FERN TRIBE 123 
pinne are longer than those of the upper. The pinnules are of oblong egg- 
shaped form, the lowest often much lobed, and the lobes mostly running 
close together, so as to form a wing, though they are sometimes shortly 
stalked. Their margins are serrated, and have spinous points. The stalk is 
about half the length of the frond, and thickly beset with small, torn, pale- 
brown scales. 
The pinnules have a winding mid-vein, from which issue two alternate 
branches, and these send off branches of lesser veins, the lowest of these on 
the side towards the point of the pinnules being the receptacle, or spot on 
which the clusters of fructification are placed. These extend almost all over 
the under surface of the frond, forming two lines along each pinnule or lobe. 
The clusters are circular, and partially covered by the indusium, which is 
kidney-shaped, often of a lead colour, with the margin uneven or jagged, 
and set round about with small glands without stalks. The whole plant is 
covered with minute glandular bodies, giving it a peculiar fragrance. The 
frond is of beautiful rich green hue, and its woody stalk is of dark purple 
colour. This fern is the Lastréa recirva, the Nephrodium emulum, or the 
Nephridium fentsecit of botanists, and is also by some regarded as a variety 
of L. spinuldsa. It is abundant in Ireland and the western counties ot 
England, and found more or less in hilly districts throughout the kingdom. 
6. Crested Fern (ZL. cristdta).—Fronds lanceolate and pinnate ; pinne 
deeply pinnatifid ; segments acutely and doubly serrate. This fern is found 
among the ling and heaths of boggy lands, and is much sought for on 
account of its rarity, though it is less attractive in appearance than many 
other species. It occurs in Renfrewshire, and is found at Bawsey Heath, 
near Lynn; at Fritton, and Dersingham, and Edgefield, in Norfolk; on 
Woolston Moss, near Warrington, Lancashire ; on Oxton Bogs, Nottingham- 
shire ; on Wybunbury Bog, in Cheshire ; and a few other similar localities. 
It has a thick underground stem, branching in various directions, from which, 
in May, the narrow fronds rise, always in most remarkably erect form, 
narrowing towards the upper part, though being rounded and not pointed 
at the top. The frond is about two feet high, the stalk being rather more 
than a third of the length of the whole frond, and having towards its base a 
few chaffy, bluntly egg-shaped scales, which are always of pale brown colour. 
The pinnx of the frond are narrow and triangular in their outline, those at 
the base being the broadest, the upper ones becoming gradually narrower, but 
all of the same general shape. They are deeply pinnatifid, each segment 
attached by the whole of its base, and connected by a widening of its base 
to the segment behind it. When the frond attains a greater luxuriance, the 
pinne become longer, their pinnules more remote, and the margins of the 
lobes of the pinne have rounded notches. 
The mid-vein of the lobes is winding, the lateral branches being again 
divided into several branches, that nearest the upper end of the lobe bearing 
the circular clusters of fructification, which are thus seated about half-way 
between the mid-vein and the margin, and generally found only on the upper 
part of the frond. A flat kidney-shaped indusium covers the clusters, and 
its margins, though uneven, are not torn. The fructification is matured in 
August and September, soon after which the fronds perish by the frost. 
16—2 
