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Ferns.' The specific name brevisetum, however, was still retained 

 through the several editions of the ' British Flora,' until the discovery 

 by Mr. Andrews, in September, 1842, in a wild and wooded glen in 

 the western part of the county of Kerry. The striking characters 

 and fine state of fructification exhibited by these splendid plants, the 

 most rare and most beautiful of British ferns, and now altogether 

 confined to the south-western parts of Ireland, led Mr. Andrews to ex- 

 amine them minutely, and to trace their affinities with the numerous 

 exotic species of that beautiful genus; and from communications 

 with Sir William J. Hooker, and to the great kindness of that most 

 excellent botanist and encourager of science, and the reference to his 

 very extensive fern-herbarium, it was traced and detected to be the 

 true Trichomanes radicans of Swartz, setting aside the species brevise- 

 tum of the 'English Flora,' and the speciosum of Willdenow. Thus 

 the mild temperature of the south-western parts of this country pro- 

 duced, in the utmost luxuriance of tropical growth, a plant peculiar 

 to the West India islands, and to the western coast of South America. 

 To Dr. Scouler's kindness Mr. Andrews was also much indebted for 

 specimens of Trichomanes radicans and T. scandens, collected by 

 Dr. S. in Brazil, and which enabled many doubts to be cleared up. 



Mr. Andrews noticed a very remarkable character of fructification 

 in the new variety from Kerry, " that the capsules formed around the 

 base of the receptacles within the cylindrical involucres, and as the 

 receptacles elongated and became exserted considerably beyond the 

 involucres, the capsules continued forming in an even dense mass to 

 the extremity of the receptacles." This is described as of rare occur- 

 rence in Trichomanes. The Trichomanes reniforme of New Zealand, 

 and the Hymenophyllum fuciforme of Chiloe, are noticed as having 

 the capsules external to the involucres, but their being exposed to 

 view was supposed merely to result from the spreading and shrinking 

 of the valves. Loxsoma appears to be the only recorded genus as 

 possessing that peculiarity of fructification. 



[Observations have already appeared in the 'Phytologist,' on the sup- 

 posed identity of our Trichomanes speciosum with the T. radicans 

 of Jamaica and Brazil. The idea, I believe, originated with myself, 

 and indeed there is sufficient superficial resemblance between the 

 two, to warrant such a conclusion at first sight, but a careful com- 

 parison of the habit, rhizoma, stipes and involucre of the two species, 

 would convince Mr. Andrews that they are well-marked and perfectly 

 distinct. Mr. Andrews's observation on the fructification of the 

 newly discovered variety (Andrewsii) is highly interesting. — E. N.] 



