on British Ferns. xxiii 



Rhizoma tufted ; stipes very short, cliaffy ; frond semi- 

 erect, lanceolate, much attenuated at the base, pinnate ; 

 pinme pinnatifid, divisions rounded, lower pinnae very 

 slioi-t, deltoid, obtuse ; veins and capsules as in the pre- 

 ceding ; involucre sometimes quite obvious. 



Mountains and moist woods, frequent. 



06s.— Each species is the type of a group of species, and might be 

 regai-ded as a genus, but the mteiTention of H. Novaboracense tends 

 veiy much to unite them. 



Genus. — Gymnocarpium, Neivman. 



Ultimate divisions of the frond with branched lateral 

 veins free at the extremity, bearing clusters of capsules on 

 aU the branches : involucre none. In the British species 

 the plant extends by means of a rapidly extending, slender, 

 subterranean, stolon-like rhizoma. 



Gy]vinocaepium Phegopteris. 



Polypodium Phegopteris, Li7in. Sp. PL 1550 ; Ughtf. Fl 

 Scot. 669 ; Huds. Fl. Aug. 456 ; With. Arr. 775 ; Sin 



E. F. iv. 282, E. B. 2224; Mack. Fl. Hib. 337; Newm. 



F. 115; Hook, and Am. 566. 

 Polipodium Phegopteris, Bolt. Fil. Brit. 36, t. 20. 

 Aspidium Thelypteris, Sm. E. B. 1018. 

 Lastrea Phegopteris, Neiim. N. A. 17, F. 13. 

 Polypodium ? Phegopteris, Bab. 408. 

 Gymnocarpium Phegopteris, Neivm. Phytol. iv. 371. 

 Polystichum Phegopteris, Roth, Flor. Germ. iii. 72. 



Ehizoma creeping; stipes long; frond ovate -deltoid, 

 pinnate, drooping; first pair of pinnae distinct, turned back, 

 the rest united at the base, pointing forwards, aU pinnati- 

 fid ; veins, capsules and involucres as in the preceding ; 

 colour dull green ; stem concolorous, rather scaly. 



By mountain rills and waterfaUs, and in wet woods: 

 common in Scotland, North of England, and Wales; rare 

 in Ireland. 



