CRYPTOGAMIA— FILICE.S. Pterls. 305 



branous, inflexeil, narrow, inner cwcr, contrary or oppo- 

 site to the outer one, anti in like manner frinfrcd, lias 

 been observed by tiie late Mr. Thomas Smith, F. L.S., 

 as well as by Mr. Brown. This oufrht jierhaps to form 

 a part of the generic character of a true Ptcris ; those 

 tropical, more membranous, species, which, according 

 to Mr. Brown, have it not, constituting a separate genus. 

 Yet I doubt its existence in P. cn'spa, which can be de- 

 termined by those only who liave opjiortunities of exa- 

 mining this rare mountain species in a growing state. See 

 Hooker, p. 2. 1 56. 



1. P. aqiiUhia. Common Brakes. 



Frond thrice pinnate; segments lanceolate, bluntish; lower- 

 most pinnatifid; upper gradually smallest; terminal ones 

 large, undivided. 



P. aquilina. Linn. Sp. PI. 1533. Mmid. v. 5. 4*^2. Fl. Dr. 1 13G. 



Engl. Hot. V. 24. t. IG79. Hook. Scot. p. 2. 15G. Bolt. FU. \6. 



^ 10; bad. Bull Fr.t.W7. Ehrh. Crypt. 2Q\. 

 Filix. Tillumh Ic. 78./. 

 F. n. 1688. Hall. Hist. v. 3. 7. 

 F.foemina. /?«»%«. 124. Gcr. Em. 1128./. Loh. Ic.S\2.f. Matth. 



Valgr. V.2. 627./. Camer. Epit. 992. f. bad. Fuchs. Hist. 590./. 



Jc. 342. /. Dod. Pempt. 4G2. f. Tahcrn. Kreuterb. 1181./. 



Dalech. Hist. \22 2./. 

 F. ramosa major, pinnulis obtusis non dentatis. Bauh. Pin. 357. 



Plum. FU. pre/. 23. t. A./ 1 . 

 F, ramosa repens vulgatis.sima. Moris, v. 3. 583. r . 14. ^ 4./.3. 

 F. m:ijoris primum genus. Trag. Hist. 542./. 

 3. F. saxatilis ramosa maritima nostrar,. Raii Hist. v. 1. 151. 



Syn. 125, Pluk. Almag. 155. Phyt. t. 182./. 1. 

 On barren heaths, and in sandy thickets and woods, every where 



most abundantly. /3. On maritime rocks, or damp walls in 



towns, but rarely. 

 Perennial. July. 

 Root\ox\g, tapering, creeping} externally black. Fro«r/s annual, 



erect, from one to six feet high, repeatedly compound, with 



horizontally spreading branches, whose ribs are smooth ; the 



primary ones nearly opposite j the next more alternate, deeply 



pinnatifid, with crowded, lanceolate, bluntish, convex, parallel 



segments; the odd one generally much the largest ; lateral ones 



sometimes greatly diminished; all of a light bright green; re- 

 . volute at the margin, which is brownish, and slightly crisped 



or wavy, sheltering the dense linear masses of tawny capsules. 



Barren leaflets pale and hairy at the back. The main stalk is 



VOL. IV. . X 



