837 



crowded, sometimes confluent, confined to the upper portion of the frond. This com- 

 mon fern was included by Linneus under his Polypodium cristatum, and by Muller in 

 the ' Flora Danica ' under his P. spinulosum, but the first intelligible description as a 

 separate species is in Roth's ' Flora Germanica ; ' it is not the Aspidium spinulosum of 

 Willdenow, Schkuhr, Decandolle, Smith, Hooker or Mackay, all of which are proba- 

 bly referrible to the next species. Common, marshes and woods ; in moist woods it 

 is more luxuriant, only semierect, and has a somewhat different aspect. Mature in 

 September. 



" 10. L. dilatata (Hoffmann). Newm 58 fig. Bab 386, Aspidium spinulosum, dila- 

 tatum and durrwtorum Sm iv 279, Aspid. spinulosum Hook 440, Mack .340. Rhizoma 

 tufted ; stem very stout, nearly as long as frond, densely clothed with long pointed 

 scales which are dark hroivn along the middle hut pale at the edges ; frond glandular very 

 large deep green drooping ovate-lanceolate pinnate, lowest pair of pinnee shorter than 

 2nd 3rd 4th or 5th, pinnae pinnate ; pinnules pinnate or pinnatifid, ultimate divisions 

 serrated spined, all divisions of frond convex ; involucre nearly circular fringed with 

 stalked glands ; clusters of capsules circular distinct covering every part of frond : ma- 

 ture in September. Common everywhere. 



"11. L. recurva (Bree). L. dilatata concave type, Newm 61. Rhizoma tufted; 

 stem as long as frond woody clothed with long narrow laciniate scales ; frond triangu- 

 lar drooping elegant pale green pinnate, lower pair of pinnae longest stalked, all pin- 

 nate ; pinnules pinnate or pinnatifid, all divisions of frond concave ; involucre nearly 

 circular ^a^^erf at its margin without stalked glands ; clusters of capsules round crowd- 

 ed, covering every part of frond : mature in September. Abundant in Ireland and 

 Cornwall ; occurs in Cumberland, Devonshire, Sussex, &c." — p. 23. 



In the genus Athyrium, the convex form of A. Filix-femina appears 

 as a species under the name of A. rhaeticum of Roth, and, with a mark 

 of doubt, as the Polypodium rhaeticum of Linnaeus ; a new species of 

 Athyrium — the A. molle of Hoffmann — is also introduced, of which 

 the following is the description. 



" f 3. A. molle (Hofifmann). Stalk still shorter [than in rhseticum], its scales broad 

 and shorter ; frond semi-erect bright green ovate-lanceolate pinnate, pinnae pinnate, 

 their midrib winged, lower pair very distant short deltoid deflexed; pinnules ^ai united 

 by iving of midrib lobed, lobes 2 — 3 toothed ; clusters of capsules distinct 5 — 7 j^airs : 

 mature in September. Common in damp places." — p. 26. 



The new British Cystopteris, the C. montana of Link and Presl, 

 has already been described and figured in our pages, (Phytol. 671). 



The above are the principal points of interest which have struck us 

 in going through this useful list ; if naturalists approve of the plan, it 

 is to be followed in subsequent years by similar lists of British quad- 

 rupeds, butterflies, Orchideas, &c. 



