; the primary pinnae, usually opposite, are generally broad,
the secondary ones narrow or linear-lanceolate ; the pinnules, or ulti-
mate divisions, are sessile, always confluent towards the extremity,
oblong and obtuse. Owing to the peculiar disposition of the woody
tissue and its dark hue, a transverse section of the lower end of the
rachis presents a fanciful image of an oak-tree, or, if cut obliquely,
of the imperial or spread-eagle; in either case it is a pretty object
for the microscope. The fronds appear above ground in May, but
are liable to be destroyed by very slight frost before they have un-
folded, and, when mature, are always among the first natural objects
whose change of appearance indicates the approach of winter.

No permanent varieties occur of this most common fern, though
it is liable to considerable modification in different localities. It is
seldom cultivated, on account of its tendency to overrun other
species, a vagrant habit that is difficult to control. Some trouble
and frequent disappointment may be incurred in the endeavour to
establish it, either in pots or in the garden, on account of the depth

i 2

68

at which the growing part extends itself and the obstacles to be
encountered in its removal ; but, once obtained, there is little risk
of loss, as it seems quite independent of difference of soil.

The Common Brake was the Filix-fcemina, or Female Fern of
the old botanists, or those prior to the time of Linna3us, who trans-
ferred the title to another, the present Athyrium Filix-fcemina.

There is reason to conclude that many exotic species, so con-
sidered, belonging to different parts of the world, may not be
really other than slightly varied forms of the Pteris aquilina, re-
sembling it closely as they do in habit, tendency to complexity in
the division of the frond, and other circumstances. Should future
observation render fact that which is at present merely speculative,
then might the fern before us rank as the most universally distri-
buted of all vegetable productions, extending its dominion from
west to east over both continents and islands, in a zone reaching
from Northern Europe and Siberia to New Zealand, where it is
represented by, and perhaps identical with, the well-known P. escu-
lenta. The rhizoma of our plant, like that of the latter, is edible ;
and though not employed in these islands as food, powdered and
mixed with a small quantity of barley-meal, it is made into a kind
of gruel called gofio, in use among the poorer inhabitants of the
Canary Islands, especially those of Palma and Gomera : its astrin-
gency, however, is so great, that it has been recommended for
dressing and preparing kid- and chamois-leather, and its qualities
as a vermifuge are said to equal those of Aspidium Filix-mas. The
large fronds form a durable thatch, and are used as litter for cattle :
in many parts of the country they are collected for fuel, especially
for heating ovens, and sometimes even for burning limestone. The
ashes contain a large proportion of alkali available in the manu-
facture of both soap and glass, and are often employed by country
people as a substitute for the former article, for which purpose they
are generally formed into balls by moistening and afterwards heat-
ing them in the fire ; in this state they are well known in some
districts in England by the name of ash-balls. A bed made of the
fresh-gathered fronds is a provincial remedy for the rickets.

Genus 12. ALLOSOKUS.

GEN. CHAR. Sori circular, near the extremities of the lateral
veins, confluent in maturity ; covered by the reflexed margin
of the pinnules of the contracted fertile frond fulfilling the
office of an indusium.

Most recent botanists place this genus next to Potypodium, on
account of the form of the sori and the absence of a true indusium ;
but the eventually confluent fructification, forming an intromar-

69

ginal line covered by the reflexed epidermoid prolongation of the
edges of the pinnules, seems to denote a nearer structural affinity
to Pteris.

The name, from the Greek aAAo?, implying difference or change,
evidently alludes to alteration that takes place in the appearance of
the sori as they become confluent.

ALLOSORUS CRISPUS. Parsley Fern. Curled Rock-Brakes. TAB.
XXXIX.

Fronds deltoid, bi-tripinnate, of two kinds : ultimate divisions of
barren fronds wedge-shaped, cut and toothed ; of the fertile linear-
oblong, entire.

Allosorus crispus, Bernhardi. Babington. Moore. Newman. Pteris
crispa, Linnaeus. Smith. E.B. 1160. Cryptogramma crispa,
Brown. Hooker and Arnott. E. B. ed. 2, 1443. Osmunda
crispa, Linnaeus, Sp. PI.

This elegant little fern is exclusively European, growing in the
more sheltered crevices of mountain rocks, from Lapland to the
Mediterranean. In this country it is generally regarded as a com-
paratively rare, or at least local species ; the former it certainly is
not, the latter only in accordance with its alpine habit. In Scot-
land its distribution is a wide one, though apparently less abun-
dant than in the North of England and North Wales, where it
often grows profusely on the ledges and in the narrow clefts of the
slate and trap rocks. Southward it is found more sparingly, and
is rapidly disappearing owing to the rapacity of collectors. In
Ireland it has been rarely met with. The fronds spring in tufts
from a slowly creeping and branching rhizoma, the fertile ones
growing erect from six inches to a foot high, the barren ones,
more numerous, being not above half that height ; the latter are
of a bright yellowish-green, and much resemble, at first sight and
when newly expanded, the leaves of a small umbelliferous plant.
The ultimate divisions of the barren frond vary in form in differ-
ent specimens from wedge-shaped to oblong or oval, and in being
entire or toothed and serrated : those of the fertile frond are oval,
oblong, or linear, stalked, mostly entire, but in some instances
forked at the extremity, and occasionally showing a tendency to
become hastate below; the reflexed margins nearly meet in the
middle at first, so as to completely cover the fructification. The
circular form of the sori is only evident when examined at an early
stage : no trace of an indusium has yet been observed.

The delicate green hue and close growth of the Parsley Fern
render it one of the most beautiful among the smaller species, but
its duration is very limited, the fronds appearing in May and

70

June and becoming disfigured by the first morning frosts of the
autumn. It grows freely under cultivation, whether planted in
pots or among rock-work, and I have found it succeed in several
different soils, though never better than when planted on the
margin of a gravel-walk, among the pebbles of which some of the
finest tufts were produced. For potted specimens, light sandy
peat, with a small quantity of old mortar, and fragments of slate,
limestone, or granite, the first especially placed vertically through-
out the soil, will be most available, when associated with a copious
supply of water and as free drainage during the growing season.
Exposure to the sun should be guarded against, as though not
necessarily fatal to the fern, it is to the lucid green colour that
constitutes its chief beauty.

Genus 13. ADIANTUM.

GEN. CHAR. Sori roundish, growing from the extremities of the
veins on the under face of the reflexed margin of the frond,
the epidermis of which is prolonged over them in the form of
an indusium.

Adiantum is an extensive genus, containing about seventy known
species, of which the greater number are tropical. The fronds are
generally of a veiy delicate, almost membranaceous texture, espe-
cially those which are much divided : they have a peculiarly slen-
der, hair-like, and elastic rachis, which, being usually of a dark-
purple or blackish hue, occasions many of the species to rank among
the most elegant of the fern tribe, as the thin bright-green pinnules
seem to be suspended in the air. They all delight in shade and
moisture, growing almost exclusively in the damp arid dark crevices
of rocks, among trickling streams, and in the depths of tropical
forests where the atmosphere is constantly loaded with moisture.
A. pedatum in North America, and A. Cajnllus-Veneris in Europe,
are the only species met with extending naturally into cold climates.

The European species was named dbiavrov by the Greeks, from
a&iavTos, dry, because the foliage repels water, and is with diffi-
culty wetted.

ADIANTUM CAPILLUS-VENERIS. Maiden- Hair. TAB. XL.

Fronds deltoid, lax. bi-tripinnate : pinnules stalked, rhomboidal-
wedge-shaped, lobed, alternate. Fertile lobes reflexed, forming
transversely oblong indusium-like folds covering several roundish
sori : barren lobes serrated.

Adiantum Capillus-Veneris, Linnaus. E. B. 1564. Generally
adopted.

The common or true Maiden-hair is unquestionably a wanderer

71

here from warmer lands, being only very locally distributed in
situations open to such arrivals from the Atlantic. Cornwall,
Devonshire, and Glamorganshire, and the southern and western
parts of Ireland, afford its principal British habitats, and it is
rarely found very far from the sea ; indeed chiefly in moist mari-
time caves and on rocks and cliffs where it is exposed to the
spray, and especially where fresh water trickles down their sides.
A perpendicular surface seems most favourable to its development,
and hence the mouths of old wells and the deserted shafts of
mines are occasionally tapestried with its beautiful foliage. Its
geographical distribution over the warm and temperate parts of
the globe seems, from the testimony of botanists of high repute,
to be almost universal. The slender, black, scaly rhizoma creeps
and branches slowly in every direction, sending up the light fronds
in lax tufts from the extremities, varying in height, according to
the situation, from three or four inches to a foot. The hair-like
fineness of the rachis and its branches, and their glossy, black, or
purplish-black hue, originated both the Latin and English names
of the species, but they are not peculiar to it. The pinnules, di-
stinct, with capillary stalks, are somewhat flabelliform in general
outline, with an unequally wedge-shaped base; they are of a very
thin, almost membranaceous texture, and delicate, bright, though
rather glaucous green colour, and divided at the top into several
unequal segments, which are either serrated or have their extre-
mities folded backwards, bearing the sori, which thus appear to
form an interrupted marginal line : their true character and posi-
tion is given under the generic character, and illustrated by the
right-hand enlarged figure on our plate.

This elegant fern had formerly high medicinal repute, especially
as a diuretic and expectorant, but is now only remarkable in an
economical point of view as giving name and a slight flavour to
the well-known Capillaire, which is prepared by pouring boiling
syrup upon the freshly-gathered fronds. It grows abundantly in
the South of Europe, where, however, the North American A. pe-
datum is often employed as a substitute, being cultivated for the
purpose. They are both astringent, and the syrup is esteemed
useful in coughs and other pectoral ailments, but a strong de-
coction of the latter plant is said to act as an emetic. In the
South Isles of Arran, on the coast of Galway, where the Maiden-
hair grows profusely in the fissures of the limestone rocks, the
people use a decoction of the fronds as a substitute for tea.

The great beauty of the foliage of the Adiantum would render it
a valuable decoration to the ruin, rock, and fountain in ornamental
gardening, but, like other maritime self-naturalized species, it is
liable to be destroyed by frost, unless planted in warm and shel-
tered situations ; indeed, it is scarcely possible to preserve it alive

72

through the winter in the open air in the eastern parts of England.
The amateur grower will manage better with it as a house plant,
in which case the season of dearth is that in which its delicate
fronds are most attractive to the eye. It will flourish in the stove
and greenhouse, but in the inhabited room requires the cover of a
bell-glass, and is admirably adapted for growing in the close or
Wardian case. It ought never to be exposed to the sun. In
regard to soil, I have found it succeed well in the same compost
as that recommended for Asplenium marinum.

Genus 14. TRICHOMANES.

GEN. CHAR. Sori marginal. Thecse sessile around columnar fili-
form receptacles, which are extramarginal extensions of the
anterior branches of the lateral veins, within open cylindrical
or suburceolate involucres of the same texture as the frond.

The generic name, borrowed from Dioscorides, was applied by
the Greeks to some species of ferns, probably Asplenium Tricho-
manes, and is not unaptly transferred to these, considering the
arbitrary allotment of botanical names generally ; the prefix, from
Opl£, rpixps, a hair or bristle, bearing allusion to the hair-like
receptacles of the sori, while the termination, from pavos, soft,
thin, or flexible, accords with the character of the fronds ; a con-
venient, though forced, interpretation, that may suffice in the
absence of one more consistent.

The plants comprised under this and the following genus.
Hymenophyllum, are remarkably different from the other ferns in
the development of their fructification, in habit, and in the texture
of the frond, which latter is membranaceous, and under the micro-
scope very beautifully reticulated. They grow only in very moist
and shaded places ; indeed, their organization is not adapted to
support those ordinary changes in the hygrometric condition of
the atmosphere that do not visibly affect vegetation in the aggre-
gate; their delicate fronds become brown, and shrivel when ex-
posed even to a few hours' drought, and they resist all customary
modes of cultivation, in consequence of the excess of light and
insufficiency of moisture in the surrounding air that are their
usual concomitants. The numerous species of both genera are
almost all tropical, inhabiting the deep recesses of the forests of
hot climates, where, in an atmosphere loaded with vapour, they
flourish, as well as in similar situations to those to which they are
confined in Europe.

TRICHOMANES RADICANS. European Bristle Fern. TAB. XLI.
Fronds tri-quadripinnatifid, glabrous, deltoid-ovate or lanceo-

73

late; segments alternate, linear, entire or bifid, obtuse. Invo-
lucres solitary in the axils of the upper segments, shorter than the
filiform receptacle.

Trichomanes radicans, Swartz. Hooker. Babington. Moore. New-
man. Trichomanes brevisetum, Brown. Smith. E. B. ed. 2,
1445. T. speciosum, europseum, pyxidiferum, and alatum,
of authors. Hymenophyllum alatum, Smith. E.B. 1417.

The original locality of the Bristle Fern is doubtful, as speci-
mens collected in several parts of the world, not essentially differ-
ing from our own, evince a wide distribution ; though, being found
in the West Indies and in the islands of the North Atlantic, ren-
ders its transit hither consistent with those natural causes that
have enriched the catalogue of British vegetation with many other
productions of warmer climates. At present this may rank as a
rarity to the home botanist, not being found in any other part of
the United Kingdom than in the Irish counties of Cork and Kerry,
where it grows more or less abundantly on dripping rocks, about
lakes and waterfalls, and depending from the walls and roofs of
caverns. The rhizoma creeps and spreads like that of Polypodium
vulgare, and in some situations attains a length of several feet,
often covering the moist rocks on which it grows with a complete
network ; it is of a dark colour, almost black, and clothed with
narrow, bristle-like, articulated scales. The fronds, developed at
intervals as the rhizoma extends, are from three inches to a foot in
length, and generally pendulous, in consequence of the position
they occupy on the sloping or perpendicular faces of the rocks :
the general outline is somewhat deltoid, but in very luxuriant
plants it passes into an oblong-lanceolate form very much acumi-
nated, constituting the variety Andrewsii of Mr. Newman, Hist.
Brit. Ferns, 292. The rachis is winged throughout on each side,
corresponding with the plane of the frond, the leafy portion of
which seems to consist only of a continuation of these wings in a
broader form along each side of its branches, which latter consti-
tute the veins; this structure renders all the ultimate divisions
narrow and linear. The veins, dividing alternately, are hard,
woody, and wire-like, and, where barren, terminate before reaching
the ends of the segments ; but where fertile they extend beyond
the segment, the tissue of which separates and distends in the
form of a more or less elongated cup around the prolonged vein —
this cup is the involucre, the prolonged vein the receptacle, referred
to under the generic and specific characters. The thecse form a
small globular cluster round the receptacle at the bottom of the
cup, beyond which latter organ, as they advance to maturity, the
modified vein extends in the form of a bristle, varying in its ex-
serted length from two to four or even six times that of the invo-

K

74

lucre. In the more luxuriant form of the plant, the involucral
cup is very distinctly winged, in consequence of the double layer
of tissue, composing the segment to which it belongs, not sepa-
rating through its whole breadth ; in smaller specimens the wings
or margins of the modified segment are not readily distinguishable,
but the cup-like cylinder is always slightly compressed to the
plane of the frond, indicative of its origin as above stated. It is
true that, like most other modifications of tissue attending the
development of fructification, the cup changes from the bright
green colour of the frond to a white or brownish hue, and loses
its translucency, but the continuity of texture and similarity in
other respects are readily traceable by close examination.

The growth of this rare and elegant fern is not attended with
any difficulty, provided that the peculiarities of its natural habitats
are studied by the cultivator; these are chiefly, an atmosphere
loaded with moisture, absence of stagnant water about the roots,
and exclusion of the direct rays of the sun : the first of these con-
ditions is rarely attainable under cultivation unless with the shelter
of glass. Many very successful growers have described the varying
minutiae o'f the several modes of treatment by which they have
attained magnitude of development far exceeding that of the plant
in its natural state in Ireland ; but the specimens which I have
hitherto seen growing in the more fanciful modifications of the
closed case, and under the elaborate course of planting and after-
treatment recommended in such circumstances, have always ap-
peared to me too delicate to be consistent with health, and that
they really are so, the fact, generally lamented by the amateur
grower, that they never perfect fructification seems to confirm.
The plant grows freely in a common pot or seed-pan ; the latter is
better, even commencing with a small specimen, as it affords more
room for the spreading of the rhizoma ; it should stand in water,
and be covered with a bell-glass of sufficient size to admit of the
uninterrupted extension of the fronds; the bottom should be
strewn with fragments of porous stone and little lumps of char-
coal intermixed, and the soil may consist of about equal parts of
sand, peat, and decayed leaf-mould. In this way, sheltered from
the sun, but freely exposed to the daylight, and with the occasional
admission of fresh air by removing the glass for a few minutes at
a time, the thecas are not unfrequently fully formed and the fili-
form receptacle exserted as much as in wild specimens. Success
in the treatment of small plants will readily lead to contrivances
in regard to the management of larger ; but those who may be
desirous of emulating the more magnificent though barren state
alluded to above, will find much valuable information on the
subject, by reference to Mr. Ward's book * On the Growth of
Ferns in Closed Cases/ or Mr. Moore's ' Handbook,' p. 202

75

et scq., of which the limits of the present work will not admit an
extract.

In the durability of the fronds for several successive years, in
general habit and texture, Trichomanes has all the characters of a
tropical species, and though naturalized in our sister island, under
the influence of a very moist and temperate climate, would pro-
bably not bear exposure even in corresponding localities in Eng-
land, where the winters are so much more severe, and the drying
effects of the easterly winds in the spring so generally prejudicial
to vegetation.

Genus 15. HYMENOPHYLLUM.

GEN. CHAR. Sori marginal. Thecse sessile on a columnar sub-
clavate receptacle within a two-valved involucre of the same
texture as the frond.

The name, from v/j,r)v, a film or membrane, and (frvXXov, a leaf,
is expressive of the pellucid filmy texture of the frond. The genus
formed a part of the Linnsean Trichomanes, but was separated by
Sir J. E. Smith, in consequence of the bivalvular involucre and
short receptacle. The division is rather one of convenience than
admissible on a structural foundation. The two British species
carry a fragility of form and t.exture almost exclusively charac-
teristic of the smaller species of tropical ferns, to the highest lati-
tudes in which it seems capable of existing.

HYMENOPHYLLUM TUNBRIDGENSE. Tunbridge or Common Film
Fern. TAB. XLIL

Fronds membranaceous, pinnate : pinnse distichous, pinnatifid,
decurrent, forming a broad wing on each side of the rachis ; the
segments linear, undivided or bifid, spinosely serrated. Involucre
solitary, axillary, suborbicular, compressed; the valves spinosely
serrated.

Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense, Smith. E. B. 162. Hooker and
Arnott. Babington. Moore. Newman. Trichomanes Tun-
bridgense, Linnceus.

Abundantly distributed in the north-western and southern coun-
ties of England, in mountainous and rocky districts ; in Wales ;
and less frequently in the Highlands of Scotland, and in Ireland ;
growing on shady wet rocks, and among moss on the trunks and
roots of old trees, or on the ground near lakes and rivulets. The
black and thread-like rhizoma spreads and branches widely, form-
ing a kind of turf over the surface on which it grows, and from
' . * K2

76

which it is in general easily separated in mat-like masses. The
fronds vary from one to three or four inches in length, springing
singly at short intervals from the creeping rhizoma ; they are of a
very thin, almost filmy texture, and composed, like those of 7H-
chomanes, of the winged upper portion of the wire-like rachis and
its branches. The pinnae are alternate, connected throughout by
the wing of the rachis, and deeply once or twice pinnatifid, chiefly
on the anterior or upper side ; the ultimate segments are linear,
obtuse, and margined with sharp spiny serratures. The fructifi-
cation is sessile, terminating a vein, and occupying the place of
the first upper segment of each pinna, as expressed in our lower
figure ; the involucre being apparently formed by a modification of
the segment it supplants, similar to that of the last genus. The
involucre in this species is somewhat orbicular, but a little com-
pressed, especially toward the apices of the irregularly and sharply
serrated valves, and includes a short central column or receptacle
bearing around it the sessile thecse ; this receptacle is, as in the
previous instance, the extremity of the branch vein, but instead of
being filiform, it is thickened so as to become almost club-shaped,
and never extends beyond the involucre.

The figures of this beautiful little fern represent it as growing
on the ground, erect; but if inverted would better display the ordi-
nary habit, and that in which it appears to the greatest advantage ;
or, clothing with a tapestry of deep olive-green the shaded perpen-
dicular faces of dripping rocks and caverns, when its filmy fronds
are nearly pendulous, and the several series overlie each other at
the base like the half-ruffled plumage of a bird : much of its beauty
is lost when growing in a horizontal position.

It maybe cultivated in the open air by imitating its natural site,
and very successfully in the house under glass, on the same plan
as recommended for the Bristle Fern ; the chief object to be at-
tended to being the retention of a moist atmosphere about its
fronds, which, being short, do not require when grown apart from
other species a glass of the same elevation as the latter ; but it
may be planted around other larger ferns in the closed cases, and
vegetates luxuriantly under either circumstance, producing its
fructification copiously at all seasons. It is little, if at all suscep-
tible of injury from cold, a fact rather opposed to some of the
recorded habitats within the tropics, which probably refer to
different though perhaps nearly allied species.

HYMENOPHYLLUM UNILATERALE. Wilson's Film Fern. TAB.
XLIII.

Fronds pinnate : pinnae subunilateral, recurved, pinnatifid ; the
segments linear, undivided or bifid, spinosely serrated. Involucre

77

stalked, solitary, axillary, ovate, inflated ; the valves entire. Main
rachis very slightly winged.

Hymenophyllum unilaterale, Willdenow. Moore. Newman. Hy-
menophyllum Wilsoni, Hooker. E. B. Supp. 2686. Hooker
and Arnott. Babington.

Found in similar situations to the preceding, which it frequently
accompanies. Its distribution is more extended, especially in Scot-
land, where its extreme limit is Unst, the most northern of the
Shetland Islands. In general appearance this is not very much
unlike H. Tunbridgense, with which it was for a long time con-
founded; but the fronds are far less delicate in texture, and com-
paratively rigid. The principal characters of distinction are found
in the fructification, which, occupying a similar position, is stalked
instead of sessile ; the involucre proportionally longer and ovate
instead of rounded, with very turgid convex valves, meeting by
their edges, not compressed toward the apex, and never at all ser-
rated. The tendency of the pinnae to assume a recurved position
is not a character to be depended upon, but the darker green hue
and less compact growth will generally enable the observant eye to
distinguish the present at a glance from H. Tunbridgense, a plant of
more elegant habit. The involucres are generally curved forward.

The treatment required for cultivation is the same as that already
noticed for its congener, and will succeed with the exotic species
of this curious family, all of which are well deserving the attention
of the amateur cultivator.

Genus 16. OSMUNDA.

GEN. CHAR. Fructification naked, clustered on contracted rachi-
form portions of the frond, forming a (generally) terminal
panicle. Thecse stalked, subglobose, reticulated, two-valved,
opening vertically.

The name is from the Saxon, Osmund, c domestic peace/ but the
origin of its application is unknown, though several romantic
legends are connected with it.

The ferns of this genus differ greatly from those of all the pre-
ceding, not only in the peculiar disposition of the fructifying masses,
which occupy, upon the veins or branches of the rachis, the place
of the leafy tissue on the upper part of the fertile fronds, but
likewise in the structure of the thecae; these are exannulate, or
without that prominent articulated continuation of the supporting
stalk, by the ultimate extension of which those of ordinary ferns
are torn open to discharge the spores ; their tissue is opaque, very
regularly reticulated, and the bivalvular dehiscence takes place

78

along a striated vertical band, reaching over rather more than half
of the circumference.

OSMUNDA REGALIS. Osmund Royal. Flowering Fern. TAB.
XLIV.

Fronds bipinnate : pinnae opposite : pinnules oblong, nearly
entire, more or less auricled at the base. Fructification in bipin-
nate panicles terminating some of the fronds.

Osmunda regalis, Linnceus. E. B. 209. Generally adopted.

This stately fern is of common occurrence throughout the
United Kingdom, in wet spongy soils about the borders of woods
and thickets, and on the shaded margins of rivers, lakes, and
swamps, varying much in size in different situations. The fronds
grow in large tufts from a thick woody rhizoma, which sometimes
extends horizontally, branching so as to occupy a large space of
ground, but occasionally, and especially in much encumbered
habitats, elongates in an erect position to a height of two or even
three feet above the soil, assuming the character of the stipes or
trunk of the tropical tree ferns. When the tufts are large and
luxuriant this is by far the most magnificent of our native species
of fern, the barren fronds being from six to nine feet high ; I have
met with them on the banks of the Dee rather exceeding the latter,
and Mr. S. Murray, as quoted in the ' British Flora/ measured a
tuft on those of the Clyde which was eleven feet and a half in
height. The fertile fronds are shorter than the others and com-
paratively few in number ; in both the bipinnate character is the
same throughout, the primary divisions opposite, the secondary
mostly alternate. The pinnules are of an elongated ovate or ob-
long form, approaching occasionally to lanceolate, and either entire
or slightly crenated on the margin, while the base is somewhat
dilated, especially on the lower side, so as frequently to become
auricled. In the fruit-bearing fronds, four or five of the lower
pairs of pinnae have the leafy character, while the remainder de-
velope clusters of thecae in lieu of pinnules, and similar clusters
displace occasionally pinnules on other parts of the frond, illus-
trating the true origin of the reproductive organs by modification
of the leafy tissue. The clusters of thecae are at first of a light
green hue, gradually changing to a reddish-brown as they ap-
proach maturity. The fronds appear about the end of April or
the beginning of May and last until November, but the fructifi-
cation withers and disappears at the end of August or earlier
according to the character of the season.

The rhizoma is tonic and astringent, and a decoction is esteemed
in some parts of the continent as a remedy for the rickets.

79

To thrive under cultivation, the Flowering Fern should be
planted in a shady situation, either in peat or a mixture of peat
and yellow loam, and be plentifully supplied with water; with
these requirements it may be grown with little, if any, deteriora-
tion of its wild luxuriance, and will constitute one of the most
beautiful ornaments of the fern garden, as well on account of its
own stately habit, as by the contrast its foliage presents to that of
the other large species. When planted near water, the outer
fronds often assume an elegant curve, bending over so as to dip
their extremities into the pond or rivulet, and it is in such situa-
tions that they attain their greatest length.

Genus 17. BOTRYCHIUM.

GEN. CHAU. Fructification naked, clustered on a contracted
branched frond, forming a unilateral panicle. Thecse sessile,
globose, opaque, two-valved, opening vertically.

The name is from the Greek ySorpv?, a bunch of grapes, which
the branched clusters of globular thecse somewhat resemble.

In this and the following genus, Ophioglossum, the venation,
instead of being circinate as in ferns generally, is straight. The
fructification, resembling in Botrychium that of Osmunda in dis-
position and origin from the branches of the rachis, differs in the
coriaceous and non-reticulated texture of the thecse. The species
are few, but widely distributed, extending into Australia in the
southern hemisphere. North America yields about half the num-
ber at present known, viz. five species : of these B. Virginicum is
remarkable as being the largest of the genus, and is known there
by the name of Rattle-snake Fern, probably, as Pursh observes,
from its growing in places where those reptiles are generally
found, and yielding them an agreeable covert, though it is stated
by others to be one of the Indian remedies for the bite.

BOTRYCHIUM LUNARIA. Moonwort. TAB. XLV.

Barren frond pinnate : pinnae lunate or fan-shaped, notched or
crenate on the outer margin. Fertile frond springing apparently
from the common rachis.

Botrychium Lunaria, Swartz. Hooker and Arnott. Babington.
Moore. Newman. Osmunda Lunaria, Linnaus. E. B. 318.

The Moonwort, though scarcely to be considered a common
species, is not at all confined in its distribution, either in Great
Britain or Ireland ; in the former, its localities are only limited
by the two extremes of the Isles of Wight and Shetland, in the

80

latter it occurs from Cork to Antrim. Dry exposed heaths and
commons, and elevated rocky pastures are the likely and frequent
habitats, but it is liable to be overlooked, in consequence of the
small size and frequent cropping of the fructifying frond by cattle.
The habit of this plant is totally different from that of Osmunda
and all of the soriferous ferns : it has no true rhizoma, but the
growing part or caudex is very little elongated below the surface
of the soil, sending out a few succulent and brittle roots that
extend more or less horizontally : the upward growth is from a
lengthened bud invested by the membranaceous bases of previously
developed fronds. The perfect plant consists of a single pinnated
barren frond, through the sheathing lower part of whose rachis
rises a second, modified, and bearing the fructification. The suc-
culency of the recent pseudo-stem thus formed, renders its positive
structure obscure, and has occasioned it to be sometimes described
as homogeneous, and the frond to be considered branched. The
pseudo-stem is hollow ; and at the base, the fronds of the following
year may be traced by dissection, more or less perfectly formed,
and often, the rudimentary bud of the year succeeding within the
latter; the position of the barren and fertile fronds being reversed
in the nuccessional development. The pinna? are opposite, num-
bering from three or four to seven pairs, of a glaucous green hue,
smooth, crenated on the margin, and occasionally more or less
lobed, acquiring, in the latter case, a fan-shape instead of the lunate
or crescent-form which confers the specific name. The thecae are
comparatively large, and, though at first sight apparently crowded,
are really disposed in two regular series upon the divisions of the
panicle-like rachis, and directed towards the upper or inner face of
the modified frond ; their texture is more dense than in Osmunda,
and presents no trace of the regular cellular reticulations which
character the membranaceous ones of that genus : dehiscence takes
place along an elevated vertical line formed by the junction of the
margins of the valves. The fertile frond, which is the taller of
the two, rises to the height of five or six inches, and is in perfec-
tion about the time of the hay-harvest ; soon after which the plant
begins to decay.

Specimens are occasionally met with bearing more than one
barren or fertile frond; others with the pmnse-bearing theca? on
their margins ; and sometimes the pinna? are so much divided as
to render the frond almost bipinnate. Cei-tain variations of the
latter form may have induced some botanists to consider one or
other of the continental species, B. rutaceum, or jB. matricarioides,
to belong to Britain, a circumstance not at all unlikely, but re-
quiring surer evidence than we at present possess.

The only mode of ensuiing the growth of the Moonwort in the
fern garden, is by removing the turf containing it without dis-

81

turbing the roots, and afterwards keeping the grass around well
trimmed to prevent overgrowth. The plants removed, with a
small portion of soil only, at the period of fructification seldom
live beyond the following year. The turf should be planted in
an exposed situation and where water cannot become stagnant
around it.

Genus 18. OPHIOGLOSSUM.

GEN. CHAR. Fructification arranged on the margins of a con-
tracted simple frond, forming a flattened stalked spike. Thecse
sessile, connate in two rows, opaque, opening transversely
with two valves.

The aspect of the European species warrants the generic name,
from o<f)i<;, a serpent, and <y\(aa<ra, a tongue.

The species, few in number as at present known, are chiefly
natives of warm climates.

OPHIOGLOSSUM VULGATUM. Common Adder's-tongue. TAB.
XLVI.

Barren frond ovate, obtuse, spathe-like. Fertile frond club-
shaped, springing apparently from the common rachis.

Ophioglossum vulgatum, Linnaeus. E. B. 108. Generally
adopted.

Though local in its distribution, and more frequent in England
than in other parts of the kingdom, the Adder's-tongue is gene-
rally abundant in those meadows and pastures in which it has
once settled, sometimes even prevailing to such an extent as to
become injurious to the grass. The situations it prefers are rarely
those which foster the Moonwort, the latter requiring a dry, while
the present plant flourishes best in a moist soil. The whole plant
is succulent and much resembles Botrychium in habit, and in the
development of its double frond, but differs in the production of
the new plant externally instead of within the base of the old one,
a circumstance illustrated in our figure. The height varies accord-
ing to the luxuriance of the surrounding vegetation from two or
three inches to a foot. The barren frond, of a pale yellowish-
green, invests the rachis of the fertile one as the spathe of the
Arum does its fructification ; its form is ovate varying to ovate-
lanceolate, more or less obtuse : the venation is more complicated
than is usual in the fern family, anastomosing and forming an
irregular network. The thecae are imbedded in two parallel series
on the margins of the club-like termination of the inner frond, to

L

82

which, as they open to discharge the spores, they give the appear-
ance of being serrated. The fructification is perfected toward the
end of June, soon after which the fronds begin to die off, one or
more buds being previously formed at the base, which remain dor-
mant to the following spring.

The barren frond is often forked at the extremity, occasion-
ally deeply lobed, and in very luxuriant specimens two or three
spikes of fructification are developed instead of one. An oint-
ment is sometimes prepared from the green fronds to use as a
vulnerary. Removal of the containing turf is by far the preferable
mode of introduction to the fernery, as, like the Moonwort, it is
rather impatient of cultivation.

OPHIOGLOSSUM LUSITANTCUM. Lesser Adder's-tongue. TAB.
XLVII.

Barren frond linear or linear- lanceolate. Fertile frond clavate.

Ophioglossum lusitanicum, Linnaeus. Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns,
331. Lindley, Veg. Kingd. 77.

This small species has been long known and described as a
native of the south of Europe and the Atlantic Islands. For its
discovery in the Channel Islands we are indebted to Mr. George
Wolsey, who found it among short herbage, " on the summit of
rocks, not far from Petit Bot Bay on the south coast of the Island
of Guernsey," growing with Trichonema Columna and Scilla
autumnalis. It is far from improbable that it may be found upon
the southern coast of Devonshire and Cornwall; indeed, I have
received a specimen said to have been collected in the latter county,
but as the habitat has been, perhaps wisely, withheld, merely men-
tion the circumstance as an inducement to farther research. The
specimens from which our figures have been taken, were kindly
forwarded by the Rev. Henry Hawkes, from whose correspondence
it appears that the greediness of collectors has almost exhausted it
in the original locality, but that it is fortunately to be met with in
others not yet published. The student of nature is from the
example of his tutor liberal ; it is to be regretted that those who
affect only to be his fellows, should by their insatiate grasping tend
to render him miserly as themselves, and to desire to conceal dis-
coveries that he would share with pleasure, merely to avoid the
total loss to his country of a rare or beautiful object.

The fronds are in perfection in Guernsey in February or even
earlier.

83

SPECIMENS of the two following ferns were not obtained sufficiently
early to be introduced in their proper order. The genus
Gymnogramma ought to follow Polypodium.

Genus GYMNOGRAMMA.

GEN. CHAR. Sori linear, naked, forked, eventually confluent.
Named from the Greek yu/ivo?, naked, and ypdfjL/jLa, a line or

letter-, the situation of the sori, without indusium, upon the forked
veins of the frond, presenting some resemblance to letters, or other-
wise from their linear form.

GYMNOGRAMMA LEPTOPHYLLA. TAB. XL VIII.

Fronds ovate, sub-deltoid, bipinnate, fragile : pinnae roundish
wedge-shaped, three-lobed, the lobes cut and toothed, obtuse.

A native of the south of Europe and of the Atlantic Islands,
this has no farther claim to a place among British species than
from its occurrence in Jersey, where it is not very local in its dis-
tribution, being found in several parts of the island growing in
shaded moist places among mosses and Marchantia, especially on
hedge-banks and near springs, in a light sandy loam. It is a
biennial plant, so far as that it appears to develope from the spores
late in the summer, not sending up the longer fructifying fronds
until the following year. The early fronds are small, very little
divided, spreading over the ground, and usually barren ; the later
rise to the height of three or four inches, are generally few in
number, and varying in division, according to their luxuriance
being bi- or tripinnate, and the pinnae and pinnules opposite or
alternate : the ultimate pinnules are bluntly wedge-shaped, or
rounded, about three-lobed, and the lobes terminate with two blunt
teeth. The linear sori depend upon the termination of the vein on
which they develope j this is sometimes simple, but more generally
forked, each branch as it diverges bearing its portion of the thecae,
so that the sorus, commencing on the principal vein, becomes forked
likewise : in maturity they are confluent and often cover the whole
under-surface of the pinnules.

The chief requisites for this species in cultivation are a light
friable soil and a moist atmosphere : it appears to grow with
equal luxuriance in sandy loam or a mixture of peat and sand.
In the hothouse it springs up spontaneously after the first intro-
duction.

L2

84

POLYPODIUM ALPESTRE. Alpine Polypody. TAB. XLIX.

Fronds lanceolate, bipinnate : pinnules linear-lanceolate, pinna-
tifid with obtuse sharply serrated lobes.

Polypodium alpestre, Koch. Sprengel. Moore, Handb. 50. Pseud-
athyrium alpestre, Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 199.

This fern, a native of most parts of northern and central Europe,
does not seem to have been recognized as a British species, until
after its discovery in the Highlands of Scotland in July 1841, by
Mr. Watson; having been previously overlooked as an alpine
variety of Athyrium Filix-famina, which, though of less elegant
habit, it somewhat resembles at first sight. Its mountain habitats
render it one of local occurrence, but it appears from the observa-
tions of recent botanists to be far from sparing in its distribution
in North Britain. The rhizoma has a tendency to spread and
branch in a decumbent position, and the description to the con-
trary, given by some botanists, has probably originated from their
acquaintance with its habit being confined to plants growing in
situations not admitting of its natural development, or otherwise
to young specimens. The fronds are produced in circular tufts
from each crown, and vary in height from six inches to three feet,
according to age or luxuriance. The rachis is leafy almost to the
base, which is more or less thickly covered with broad pointed
brown scales. The small circular sori generally spring from the
lower anterior branch of the lateral veins of the pinnules, near the
sinuses between the lobes, but occasionally are more numerous, and
in such case become confluent in maturity.

I am only familiar with this fern, so far as its cultivation is con-
cerned, as a continental species, and have not had an opportunity
of examining many specimens of British growth ; but traces of an
indusium are undoubtedly present occasionally, a circumstance that
probably led several European botanists to place it in the genus
Aspidium.

The Alpine Polypody succeeds well under the same treatment
as the Lady Fern.

Pseudathyrium flexile, Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 203, may be,
as has been suggested, only a variety of alpestre, but if so it is a
very elegant one. The question of distinction as a separate species
must depend upon subsequent observation, but there is reason for
considering it such.

INDEX.

Synonyms and names incidentally mentioned are printed in Italics.

Page Tab.

Acrostichum alpinum 15 6

Ilvense 14 5

septentrionale 58 34

Thelypteris 16 7

Adder' s-tongue, Common . . 81 46

Lesser 82 47

Adiantum Capillus-Veneris . . 70 40

pedatum 71

Allosorus crispus 69 39

Amesium Germanicum 56 33

Ruta-muraria 55 32

septentrionale 58 34

Aspidium aculeatum 32 17

angulare 34 18

concavum 27 14

cristatum 21 10

dumetorum 29

erosum 20

Filix-faemina 43 25

Filix-mas 19 9

fontanum .45 26

Lonchitis 30 15

montanum 41 24

, Oreopteris 17 8

recurvum 27 14

rigidum 22 11

spinulosum 24 12

spinulosum ft 26 13

spinulosum var 27 14

Thelypteris 16 7

Asplenium acutum 50

Adiantum-nigrum 49 28

alternifolium 56 33

Ceterach 62 36

Filix f&mina 43 25

fontanum 45 26

Germanicum 56 33

lanceolatum 47 27

marinum 50 29

obtusum 50

Page Tab.

Asplenium Ruta-muraria .... 55 32

Scolopendrium 59 35

septentrionale 58 34

Trichomanes 52 30

Trichom. ramosum .... 54 31

viride 54 31

Athyrium Filix-foemina .... 43 25

fontanum 46 26

Bladder Fern, Alpine 40 23

Brittle 36 19

Mountain 41 24

Toothed 38 21

Blechnum boreale 64 37

spicant 64 37

Botrychium Lunaria 79 45

matricarioides 80

rutaceum 80

Virginicum 79

Brake, Braken 67 38

Bristle Fern 72 41

Capillaire 71

Ceterach officinarum 62 36

Chetherak 62 36

Crested Fern 21 10

Cryptogramma crispa 69 39

Ctenopteris vulgaris 8 1

Cyathea dentata 38 21

fragilis 36 19

incisa 40 23

regia 40 23

Cystea dentata 38 21

fragilis 36 19

regia 40 23

Cystopteris alpina 40 23

angustata 37 20

dentata 38 21

dentata /3 37 20

Dickieana 38 22

fragilis 36 19

montana 41 24

86

INDEX.

Page Tab.

Cystopteris Myrrhidifolium. .41 24

Dryopteris ajfinis 20

Borreri 20

Filix-mas 19 9

Eagle Fern 67 38

Eupteris aquilina 67 38

Filmy Fern, Common 75 42

Tunbridge 75 42

Wilson's 76 43

Flowering Fern 78 44

Fragrant Fern 23 11

Gqfio 68

Grammitis Ceterach 62 36

Gymnocarpium Dryopteris . . 12 3

Phegopteris 11 2

Robertianum 13 4

Gymnogramma leptophylla . . 83 48

Hard Fern 64 37

Hart's Tongue 59 35

Hay-scented Fern 27 14

Heath Fern 17 8

Hemestheum Thelypteris .... 16 7

Holly Fern 30 15

Hymenophyllum alatum .... 73 41

Tunbridgense 75 42

unilaterale 76 43

Wilsoni 77 43

Lady Fern 43 25

Lastrea abbreviata 20

Borreri 20

cristata 21 10

dilatata 25 13

Dryopteris 12 3

Filix-mas 19 9

fcenisecii 27 14

montana 17 8

Oreopteris 17 8

Pheyopteris 11 2

rigida 22 11

Robertiana 13 4

spinulosa 24 12

Thelypteris 16 7

uliginosa 29

Lophodium Callipteris 21 10

collinum 29

focnisecii 27 14

glandulosum 29

multiflorum 26 13

rigidum 22 11

spinulosum 24 12

uliginosum 29

Maiden- Hair, Common 52 30

True 70 40

White 55 32

Male Fern 19 9

Marsh Fern 16 7

Page Tab.

Moonwort 79 45

Mountain Fern 17 8

Nephrodium 16

Notolepeum Ceterach 62 36

Ophioglossum lusitanicum . . 82 47

vulgatum 81 46

Osmunda crispa 69 39

Lunaria 79 45

regalis 78 44

spicant 64 37

Osmund, Royal 78 44

Parsley Fern 69 39

Phyllitis multifida 61

polyschides 60

Scolopendrium 59 35

Polypodium aculeatum 32 17

' alpestre 84 49

arvonicum 14 5

calcareum 12 4

Callipteris 21 10

Cambricum 10

cristatum 21 10

Dryopteris 11 3

Filix-fcemina 43 25

Filix-mas 19 9

fontanum 46 26

fragilis 36 19

fragrans 17 8

fragrant 22 11

Hibernicum 10

license 14 5

Lonchitis 30 lo

montanum 17 8

montanum 41 24

Phegopteris 11 2

Thelypteris 16 7

vulgare 9 1

Polypody, Alpine 84 49

Common 9 1

Irish 10

Mountain 11 2

Rigid 3-b ranched 12 4

TenderS-branched ....11 3

Welsh 10

Polystichum abbreviatum .... 20

aculeatum 32 17

angulare 33

angulare 34 18

Dryopteris 12 3

lobatum 33 16

Lonchitis 30 15

Phegopteris 11 2

Prickly-toothed Fern, Broad 25 13

Narrow 24 12

Recurved 27 14

Pseudathyrium alpestre 84 49

INDEX.

87

Page Tab.

Pseudathyrium flexile 84

Pteris aquilina 67 38

crispa 68 39

esculenta 68

Rattlesnake Fern 79

Rigid Fern 22 11

Rock Brakes, Curled 69 39

Rock Spleenwort, Smooth . . 45 26
Scolopendrium Ceterach .... 62 36

crispum 60

endivafolium 61

laceratum 61

lobatum 61

mult iiiduni 61

afficinarum 59 35

Phyllitis 59 35

polyschides 60

ramosum 61

vulgare 59 35

Shield Fern, Angular Prickly 34 18

Prickly 32 17

Rough Alpine 30 15

Soft Prickly 34 18

Page Tab.

Spleenwort, Alternate-leaved 56 33

Black 49 28

Common 53 30

Forked 58 34

Green 54 31

Lanceolate 47 27

Scaly 62 36

Sea 50 28

Wall 52 30

Trichomanes (datum 73 41

Andrewsii 73

brevisetum 73 41

Europceum 73 41

pyxidiferum 73 41

radicans 72 41

speciosum 73 41

Tunbridgense 75 42

Wall Rue 55 32

Woodsia alpina 15 6

hyperborea 15 6

Ilvensis 14 5

Perriniana 36

THE END.

Printed by Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.

REFERENCES TO ENGLISH BOTANY OMITTED.

1. Polypodiura vulgare 1149

2. Phegopteris 2224

3. Dryopteris 616

4. calcareum 1525

5. Woodsia Ilvensis S. 2616

7. Lastrea Thelypteris 1018

8. Oreopteris 1019

9. Filix-mas 1458

10. cristata 2125

11. rigida S. 2724

12. spinulosa 1460

. Lastrea dilatata 1461

, — — fcenisecii .... (not figured)
, Polystichum Lonchitis .... 797

> aculeatum 1562

— angulare S. 2776

"I Cystopteris angus- \ „ 0799

/ tata J k '

montana .... (not figured)

. folypodium vidgare.

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