FERNS. 1 7 



in the Yorkshire glen, it looked fresh and graceful, and 

 we were warm in our appreciation of our new acquisition. 



By a little gate we passed from the steep wood to the 

 yet steeper pasture ; and, as from time to time we paused 

 to take breath, the view became continually wider and 

 more beautiful. The pretty wood at our feet, with here 

 and there a glimpse of the brawling stream, the sloping 

 lawn around my cousin's house, and the wild rocks and 

 woods, topped by purple moors, above it — all this lay 

 right before us ; while to the left, bounded by hills greyer 

 and yet more grey, stretched the widening valley of the 

 Swale. 



Emerging on the moor, the air was laden with the 

 sweet perfume of the Ling. The rich purple was varied 

 by patches of verdant green ; and, upon approaching one 

 of these oases, I found two Ferns decidedly different from 

 those I had yet become acquainted with, though the 

 kidney-shaped spore-covers, testified to both belonging to 

 the Lastrea family. One closely resembled the Spreading 

 Shield Fern, but its leaflets were broader, and not curled 

 in ; and its lower branches were less spreading. The 

 leafy part of the frond was still triangular, but the base 

 was narrower in proportion than in the former Fern, and 

 the scales upon the rachis were blunter. Its character- 

 istics answered to the description of the Spiny Shield- 

 Fern (L. spinulosa, Plate II., Jig. 3). 



The other Fern was of the gracefully sloping contour 

 of the common Prickly-Fern ; but its more upright form 

 indicated a closer resemblance to the Male Fern, as did 

 also its bluntly-notched pinnules. The spore-masses were 

 arranged in a faultless line along the under margin of the 



B 



