THE COMMON -POLYPODY. 



quontly not generally coincident on the same parts* It should also be mentioned, that occasionally, and 

 apparently when the vigour of the plant has received some check, the entire fronds, instead of the upper 

 l>ortiou only, are only crennto-scrrate, in which state it agrees with the variety sinuatum of Mr- Francis, 

 though not with the one ho named by Willdenow. Our plant was found many years since in Ireland, 

 in woods near the Dargle in the county of Wicklow, and about the lakes of Kiltamcy, whore it has also 

 been lately found in several stations by Dr. Allehin. In some one of its modifications it has also been 

 found at Postwich, in Norfolk {lib. Hooker); at Saltwood Castle, in Kent {III. Grutf) ; on tho ruins of 

 IJerry Pomcroy Castle, in Devon ; at Tintcrn Abbey, and Chepstow Castle, iu Monmouth {lib, Ile&ard); at 

 A hcrglasldynjn Carnarvonshire (//A. A/fc/tm); and elsewhere. It grows, moreover, in Germany; atCintra 

 in Portugal ; and we believe the 7\ amtrulc of F6o r which is met with in Sardinia, Corsica, and Teneriffij, 

 to be a form of this variety. Its most beautifully developed state is that from the Dargle, and the above 

 description is made from a remarkably fine specimen of that form, communicated by Mrs. Delves. 



Tho Welsh Polypody— 1\ vuuuitK CAMBKIOUM— (eoe Platk III.) is, like the lastv an extremely 

 elegant plant, but it is almost always sterile- The fronds are regularly bipinnatifid throughout ; their 

 outline ovate or ovate-oblong. The lobes are crowded, narrow at the base, and acuminate at the apex, 

 the intervening portion being much widened, and the whole margin, except the very base and apex, 

 divided into narrow linear or linear-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, serrated, crowded lobules. This 

 form, which is chiefly known as a garden plant, does not, we believe, over produce fructification under 

 cultivation, and it is very rarely indeed that it is produced in the wild plant It has been found at 

 Montpelier, though originally in Wales — hence the name, Mr, E. J, I-owe has communicated it from a 

 wood near Macclesfield, in Cheshire, Mr. E. T. Bennett has favoured us with specimens from the 

 neighbourhood of Ross, in Herefordshire, which are almost identical in structure with the Welsh plant ; 

 and others quite similar, gathered at the same time, arc stated by him to be sparingly fructified. 



Kor the following enumeration of the various forms above mentioned, with some other abnormal 

 ones which are more or less constant, we have to express our thanks to Mr, G. B, Wollaston— whoso 

 name is well known among those familiar with British Ferns as that of one who collects with assiduity 

 the numerous variations which occur among our native species, and cultivates them with remarkable 

 8UCC08& These abnormal forms belong to two types of development: one, in which the narrow elongate 

 Outline of the normal form is more or less preserved ; the other, in which a tendency to devclopc breadth 

 rather than length, results in a frond of broad outline comparatively short To the first of these groups 

 belong the varieties numbered below from 1 to 11 inclusive; and tho remaining numbers, 12 to 17 

 inclusive, are roferrible to the second : — 



"Of Poltfimlinm vulyarc there arc no less than seventeen varieties sufficiently distinct from each 

 other to bear different names; but at tho same time, and particularly in a state of cultivation, these 

 in many instances merge into each other, and connect, by a series of links, the normal with the most 

 compound form. The constancy of these varieties under cultivation varies considerably according to 

 the mode of treatment, and depends much upon whether they arc kept under glass or in tho open air. 

 The only one, however, that is constant under all circumstances is tho variety cambricum. They may 



be described as follows :— 



1, acutum has the ends of the lobes' narrowed gradually to a point, and is without scrratures. It 

 is in its most marked condition not a common, but is a very elegant form, with fronds nearly of the 

 normal outline; it varies by becoming less tapering, and slightly serrulate, approaching towards the 



acute-lobed normal form. 



2, bijidum has the lobes generally bifid or two-cleft* but sometimes multifid ; this occurs mostly 

 on the lower third of the frond, sometime* reaching to two-thirds, and occasionally, but very rarely, 

 nearly to the apex. The fronds are otherwise normal. It is not uufrcqucnt 



3, ramomm is a more flilly developed form of the foregoing, and is often ramified in tho racing, 

 which is again divided, and is furnished with lobes also bifid or multifid It is very rare. 



7 



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