Plate IV. 



THE MOUNTAIN POLYPODY, or BEECH FERN 



(PoiAToniuM Phegopteris). 



POLYPODICM, Linnmu. 



Clus/ers of Sjiorr-rasr.* circular, without covers, growing from the Iwick of the veins, 

 terminal, or nearly so* Veins disunited at their extremities, their branches 

 (rcnu&s) simple, forked or rarely pinnate 



P. Phegopteris; fronds ovate-triangular, acuminate, pinnate lielow; pinnre lanceolate, 

 the lower pair distinct, sessile, usually dellexcd, pinnatilid ; lobules linear-oblong, 

 blunt; up]>cr pinna) confluent. 



POLiromtH PmooiTTai*. Z*n**m* t Spctfa PtaterM, 1G30, Jfotoa, Jlftfe* Britmmt*, 3U\ L W Smit*, 

 FUra iTrfcmm, 111G; %^ i?#W|,mi. t, 2224 [ E*$V*\ J?M, 2 eJ. W. 2C0. Dmttjt, Fforynp&ia 

 Xtritaxait*, ir* 11- Jftafrr a*J Jratfl, Rritit\ Ffo™,:Aj& JSali*$i&t t M<an*al tf Uritith Iku*$ w 4fifo. 

 S*e*r%. Frow, ll ( U £ Jftor, //finfloafr tf i/nVua frrnw, 2 ciL, 17. Mathy, Fhr* Hiltrmit*. 337. 

 Nt.UmI/\ AV\i; tor**i<VAe Gerocftw, 17, t. 20. HVUtaov, $f*tu* iVart/tfrvrt, t. 190* eyrenprJ. Spirant 



VtytttAiUum, it- 47. /Vra/, 7ea/4ue4 PtT*\t<yrvpli<r t ISO* 



Poi.rrobiuu cmskctile, Afirlaiir, Ram Kfirt+Ii-Amrri™**, EL 271. 



1'oLirunuU KiTMHOlCW, &/u£vfy f /Wrv»iif> 4Q& 



POLtmcnru Piu:goiiehi% /fert, iVoni Geraaataf, iii, 75. 



fomu PiiEOontnia, XeierMM, tfotwratitf* Almanac, ISI4, 17; JlfifitX Ftrmt r 2 -ii. 13 



PDKa01»TEBif i'Oi.noMiui.i^ /», G<**em Filicum, 213. 



(l^vi. itnnt PiiKooj-TEni*,AVir«a, Piyttfajuf, is\ :»7l ; Apf**Jtx, 1651, uiiL ; Uhiwy tf Rrittih Ar«/, ill. 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 



PltlTl IV.— PotTPODlCM PrtlftOrttBU; from AmMenide, Jfitf & Ibtrtr. 



HABITAT.— ThU inrew* u rather widely diirxTied, and not anfrcrpicat throughout Great Britain, occurring xnott abundantly 

 in tbo north of Kntfaud and in Scotland \ inhabiting ihady hnmid plate*, and uduallr ilutriota which arc more or 

 Itaa mounlainwi*. In the *outh*eaftU.-ra nart* of EngUwl il appear* to bo wanting, tut it >• found rather plentifully 

 both in Suwei and in the western counties* It occur* plentifully in Walca, and i* also met with in the Hebridra, 

 ami Orkney*, Shetland, ami tl*e I*le of Man. In Ireland it ia rare, otttsrriag principally in tho northern and eastern 

 ftrOT to oWi In elrniion it cttenda from Ihor^Mt le*ol in tho w**t of Kngland.to upward* of 3000 fret in the western 

 Highland*. 



iiriHiKArniCAL DlSTItlttUTlON thai Pen El l»tl.r\*! n-;irh t:m ..■■■■ t I! i^.-^ h .n.[ I: ii- i r , 1,1 I..l,r. 1 rjvJ i\f 



tfcandinavian fouutrica acaithwanla through the Driliah laloa and contiiKnla) Kurojv, to Spain xad luk. In A»£a it 

 ia rrwrtV! from UnalaielAa and KatatcTiatVa, and aUo at ntiT.iti^ aJoEig iho chain of the Altai (W*» HctiXvr), 

 AlgrnAt in Africa, in alio mentioned as producing it ; whilst in America, where it ia Kflacliwc* lno«n un<lrr tho tutm* 

 of P. co*aiYfifr f it b act with from Greenland and Jjibrador on the eaiteni mM**, tn Prinre Wit1Um*i Sound on tho 

 wntern, extending routhwanU to the KoeJty MounUicis to Canada, and to tho northern United State* {lib. H&yUr} t 



Rhizome creeping extensively, branched, tough, slender, about the thickness of a straw, dark-brown, 

 pilose and slightly scaly while young, the older portions denuded both of scales and hairs. Settles, 

 lanceolate, golden-brown, intermixed with other cobwebby hair-like ones. Fibre* numerous, much 

 branched, dark-brown, invested with golden-brown cobwebby deciduous pubescence- 



fflipes as long as, or more frequently longer, and often much longer than the frond, erect, brittle, 

 pale-green, furnished near the base with a few lanceolate acuminate pale-brown scales which are soon 

 deciduous, and on the upper part with a few scattered subulate scales ; the whole length clothed with 

 minute reversed hairs ; distant and lateral on the rhizome- 



VernatuM circinate ; the pinna* rolled up separately towards the rachis, which is then rolled from 

 the point downwards. 



Frond* from four to eighteen or twenty inches in length, including the stipes, adherent to tho 

 rhizome, membranaceous, of a * lull pale-green, hairy, ovate- triangular, much acuminate, pinnate below, 

 the apex of the frond pinnntifid, Finrue deeply pinnatilid, linear-acuminate, nearly or quite opposite ; 





