300 CRYPTOGAMIA— FILICES. Scolopeiuliiiim. 



Perennial. June — September. 



A most elegant little Fern, with a large tufted black root, of many 

 long smooth fibres, tlie crown slightly scaly. Fronds several, 

 erect, from two to six inches high, very smooth, of a light, some- 

 wliat glaucous, green, linear-lanceolate, narrow, taper-pointed, 

 of a firm texture, doubly and copiously pinnate; leaves alter- 

 nate, broadest at their base, pinnate, or in the smaller specimens 

 l)innatifi{l; lf(i//cts, or lobes, obovate, with from two to four 

 deep, broad, sharp, spreading, partially spinous, teeth, or lobes, 

 so as to be in some measure palmate ; their veins branching. 

 Cieneral and partial stalks all etpially winged throughout; the 

 former bearing a few narrow pointed scales at tlie very bottom 

 only. I\Iasscs mostly solitary on the ultimate lobes or leaflets, 

 short, roundish-oblong. Cover oblong, firm, while, durable, 

 broad at the base, originating from the midrib of the lobe, or 

 incomplete leaflet, sej)araling towards the next principal rib, 

 and not towards the margin. Capsules numerous, prominent, 

 of a rusty brown. 

 Tliere is certaiidy a very strict relationship between tliis Fern and 

 the last, both belonging to the genus Aspleitiitm on account of 

 the oblong sliape of tlie cover, attached by its broad base to the 

 midrib of some leaflet or lobe, and remaining unaltered in shape, 

 as well as insertion. W'liereas the cover of every .-ispidhan, 

 though sometimes oblong at first, soon becomes lunate, or even 

 orbicular, attached by a small or narrow point only, of which 

 Asp'idlum I'lliv fa'uiiiia is the most remarkable example. On this 

 subject, though long misled by tlie vague ideas of others, I have 

 endeavoiued at last to be correct. The intelligent reader will 

 be able to trace my errors, and if any vet remain, will perliaps 

 still furtlier correct me. Professor Willdenow, though by far 

 the best botanist in this department, appears to have made some 

 mistakes, nor can 1 discern tlie grounds on which his Aspldiuin 

 Halleri is separated from tlie fontannm, unless by tlie latter he 

 understood our li'oodsia hijpcrborca, as I once, but erroneously, 

 supposed Swartz had done. 

 The name /(»«/(/;/»»;, taken from Tabernsemontanus, is perhaps not 

 very suitable to this species, which, though it grows in shady 

 spots, does not appear to be stationed near fountains or rivu- 

 lets; nor may tlie synonym of that old writer be absolutely cer- 

 tain, though his figure is not unlike. Of the synonvms of Tourne- 

 fort and Haller tliere is no doubt, and whatever may be thought of 

 its genus, I trust this species can never hereafter be mistaken. 



407. SCOLOPENDRIUM. Hart's-tongue. 



Sm. Act. Taurin. v. 5. 410. t. 9. /'. 2. Tracts 236. i. \.f. 2. FL 

 Br. 1133. Sw. Si/n. Fil. Si), ll'dld. Sp. PI. v. 5. 348," Sprcng. 

 Crypt. f.2o. 



Ceterach. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. 13G. 



