12 



FERNS. 



POLYSTICHUM. 



Shield-Fern. (P. angulare, Plate /., fig. 7). Very near 



the brook, further on, I found a 

 Fern with similar characteristics, 

 but the fronds were smaller, the 

 leaflets larger, more eared, and 

 much less numerous, and the 

 colour of a darker and more vivid 

 green. In all these particulars it 

 answered to the description of the 

 Lobed Prickly Shield-Fern (P. lobatum). My book 

 opined that it was a distinct species, and its appearance 

 favours that opinion, though many high authorities con- 

 sider it merely a variety of the common Polystichum. 



Eeturning by the fernery, I ventured to take a frond 

 of the Holly-Fern which Fanny had brought from 

 Llanberis. In this there were no branches. The rachis 

 was set with the large, crescent-shaped, prickly leaflets 

 or pinnules. Its dark glossy hue and prickly edges, 

 together with the fact of its being evergreen, entitle it 

 fully to be named the Holly-Fern (P. lonchitis). It is an 

 Alpine plant, and the only time I ever saw it in its wild 

 state was in a mountain wood near the Gemmi Pass. 

 There the fronds were above a foot long, springing in 

 the coronal form, the clusters looking like verdant baskets 

 among the exquisite variety of Alpine flowers ; while 

 snow-capped mountains rose on every side, and a glacier- 

 born torrent rolled down the steep descent, laving the 

 little fern roots as it passed on in its mad career. Here and 

 there a vast assemblage of tree stumps bore testimony to 

 an avalanche having swept over the spot, and carried 



