THE BLACK MAIDENHAIR SPLEEN WOftT. 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 

 I'iatc XXXVI. — AarLCTit'M AniAmro-nonv; A, from Coiupton, Surrey; T+ M> 8, from E\cicr, Dcion*hirr; 



IL /■ ttray. O p A. AnfjUmM>n«im OBTTOUlt, frt»m Sanilgato. Ki'lil ; $. O. Gray. 0, A. ActUtTLK.MatVu 



■ i- m m v< from Si. Martin'* LI ill* Surrey; 21 If, 

 PlaTl XXXVIL— AiFUKIWV Atn*»Trn-yic*t:w ACVTUV} A, from Killarncv. Kerry, Ireland; H\ A*4rt»t* B, from 

 Turk Mountain, Killaruey, Ireland; 2fe\ Alktin. 



H AMTAT.— The ltlarlt Sideenwort i* a generally distributed ]lriti?!i plant, occurring on rocVa. walla, and fcuidv banl> 

 throughout Ku*:laiid, Wa!«, and Scotland, extending to tin* Northern and W«»tern I"Jr». Irt-land, and tb*» CTiaunel 

 ■aland*, and infixing from the ooaat torel to au flotation of nearly MOO feel in the Highland*. Il rim, *ith 

 ci> an paral itcly ■mall frond* ami abort blunt pinnule*, ami <aith large elongated frwuit, acuminated pinna*, and 

 narroviih cloacatod pinnule* ; but tboao form* haro bo tiaet limiirj. The Tarictj art^w, in its truo forta, inbnn to 

 Kara been recorded only frt*m t«n district* in Irvt.uid, natiirly t tbc vieiiutv of Killamev, ami Cahir Cource, both in 

 Kerry. Wo hare to add another locality and county in Ireland— tho Dublin mountain*, where it haa been found by 

 Mr I>. Orr, of the tih*ne*iii Holanv Garden*, Dublin. *ho W roinnmiucnted »r*vimeni from thi* ataliou for 

 ioVittincotJon. We Imve alio to thank Or. AlWnn, >lr S. foot, Mr Andrew, Mr (I. >law t and Mr. Xouman, for 

 natrro Iri*h ajtocinuTi*, aomc of »hicb nro reprctcnlcd in our Plato, The plant ha* born recorded from Jer*ev; 

 bid il reeni* probaUo that the Jtrtcy plant in rather an attenuated interrogate form* !&crard*» plant from Monmo 

 Mountain, Down, the A*ph*i*** AtHa*/*m~*ifrttn fl o r Sir J. R, Smith, and refrrrod to J^u'ir*i atmtum by recent 

 writer*, i* not rcferrible here, hut t<i Mlfrivm Fili**fa*ifi*. The marked farm of thia plant, of which rather imall 

 tttccimrm aro xcrj well >bown in OUT Plate* *xmi at tint right ikvcrriug of *pecilic rUuVs »»t it u »o do«ely 

 eonnected by mean* of int4»rnKdinte toriation*, native and foreign, ttotb aa to outline* ami tCXturo, with tho normal 

 .T/MjifiiM*Niyrn4i i tliat we ba».c thought it preferable to r* tarn it na an e\tn-me form of that Bj^eeiea ; adontin^ the 

 view of Kunze, »bo writ«^" -r «e*/*« et Jlrfiffi, Boiy f mm ew iK^^randa probahile videtur." There i* no douht, 

 boworWi thai it* pceul inn tier, are tnarked and permanent. 



(livtKf H.l I'll l(*Ali IEAN(!K* -The present is a n idelr*4lLtperae«l Fpceic*, the eommon forvia occurring all mer Knr\»jie. The 

 tmo 4c*tum it found in Spain, Portugal. Italy, the tout hern |*m of the Austrian empire, Cotate, and Cyprua; 

 wltiUt ipreiinem frotn Sicily {Jih. //ooirr) ahow a transition from a?vtn<n to the more common form. It ia found lit 

 Tcneri^V, Ma^Ieira, nnd the Aioeer, along *itb x.-vfun. At Alfpera oeenra a curioua interinediato form (//** tt<*lts) . 

 and other form*, of intermediate character, occur in Ahymiiib, and at the Cape of Good Hope. Il la again found 

 nt St. Helena (//A. /f«4rr). In Aaia the «rxcie<* eiteudi over a wide ran^e, namely, Siberia, and Tran»cauea#ian 

 IC^iuia ; Arabia and Armenia; Air^l^aniitan, Kashmir, Muuoorir, and Simla ^tI6* //coJrr). The North American 

 l^lant referred her** by Michaui, tho A, mwtftr****, WDloVnow. it probably a diatincl »peciea. 



Cawh-x short, thick, tufted, often decumbent* scaly. Scales lanceolate below, extended inlo :i long 

 hair-like point dark hiwvn. nhining. cellulosely striate below. Fibres stoutish, muuerouA bninchcd, 

 dark brown, tomeutosc* 



States elongated, usually about as Ions as, sometimes longer tkau, the leafy portion of the frond, 

 dark pur]>l]sli brown, bearing about the base a few scales like those of the crown, smooth upwards. 

 Hat and slightly grooved in front, rounded behind; terminal and adherent to the caudex. Itavftis 

 channelled in front, from the presence of au elevated line on each margin decurrent from the stalk 

 of the pinna, round, and with the brown colour of the base more or less extending upwards behind. 



Vermilion circulate, 



Frwuh including the stipes from throe or four to eighteen or twenty inches long, sometimes even 

 more, and from one and" a half to seven inches across the base of the leafy portion ; usually coriaceous 

 and shining dark green above, paler benealhj sometimes of thinner texture; deltoid or ovate, or 

 sometimes with the sides nearly parallel below, always with a tapered or acuminated apex, bipinnate 

 in the lesser forms, tripinnate or occasionally almost quadripinnatc in the larger ones, Pinnm 

 obliquely triangular, usually elongate and attenuated at the apex, the lower nearly opposite, and 

 always as long as, usually longer than the rest, the upper becoming alternate and gradually diminishing 

 in size ; all usually pointing upwards. Pinnules alternate ; the lowest on the anterior side of the racing, 

 and considerably larger than the rest> obliquely and broadly ovate, with an attenuated apes, pinnate 

 at its base, its lowest (secondary) pinnules being ovate obtuse, pinnatifid with sharply serrated lobes 

 boloWj and sharply serrated at the apex. Towards the apex of the pinticc, which end in a more 

 or less elongated acumen, the piuiiulvs gradually lxrcoinc oblong and decurrent at the bitse ; and the 

 same occurs on a smaller scale in the larger lower pinnules themselves, the upper pinna? again being 

 like the lower, minus their larger pinnules. In the smaller forms the structure is similar, hut the pinnm 

 are less attenuated at the points, and the pinnules arc shorter, blunter, and either barely divided, 

 to the midvein or merely lobed. The ultimate divisions are all notched with distinct acute scrrahnvs. 



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