FERN TRIBE 117 
belonging to most species of Woodsia. The rhizome is tufted, and the roots 
black and wiry. 
This fern is of a dull green colour, and dies down to the ground at the 
approach of winter. The frond is lanceolate in form, and pinnate. The 
pinne, which are usually in pairs, are oblong, with obtuse ends, and a deeply- 
lobed margin, sometimes cut down almost to the mid-vein. The mid-vein of 
the segments of the pinnz is not very distinct; and the lateral veins, which 
are either simple or branched, issue from it towards the margin, near to 
which the clusters of seed-cases are seated. This Fern is often not more 
than an inch high, and very rarely more than three inches. It has been 
termed <Acrésticum ilvénse, and is now by some writers regarded as a sub- 
species of W. alpina. 
5. BuCKLER FERN (Lastréa). 
1. Marsh Fern (L. thelypteris)—Fronds pinnate; pinne pinnatifid ; 
clusters marginal, near together, at length mingling into a mass. Several 
of the most conspicuous of our native ferns belong to the genus Lastrea, 
some of them almost rivalling the common brake in size. It was formerly 
comprised in the genus Aspidium, and its chief distinction consists in the 
kidney-shaped indusium which is attached to the frond at its notched part. 
The Marsh Fern is not one of the largest of the Lastreas, for its barren 
frond rarely attains more than a foot in height ; and the fertile frond is but 
an inch or two higher, although under cultivation it is sometimes more than 
twice as high as when wild. This fern delights in moist boggy lands, occa- 
sionally growing in great abundance among the heather and sundews, and 
asphodels, and other bog plants; but, like some of its floral companions, it 
is somewhat local, and many a boggy heath of England is destitute of its 
fronds, while beth in Scotland and Ireland it is a less common plant than 
in England. In Wales it occurs in numerous localities. It is a native of 
every country in Europe, and grows in the North of Africa and in 
North America. It was at one time thought to be a frequent fern in 
Scotland, the Heath Lastrea having been mistaken for it. Dr. George 
Johnston, commenting, about fifty years since, on this species, says that it 
had only lately been discovered to be a Northumbrian plant ; and adds that 
it was not a little curious that this fern, which was thought to be so abun- 
dant in Scotland, should not be found at all in Berwickshire, and is so rare 
in the north of England, as to have escaped the notice of the many acute 
naturalists who have botanised there, until the late date of 1832-3, when 
Mr. Embleton drew it from its lurking place in Learmouth bogs, on the very 
verge of the kingdom. It has since been found at several spots near the 
lakes of Cumberland, at Hamersham Bog in Westmoreland, at Potterie Carr, 
Askham Bog, Heslington Fields, Buttercrambe near York, and in several 
other spots in Yorkshire. This fern was probably more general and abun- 
dant in our island at a period when lands were less drained and brought 
into culture. It is known to have disappeared from Allesley in Warwick- 
shire. The Rev. W. T. Bree, in the true spirit of a botanist, regrets its 
absence from spots in which, in his earlier day, he had been accustomed to 
gather it. Writing from Allesley, he remarks: “A pit in this parish 
