149 



nearly as possible in accordance with the dates of the letters contain- 

 ing the information quoted. 



It appears, from carefully collating all the authorities within my 

 reach, that the recorded species of British ferns are forty-six in num- 

 ber : of these one is now considered a doubtful native ; twelve (printed 

 in italics) are ranked by some authors as varieties ; and thirty-three 

 (printed in Roman letters) are acknowledged by every writer. By ad- 

 hering to these numbers the relative proportions of each county will 

 remain uninfluenced by the different views of botanists on this most 

 interesting but debatable point. Species whose present existence 

 in the county has not been verified by any of my correspondents, are 

 marked with a dagger, f 



YORKSHIRE. 



Lomaria Spicant. Abundant in the ueiglibouibood of Sheffield ; a rigid jagged 

 variety is sometimes found, J. Hardy : common everywhere, k?. Gibson : heaths, sha- 

 dy banks &c. abundant, R. Spruce : Langwith, near York, .S*. Thompson. 



Pteris Aquilina. Most abundant in the neighbourhood of Sheffield, and one or 

 two marked varieties occur, J. Hardy .- common, S. Gibson : heaths, shady lanes and 

 woods, frequent, R. Spruce : near York, S. Thompson. 



Allosorus crispus. Fountain's fell, S. Gibson : (J. Tatham), H. C. Watson, S. 

 Thompson : Cionkley-scar &c.; Teesdale; sides of Ingleborough hill; Settle, frequent; 

 on Penhill, near the slate quany ; — Baines's Yorkshire Flora. 



Polypodium vulgare. Abundant in the neighbourhood of Sheffield, /. Hardy : 

 common in many parts of the county; var. immersum, mihi, this elegant variety has 

 the sori in small dots, which are sunk in deep pits in the frond, it occurs at Whitby ; 

 — »S'. Gibson: frequent near York and Castle Howard, R. Spruce : near York, S. 

 Thompson ; var. serratum, Wass- woods near Helmsley, H. Ibbotson. 



Polypodium Phegopteris. Scarce near Sheffield, J. Hardy : in Cave-hole wood 

 near Settle, J. Tatham : common at Hebden-bri'lge, Halifax, and many other parts of 

 the county, .S'. Gibson : frequent about Halifax in rocky woods (R. Leyland), H. C. 

 Watso7i: Scawton Howie near Helmsley, very line, Buttercrambe-moor and Langwith 

 lane, near York, Teesdale &c. (J. Backhouse, jini.), R. Spruce : Ingleborough, with 

 P. Dryopteris, W. Wilson : near York, ,S'. Thompson : Wensley-dale, Bell-hagg near 

 Sheffield, Penhill, gill on Bellerby-moor, Shibden-dale, Ogdun-clough &c. near Hali- 

 fax, rocky woods in the vale of Todmordeu frequent, near Helmsley; — Raines's York- 

 shire Flora ; Bolton-woods, H. Ibbotson. 



Polypodium Dryopteris. Scarce near Sheffield ; Auston-rocks, fourteen miles from 

 Sheffield, plentiful, J. Hardy : a very common plant in the neighbourhood of Heb- 

 den-bridge, S. Gibson : Bolton-abbey (Churchill Babington), common in woods about 

 Halifax, H. C. Watson : Castle-Howard park, on the lower calcareous grit ; Whit- 

 stoncliif near Thirsk ; in various parts of the North and West Ridings, almost exclu- 

 sively on the sandstone (J. Backhouse, jun.), R. Spruce : Ingleborough, W. Wilson : 

 Brimham-rocks, Teesdale; near Pickering, near Whitby, near Richmond, near Helms- 

 ley ; — Raines's Yorkshire Flora ; Rievaulx woods, Luilesworth-vale, Cave-hole woods, 

 Bolton-woods, //. Ibbotson. 



2q 



