THE BROAD PRICKLY-TOOTHED BUCKLER FERN. 



they are scattered, and many of them broader and shorter ; and the rachis itself is almost devoid ol 

 scales. Tlio pinmo, especially the lower ones, arc distant and spreading : the first pair unequally 

 deltoid; tlio next more elongate and less unequal; the remainder narrower, parallel -sided, rounding 

 slightly near the end to an ncutisk, not at all acuminate, point The pinnules aro convex, obtusely 

 oblong-ovate, the basal ones narrowed to a broadish stalk-like attachment, the rest sessile and more 

 or leas decurrent ; the larger pinnules are deeply pinnatifid with blunt oblong lobes, sj>aringly toothed, 

 mostly at the apex, with coarse acuminately aristate teeth. The son are for the most part arranged 

 in two lines along the pinnules, as in the smaller forms of the species, and they arc covered by 

 gland-fringed indusia. The plants from Torvcr, near Conistonc, communicated by Miss S. Bcever, 

 have prettily concave pinnie, and strongly convex pinnules; they arc also somewhat glandular, which 

 is hardly, if at all, tlio case with the plant sent by Mr. Binder. 



Mrs. Chanter's Prickly-toothed Buckler Fern — L. dilatata Chanteiujz — (Plate XXIV.) is a re- 

 markably distinct form of the species, differing obviously in the narrowed form and attenuated apex of its 

 fronds, its distant pinna?, and its distinct blunt pinnules. It is of medium sizo, growing from a foot 

 and a half to two feet in height, the fronds growing nearly erect, and being of a lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate form, with the base somewhat narrowed, and tlio apex attenuated. The stipes, rachis, and 

 under surface of the fronds arc clothed with sessile or very shortly-stalked glands. The stipes is 

 clothed rather plentifully with lanceolate and ovate-lanceolate entire scales, which are of various sizes, 

 brown, with a dark central streak, and tipped by a longish, weak, bristle poiiiU The fronds aro 

 bipinnatc ; the pinme distant, somewhat spreading, and more or less twisted, so that the upper surface 

 is directed towards the zenith ; the lowermost pair are very unequally deltoid, their posterior basal 

 pinnules being more than twice the length of the anterior ones, and these posterior pinnules are almost 

 themselves pinnate ; the next pair is unequally deltoid, but the posterior pinnule is only about 

 one-third longer than the anterior ; the inequality is nearly lost in the next and the succeeding pinna), 

 which narrow gradually to the apex. The basal pinnules of these upper pinme are nearly oblong, their 

 base being but little broader than then- apex, which is very blunt; they have a narrow stalk-like 

 attachment, which becomes broader and decurrent in the pinnules higher up the pinna*. The pinnules 

 arc more or less deeply pinnatifid according to their position on the pinna*, and the lobes, which aro 

 bluntly oblong, have a few coarse distinct teeth, each of which is terminated by a bristle-like point. 

 Tlio sori, which form a line on each side near the midrib of the smaller pinnules, and a double line 

 along the lobes of the larger ones, are covered by rcniform indusia> which are fringed with small stalked 

 glands at the margin. This very marked variety was discovered in 1S54, by the Rev. J. M. Chanter 

 and Mrs- Chanter, after whom it has been named, at Hartland, on the north coast of Devon, where it 

 was found growing in moderate quantity within a limited area, and accompanied and surrounded by 

 other common forms of the species. Wo are indebted te Mr. Chanter for the specimen figured, ami 

 for living plants collected during the present year, from which latter our description has boon prepared 



The Linear Prickly-toothed Buckler Fern— L. dilatata angusta— is a variety having the outline 

 and general features of the erect typical form of L. spinulosa, but possessing also the particular 

 characteristics of £. diUiUiUt* It has narrow linear-lanceolate bipinnatc Trends, about two feet high ; the 

 sti]>es moderately furnished with large alternately lance-shaped pale-brown dark-centred scales ; the 

 pinnre shortly deltoid, and the lower two or three pair* very unequally so, the posterior pinnules being 

 much the largest; the pinnules narrow, oblong, obtuse, deeply pinnatifid with ovate or oblong lobes, 

 having aristate teeth. The sori arc small, abundant, occurring from the base to the apex of the frond, 

 and covered by small indistinctly glandular convex indusia* 



Tlio Alpine Prickly-teothed Buckler Fern— L. dilatata auina— has fronds of the outline ot 

 ordinary states of L. spinulosa, that is, straight-sided, broadly linear, scarcely lanceolate ; they are almost 

 tripinnate below, bipinnatc upwards ; the pimue ovate-lanceolate, or ovate, ascending, membranous in 

 texture, and bearing two rows of large prominent sori, of which the covers, which ore wry evanescent. 



