I.-) 2 



filix-fce7niiia: in moist shady situations, which appear to be 

 essential to its full development, this fern is fairly abundant. I 

 have frequently noticed specimens in which the central fronds 

 stood upright to the height of four feet or upwards, the outer ones 

 drooping in every direction around them. Mr. Lowe of Notting- 

 ham, the famous writer on ferns, enumerates over two hundred 

 varieties of Lady-ferrt I must rest content with mentioning the 

 fact that the variety known as rhmticiim, with reddish-brown rachis 

 and fronds, is not unfrequent. Ceterach officinamm : old botanical 

 lists inform us that this fern gcew about Yew Crag, and on the 

 rocks near Airey Force ; and I myself recollect seeing it on Priest 

 Crag some thirty-five years ago. I h^e failed to find it until quite 

 recently in any of these stations. Scolopendrium vulgare: this fern 

 is comparatively rare in the district, and nowhere approaches the' 

 dimensions of plants of the same species met with in West Cum- 

 berland, where it is plentiful. Cystopteris fragilis : is widely 

 distributed over the district, In moist shady places, and in the 

 crevices of rocks. The var. dentata, by some authorities ^considered: 

 a distinct species, has occasionally been found. Aspidium lonchitis : 

 this uncommonly rare species has been reported as occurring in 

 several stations. The Rev. W. H. Hawker, as Sowerby informs 

 us, found it about thirty years ago on Swarth Fell. Specimens 

 have also been found on Striding Edge, Cawdale Moor, and Place 

 Fell. I have not seen it in a growing state. A. aculeatum : on 

 the borders of woods and thickets, and sometimes in bosky ravines 

 on the hills, this fern is not unfrequent. Three varieties are 

 reckoned, but all the specimens I have seen within the district 

 may be classed as belonging to this type. Fine examples occur 

 near Sparket Mill. Nephrodium filix-7nas : after Fferis aquilina,^ 

 the most common species inhabiting our woods and hedgerows in 

 the valleys, and luxuriating in almost every variety of soil. This 

 is the "Meckin" of the dalesmen. The var. {c) borreri, distinguished 

 by having the rachis clothed with ruddy golden scales, is not 

 unfrequent. N. dilatatum: more familiarly known perhaps as 

 Lastrea dilatata, a large and well-known species plentifully , 

 distributed, but nowhere so abundant as the last mention edj 



