

THE SMOOTH ROCK SP17KENWORT. 



h%w figured Olbm cultiratoJ from thin toum. In 1&53 tho Rot. A. ttloxun rvoordod two habiUt* ; 000 in Wil^ 

 between TWy-BttWi ami Tninado?, *&fre tho plant had brM gaihrrrd bj Dr. Power; tho other, Svanag? Car* Uk 

 of Purboolr, where il had boon fnuml by Mtu Power— tho irictfjinen* from the tonacr habiUl, in ]>r. Power** herba- 

 rium, brtiiff identified by Mr. Utoiam. Again, in 1S52, the Bar. W* Jl. Hanker announced to Ibe Linneau Society, to 

 whxh nL*» *jkvihic&i were presented, the occurrence of thi« nwin in *o»r abuadnscv and luxuriance, oti (to i> 'rib 

 tide of an old wait, near Pctcr*u> Id, where, it appear*, it Lad two observed for fcvrral vtar*. A pkut from tbi* 

 ftourco hai pr«lEjced 000 of our figure*. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.— Thi* plant tukaluta rbir% thn oratrai part of Europe. It i« found in Spain, On tho 

 Pyrcacc*; ra Franco, ood in Italy; omoiig the toouatai&i of Stoita-rltiiil: in Oermany, and in Hungary, ItoUo 

 occur* in tbo Hcanduiariaii kingdom, accordinjr '* Sadler; but doubtfully in European Ruuia, according to Ledebour 

 and Kuprccht* It U alto recorded ai a daIitc of tho Ural tnotmlain* in Siberia {I'M.*), 



Cauda short, erect, tufted, scaly- Sctdes subulate, dark brown, semi-transparent, the tissue striate 

 with elongate parallel cells. Fibres slender, branched, dark brown, tomontose. 



Slijm slender, dark purplish brown at the banc. Incoming given upwards, usually about one-third 

 the length of the frond, furnished at the base with a few very small deciduous scales; terminal and 

 adherent to the caudcx, itackis green, with a narrow elevated margin or wing throughout the margin 

 extending nearly to the base of the stipes. 



VcnuUion circinate. 



Fronds averaging four or five inches in length, varying from about two and a half to ten or twelve 

 inches, rigid, dark green, smooth, erect Or spreading, narrow-lanceolate, broadest above the middle, 

 hipinnate. Pinnw oblong-ovate, spreading; the lower ones smaller, palmatcly threc-lobed ami more 

 distant ; the uppermost ones oblong, and more crowded. Pinnules roundish ol>ovate, tapering to the 

 ba&0» the lower ones distinctly stalked on the narrowly-winged secondary rachis, the upjier more decur- 

 rent ; their margins deeply notched, with from two or three to five or seven coarse, angular, spmosely- 

 mucronate teeth. 



Venation of the principal pinnules consisting of a llcxuous mid vein, sending off alternate simple 

 veins, one of which is directed towards each tooth, and extends almost to its apex. 



Fructifi&ilum on the back of the frond, most copious upwards, but extending nearly to the base. 

 Sort, or clusters of s]H>rc-cascs, small, short oblong, from two to four on each pinnule, attached near 

 the base of the veins on their anterior side ; at first distinct, but often becoming confluent and forming 

 large shapeless masses over the centre of the pinnules ; indusiate. Indmium short oblong, white, 

 usually straight behind, sometimes a little curved; rounded, entire, and sometimes slightly wavy on 

 the free margin. 8porc~ctisc* small, roundish. Spares angular, rough. 



Duration. The eaudcx is perennial The fronds are also persistent* the plant being evergreen, and 

 continuing in growth the whole year, under favourable conditions. 



This Fern is readily known among the British A?pla*ie<c f by its bipinnate fronds, taken in conjunction 

 with their small stature, and the minuteness of their parts, six inches in length for the frond, and half 

 an inch for the pinmu being rather above the average growth. Apart from this discrepancy in size, it 

 very much resembles A, ItnteeottUum^ the structure of its parts being nearly identical, but in the latter 

 the lower pinmc do not diminish in so marked a degree. 



Some botanists continue to place this species in Athyrinm, as originally proposed by Roth, but the 

 plant is too nearly akin to A. Utneeolalum to be separated from it> and the general structure of its sori 

 is asplenioid not ailiyrioid. There is occasionally manifested a very slight tendency to produce the 

 arcuate sori characteristic of Athyrium, but this does not occur in a sufficient degree to necessitate 

 the removal of the species from Asphminm, with which in all other respects it so exactly accords. 



It is an easily-grown frame or greenhouse Fern, particularly desirable in a small collection from iU 

 small size and evergreen habit. It should Ik 1 putted in well-drained porous soil, composed of turfy peat, 

 with a small proportion uf loam, and abundance of saritl The crown of the plant may be advantageously 

 raised somewhat above the general surface in (rotting, by being wedged between two or three pieces 





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