THE BROAD PRICKLY-TOOTHED BUCKLER FERN. 



arc small. and somewhat glandular on tl.c margin ; the teeth of the pinnules aro mucronatcly ti,) P e<l. 

 The scales are broad lnncc-shapcd, palish brown, with a .lark central mark. This form occurs plen- 

 tifully among rocks on the higher parts of Ben Lawcrs. Perthshire. 



The Glandular Prickly-toothed Buckler Fern— L. wlatata olaxdulosa— <Pr.AT E XXIII.>-i 8 aIargo 



and somewhat erect growing plant, with much the aspect of a large broad L. spinulosa, but differing 



from that in the intermediate form of the scales of the stipes, in their frequently l«ing two-coloured, in 



the glnndular-fringed indusia, and in the subcrcct, not creeping caudex. Tho fronds grow from a foot 



and a half to throe or four feet high, and are of an oblong-lanceolate figure in tho larger plants, or 



ovate-lanceolate in the smaller ones, growing nearly erect around tho stout palc-colonrcd crown which 



terminates the thick ascending tufted caudex. They are bipinnato above, tripinnatc I>elow ; the pinme 



ascending and twisted, so as to form nearly a horizontal plane, lanceolate-ovate, tho longest nearly six 



inches long, and about two inches broad just above the baso ; pinnules lanceolate-ovate, or pyramidatcly 



ovate, acute, averaging nearly an inch in length over tho greater part of the frond, the posterior ones 



on the lower pinmc longest, those of the lowest pinna: being an inch and three-quarters long ; tho lower 



ones stalked, tho rest successively decurrent, adnatc, confluent. The pinnules aro pinnatilid almost 



down to the midvein ; their lobes oblong, adnato, incised or toothed, the seiTaturcs all tipped by a 



bristle-like point. The stipes varies from about one-tliird to ono-half the entire length of the frond, and 



is clothed sparingly upwards, moro thickly near tho base, with ovate bluntish, and ovate-lanceolate 



pointed scales, which arc generally of a palo brown, scarcely tawny, somo having and others wanting a 



darker central streak, many of them, as seen in tho growing plant, becoming a good deal npprcssed 



to the stipes, whilst a few remain spreading ; but this appears to bo far less obvious when dried. 



The stipes, rachides, and under surface of the fronds, arc densely covered with stalked glands. The 



fructification is copious over tho whole frond, and forms two lines on each of the smaller pinmilcs, 



or on the lobes of tho larger ones ; and the sori are covered by indusia, which are fringed with stalked 



marginal glands. This Pern was first noticed by Mr. Bennett, of Itrockham, and his son, Mr. E. T. 



Bennett, uenr Lydbrook, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire ; and was subsequently gathered at tho 



same place by Mr. W. H. Purchas, of Ross. It has since been found in Epping Forest* in Essex, 



by Mr. H. Doublcday. Wo arc indebted to these gentlemen for both specimens and living plants. 



Mr. S. P. Gray has communicated (1) a frond much smaller, with paler scales, and less pyramidato 



pinnules, but glandular, and perhaps rcfcrrible to this form of tho species, which had been gathered 



near Croydon, Surrey, by Mr. J. Hutchcson ; and (2) another glandular Fcni, gathered by himself at 



Barnes, Surrey, where wo have also found it sparingly. Tho latter is certainly not identical with 



the Dean Forest and Epping plants, but approaches them closely in some respects, differing chiefly in 



its laxer habit, and less olongated fronds, and in the presence of more numerous long-pointed lanceolate 



and dark-centred scales among tho broader ones on the stipes. We have gathered another glandular 



Pern at Hampstead, Middlesex, somewhat different, especially in the scales, which aro long and very 



uarrow, nnd in tho more obtusely ovate form of the pinnules. This latter, with that from Barnes, 



supplies the connecting links between glamlulosa and dilaUtta ; the most ordinary looking forms of 



the latter being moreover sometimes quite glandular. 



Besides the varieties already mentioned, which we consider the most distinct and important, there 

 arc many other, indeed almost endless, modifications of this Fern, many of which, however, we believe 

 to l>c permanent forms, although they have not all been proved by cultivation. The following is a brief 

 nummary of tin- various forms which havo come under our observation : 



1. muUifida <W.). Mr. Wollaston describes this as having th« rachis divided very low down, so that, 

 in fact, two fronds arc, ns it were, borne on one «ti|K.-s. It is, however, rarely that more than one or two 

 fronds on a plant are affected, ami the variation is not constant. 



2. Ouutwlifolia (M.). A common broad tripinnatc, triangular or sub-triangular, usually large- 





