THE SOI'T PRICKLY SHIELD FERN. 



fronds arc accompanied by a young one on their inner side, these young ones being found to proceed 

 from bulbils which are formed beneath the soil on the stoics of the larger frond* It was found 

 in Somersetshire by Mr. Elworthy. 



14. incisum (W.>. This variety, of which there arc two forms, is unique in the details of its parts. It 

 is a large-growing plant. The pinnules are very dissimilar in size and shape; a few on the lower 

 portion of the frond, arc simply divided as in the variety subtriphuuUum, but as they approach the apex 

 they become more and more incised and irregularly laeiniatcd or jagged ; their segments are again 

 serrated, those nearest the secondary rachis being somewhat prolonged or auriclcd. The whole pinnule 

 is subpinnatifid. The two plants referred to differ much in size ; the one found by Mr. Wollaston in 

 Sussex, being upwards of four feet in height; the other, found by Dr. Allchin also in Sussex, is of 

 smaller growth. For the latter. Dr. Allchin had suggested the name of marginatum, having detected a 

 disruption of the epidermis on some of the pinnules, but the two are too nearly allied to bear 

 distinct names. 



15. subtriphmtdnm (M.>. This is one of the more highly developed states of the species ; in it all the 

 lower pinnules, the basal ones in particular, are so deeply pinnatilid that the segments become almost 

 distinct, and sometimes quite so. It is of large growth. In other respects it resembles the normal type. 

 It is common in Ireland, and, we believe, plentiful in England in damp shady situations. Our figure of 

 this variety (see Plato XIIL, Jig, A), necessarily taken from a small frond, does not well show iU 

 compound character, which is better represented by the detached pinna. 



16. tripinnulum (M.>- This very beautiful and peculiar variety has been called tripinmdum, in contrast 

 with the iti&trtpinncUum just described, in consequence of its basal anterior pinnules being much more 

 distinctly pinnate, though the plant is on the whole less divided than the Devon form of the variety 

 protiferum, or the Irish variety (Ucompositum. The most remarkable peculiarity is the unusual 

 elongation of the anterior basal pinnules, and their truly pinnate character, the little pinnulets being 

 distinctly stalked. The other pinnules are highly developed, though less so than the basal one, and 

 they are crowded and imbricated. It is profuse in the production of son, and thickly covered with 

 subulate scales. It was found in Cornwall by Mr. Millet; and was first made known to cultivators 

 by Mr. E. J. Lowe. It is a very marked aberration from the normal form, and appears to be very rare, 



17. d&omposttwn (M.). This beautiful variety is by far tlio most compound or divided form of the 

 normal race of this species. The fronds are divided thus— firsts pmnie, then pinnules, pinnuleU, and 

 lobes of pinnulcto, and these latter arc again serrated. The basal pinnules are tolerably exact 

 miniatures of P. aadeatum, having their first pinnulets auriclcd and serrated as in that species. The 

 plant is of Irish origin, and is cultivated in the Glasncvin Botanic Gardens, where it was observed by 

 Dr. Allchin, 





