Poli/podium.] FILICES. S37 



* Capsules l-celled, with an articulated, elastic, wore or less 

 complete ring, opening transversely and irregularly. (Polypo- 

 diacEvE. Kaulf.) 



I. Grammitis. Sw. Grammitis. 



Sori oblong, or linear, straight, scattered. Involucre none. — 

 Name; rypajifuq, a line; from the lines of fructifications. 



1. G. Ceterach, Sw. Scaly Grammitis. Fronds pinnatifid, 

 covered beneath with imbricated chaffy scales ; segments ovate, 

 obtuse ; scales entire. Br. Ft. ed. 3. p. 447. — Scolopendrium 

 Ceterach, E. Bot. t. 1244. E. Fl. v. iv. p. 315. — Asplenium 

 Ceterach, Linn. 



Rocks and walls in limestone districts. On the ruins of the old 

 Church near the Devil's Glen ; abundant at the Marble-quarries near 

 Kilkenny, and in the barony of Burren, County of Clare. Cave-hill ; 

 Mr. Templeton. Mr. W. Wilson finds evident traces of an involucre 

 on the lower side of the sorus, viz. "a narrow membrane fringed with 

 the chaffy scales, which covei the back of the frond." Hook. 



2. Polypodium. Linn. Polypody- 



Sori roundish. Involucre none. — Named from tto\v, many, 

 and 7rovs, 7roSos, a foot, from the numerous roots, or segments 

 of the fronds. 



1. P. vidgare, Linn. Common Polypody. Fronds deeply pin- 

 natifid ; the segments linear-lanceolate, obtuse, crenulate, ap- 

 proximate, upper ones gradually smaller. Br. Fl. ed. 8. p. 447. 

 E. Ft. v. iv. p. 280. E. Bot. t. 1149. 



Rocks, walls, trunks of trees, and banks, frequent. A beautiful va- 

 riety, the •S. of Smith, I first found in the south isles of Arran in 180G, 

 and it was found the same year in the Dargle by Miss Fitton, where it 

 still continues to grow. In it the fronds are doubly pinnatifid, as well 

 as variously toothed, and serrated, the segments either obtuse or taper- 

 pointed, the whole frond, as Sir J. E. Smith remarks, elegantly imitat- 

 ing an ostrich feather. Our Irish plant is somewhat different from P. 

 cambricum, Linn., and produces copious fructifications. 



2. P. Phegopteris, Linn. Pale Mountain Polypody. Fronds 

 bipinnatifid, the two lowermost pinnae standing forward, their 

 segments linear-lanceolate, obtuse, entire, ciliated, the lower- 

 most ones adnato-decurrent ; veins hairy ; sori marginal. Br. 

 Fl. ed. 3. p. 447. E. Fl. v. iv. p. 282. E. Bot. t. 2224. 



Shaded rocky places, in mountainous countries. At Powerscourt 

 Waterfall, sparingly ; Waterfall above Lough Eske, County of Done- 

 gal and other places in the northern counties. — Sir J. E. Smith observes 

 that the name Phegopteris, or Beech Fern, is by no means suitable to 

 this species, which does not grow in Beech-woods, but in stony rnoun- 



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