18GI.] KEW VARIETIES OF BRITISH FERNS. 69 



the glorious vale of the Dudclon, and the ascent of the mighty 

 Wryuose Pass, will put the tourist in possession, as it were, of the 

 keys of the Lake scenery, and it will do him good to accustom him- 

 self to the wild and grim before breaking in upon the beautiful. 



Grasmere, December ISth, 1860. 



NEW VAEIETIES OF BRITISH FEENS.— No. 1. 

 By Thomas Moore, F.L.S., F.Pt.H.S. 



I propose to place upon record in your pages, as o})portunities 

 may occur, a short account of the new forms of British Ferns, 

 the existence of which may have become known to me since the 

 publication of the recent ' Octavo Nature-printed British Ferns;' 

 and in doing so trust to ofler information which may prove in- 

 teresting to your readers. The place of honour may properly be 

 accorded to a very beautiful new form of Lady Fern. 



1. Athyrium FiLix-FCEMiNA, V. Vernoni^ ( Jcrvis) . — Fronds 

 oblong, tolerably symmetrical; pinnae oblong-lanceolate, sud- 

 denly and shortly acuminate ; pinnules crispy, irregular, often 

 ramose or geminate, obliquely-ovate, usually somewhat distant, 

 narrowing into a short winged petiole which is decurrent with 

 the winged rachis, split down nearly to the costa into linear-ob- 

 long lobes which are distinct and finely saw-toothed; sori not 

 well developed, placed near the base of the lobes, forming a 

 series on each side of and not far from the costa. 



This very handsome and elegantly crisped form of Lady Fern 

 was found originally at Milwick by Mrs. Vernon, and was by her 

 pointed out to Mr. Swynfen Jervis, of Darlaston, Staffordshire. 

 In the singularly decurrent or winged condition of its parts it is 

 nearly the counterpart of BoUandice, a very remarkable new form 

 of Lastrea Filix-mus, described in the ' Octavo Nature-printed 

 British Ferns.' The fronds are from fifteen to eighteen inches 

 long, oblong-lanceolate, and nearly symmetrical. The pinnae 

 moderately distinct, oblong, suddenly contracting to a short ser- 

 rated point. The pinnules are rather unequal in size, sometimes 

 forked or ramose, sometimes growing two from one point, as if 

 geminate, the basal ones rarely considerably enlarged, shortly 

 pctiolate, the petioles winged and decurrent with the winged 



