KILLARNEY BRISTLE-FERN. 19 



difficult subjects for the camera. The frond does not fully 

 develop during the first year, and it lasts for several seasons, so 

 that the plant may be regarded as an evergreen. The capsules 

 are ripe when the frond is two years old, and the spores are 

 dispersed in June and July. 



The distribution of this species is more extended than that 

 of its congener, especially in a northerly direction, for it is 

 found as far as Unst, the farthest from the mainland of the 

 Shetland group, whence it reaches down to Yorks. It occurs 

 again in Staffs, Shropshire, North and South Wales, Devon, 

 Cornwall, and Ireland. In the Hebrides it has been found at 

 an elevation of 2800 feet, and at 2400 feet in Ireland. 



It was long thought that H. tunbridgense was the only 

 British species, but the late Mr. W. Wilson pointed out the 

 differences, and the elder Hooker described the present plant 

 as a distinct species under the name of H. wilsont, by which 

 name it is still distinguished in some of the books. The name 

 unilaterale, however, had been bestowed upon it by Willdenow, 

 the German botanist, over a hundred years ago, and that 

 name has precedence. It refers, of course, to the more or less 

 one-sided character of the frond (Plates 13 and 14). 



Killarney Bristle-fern (Trichomanes radicans}. 



The Killarney Fern is essentially a Filmy-fern, though 

 included in a distinct genus on account of the different form of 

 indusium. It is one of the prizes of the fern-collector, and the 

 majority of the tourists who visit Killarney are desirous to bring 

 back specimens, solely because it is rare. The question 

 whether it is possible for them to grow it does not enter into 

 their calculations. They are afflicted with that form of insanity 

 which regards a thing as desirable only because it is difficult to 

 obtain, and whose possession consequently cannot be shared 

 by all their acquaintances. The lamentable result is that 



