Ul 



as Brekins, abounds in dry ground in every part of the Valley. 

 Cryptogramma a-isjm, or, as it is frequently designated, Allosorus 

 crispus, Parsley Fern : this handsome species, which is the object 

 of much curiosity to those who, living in valleys and flat neighbour- 

 hoods, have never seen it in a wild state, flourishes in luxuriant 

 abundance on the Skiddaw group of fells. The same may be said 

 of Lomaria spicant, Hard Fern, with the addition that it frequently 

 occurs on the edges of Broadfield, and in sandstone gills about 

 Gatesgill and Sebergham ; one of the most widely-distributed of 

 all our British ferns. As2)lenium ruta-muraria, Wall Rue : on 

 walls and rocks ; in fruit all the year round, and not limited to any 

 particular part of the Valley. A. septentrionale, Forked Spleen wort : 

 a very local species, so nearly exterminated that its discovery may 

 be regarded as a capital find ; rocks about waterfalls are its chosen 

 haunts, though sometimes seen in front of dry rocky scars at a 

 considerable elevation. A. trichomanes, Common Spleenwort : 

 the finest examples are found in crevices of rocks that overhang 

 or inclose forces on the hills. A. viride, Green Spleenwort : a 

 much rarer species than the preceding, and anxiously sought after by 

 visitors, is rapidly diminishing in supply; (chiefly occurs in the moist 

 crevices of calcareous rocks [Ed.]) A. adiantum-nigrum, Black 

 Spleenwort : widely distributed among the rocks of Caldbeck fells 

 and Carrock, and sometimes to be found as a hedge-bank plant 

 farther down the course of the river. Athyrium Jilix-fonmina, Lady 

 Fern : common in sheltered situations where moisture is abundant. 

 The variety rhceticum is also of frequent occurrence. The two 

 forms may sometimes be observed growing side by side. Ceterach 

 officinarum, Common Scale-Fern: this, like the Green Spleenwort, 

 has suffered extensively from the greed of collectors, and is now 

 looked upon as a rarity ; fortunately it is not easily extirpated ; I 

 have known stations denuded of every root, but where in a few 

 seasons it was found flourishing afresh. Scolopendrium vulgare, 

 Hart's-Tongue : on moist shady walls, in deep gills, and similar 

 places ; often very fine on the inside walls of well tops, with the 

 fronds, or the tips of them, inclining towards the water. Cystopteris 

 fragilis, Brittle Bladder-Fern : on moist rocks and about the bases 



