DUBLIN NATURAL UI8T0RY SOCIETY. 93 



of tho county of Wicklow and county of Limerick, luxuriantly growing. 

 The plant on the exposed ridges small and stunted, but wherever there 

 is the smallest shelter, its growth is most luxuriant and beautifiiL 



Gymnoearpium phegopteri* {Linn, sp). Beech Fern. 



Kerry : Killamey, Tore mountain, very abundant "Wicklow : Wa- 

 terfall, very scarce, J.KK. 



This fern has been recorded from Down and the north, generally ; it 

 is by no means so abundant here as in England. 



Oystopteris fragilis {Linn, sp.). Bladder Fern. 



Galway : Gort, J. R. K. Clare : Burren, J. R. K 



Though recorded from "Wicklow and Dublin, careful research in this 

 latter locality, and in many parts of Wicklow, has been unrewarded 

 on my part I have never met it except in the west and north-west, 

 where it is tolerably abundant 



Polystichum aculeatum {Linn. sp. ?), Broad Prickly Shield Fern. 



Tyrone : near Aughnacloy, not rare. Monaghan : ditto. Galway : 

 very common. Clare : Feakle, rare. Tipperary : near Birr, very rare. 

 Kerry : rare, locaL Dublin : very local and rare. Kildare : very abun- 

 dant, LevitstowiL Carlow: ditto. Queen's County, Maryborough, 

 J.R.K. 



I have been particular in noting the localities of this and the follow- 

 ing species, as they are often confounded. It is an extremely local spe- 

 cies, commonest in the south-west ; it, as far as I can learn, fitjquents 

 lowlands chiefly. In Dublin it is one of our rarest species. It would 

 appear to be a plant of most peculiar growth, which, perhaps, accounts 

 for its very disjointed distribution over the country. The form met near 

 Feakle differs so much in character from the ordinary plant, that I have 

 some hesitation in positively considering them identical, being much 

 stunted and narrower in its form, and retaining this character in cul- 

 tivation. It grows as luxuriantly in Galway as anywhere in Cheshire. 



Polystichum angulare {Wildenow sp.). Angular Shield Fom. 



Tyrone : Omagh, extremely rare. Aughnacloy : rare. Galway : 

 abundant. Dublin : extremely abundant, J. R. K. Kerry : very abun- 

 dant Tipperary : Annagh Inch, local, scarce, J. R. K. 



This species, unlike the last, is generally diffused and most abundant 

 commonly; the county of Tyrone, at its northern extremity, is an excep- 

 tion. I could only find one plant near Omagh and at Aughnacloy; though 

 the plant occurs, it is far, very far, from common or abundant ; in fact, 

 it appears to me to be less abundant in the north than in the east, where 

 it is one of the most characteristic ferns. In west or south I have not 

 thought it necessary to multiply localities. 



