93 



The plant grows readily, increasing its roots and putting out fresh fronds much in the 

 manner of shoots, without having any well-defined rhizoma. Finding no allusion to 

 this variety in your valuable 'History of British Ferns,' or in the 'Notes on Irish Na- 

 tural History,' I have been induced, in the spirit of enquiry, to place these specimens 

 and notes entirely at your disposal, in order that the variety may be assigned to what- 

 ever species it may belong, through the medium of ' The Phytologist,' to which, and 

 its promising contemporary ' The Entomologist,' I wish enduring success. — John Har- 

 dy ;* 52, Trippet Lane, Sheffield, October 11, 1841. 



[The singular fronds accompanying this obliging letter, evidently partake in some 

 degree of a monstrous or unnatural character, the rachis being often dichotomous and 

 irregularly branched, and the pinnulse invariably ban-en. The venation, although 

 uncertain and affording no positively tangible character, evinces a nearer approach to 

 that of Cystopteris fragilis than to any other of our ferns, the veins in the pinnulae be- 

 ing alternately branched ; the size also of the fronds, which do not exceed seven inches 

 in length, and the decurrent pinnulee attached throughout to the midrib of the pinna, 

 favour this conclusion, as these characters occur not uncommonly in some of the forms 

 of that pretty species. — E. N.'] 



64. Description of a metamorphosed variety of Polytrichum commune. On examin- 

 ing some specimens of mosses received a few days ago from Roborough, Devon, my 

 attention was drawn to a remarkable accidental variety of Polytrichum commune, 

 which exhibited the union of two calyptrae, forming a very beautiful illustration of the 

 power of cohesion of two distinct bodies, under favourable circumstances, possessed by 

 the vegetable kingdom, and so commonly represented by united leaves, stems, flower- 

 stalks, &c. The description of the specimen is as follows. Stem about three inches 

 high, branched, producing two terminal setae: perichcetia distinct: calyptrce closely 

 adhering by their hairy covers : leaves patent, linear-subulate, the margins not invo- 

 lute, serrated ; keel seiTated at the tip. The specimen in question is remarkable for 

 its manner of growth, it having two setae from the apex of the stem, each surrounded 

 by a distinct perichsetium ; the calyptrae also are united by their hairy covers, thus 

 forming a two-celled calyptra : — the origin of which appears to have been in the deve- 

 lopment of two setae from the same axis, and the consequent proximity, and most pro- 

 bably the pressure together, of the outer coverings of the calyptrae, which would cause 

 them to adhere while in a young state, and being thus earned upwards by the elonga- 

 tion of the setae, fonned the monstrosity in question. The above was read before the 

 Botanical Society of London, on the 4th of September, 1840 ; I have since received 

 similar specimens from G. B. Johns, Esq. found by him on an old wall on the banks 

 of the river Walkham, near Walkhampton, Devon, growing plentifully. There is al- 

 so in the herbarium of the Bot. Soc. Lond. a specimen of P. juniperinum, collected 

 by Mr. W. Gardiner, jun. of Dundee, at Hare Craigs, near Broughton, exhibiting a 

 similar monstrosity in that species. — Thomas Sansorn ; 2, Cloudeslcy St., Islington, 

 October 13, 1841. 



65. Lycopodium Selago detected in Tilgate Forest, Sussex. I was very much pleased 

 last week on visiting Tilgate Forest, to find Lycopodium Selago growing plentifully 

 on the banks of the pond below the bog between Pease-pottage gate and Starve-mouse 

 plain. L. Selago, inundatum and clavatum were all growing in abundance within 

 the space of twenty yards. Exacum filiforme was growing abundantly in the bog, and 

 in great perfection. — /. A. Bretver ; Reigate, October 14, 1841. 



* In a letter to E. Ne\nnan. 



