CRESTED BUCKLER-FERN. 69 



either lance-shaped or a long narrow triangle. The lance- 

 shape is partly due to the lowest pair of pinnae being of equal 

 length with the next pair ; the triangular aspect is given by the 

 lowest pinnae being slightly longer than those above, a condition 

 more noticeable in young plants. The pinnae also are lance- 

 shaped, two or three inches long. The oblong pinnules, though 

 cut right to the rachis, are not stalked. On the underside there 

 are stalked glands which give out a pleasant, though by no 

 means strong odour. The sori are attached in two rows close 

 to the rib of the pinnule, and the indusium is covered with 

 glands and has fringed margins. (Plates 69, 77.) 



The Rigid Buckler-fern is singular among the British 

 members of its genus in that it is a genuine rock-plant, growing 

 out of fissures. It is also among the number of our ferns 

 notable for the narrow limits of their distribution. It is true 

 that it is found in three English counties Lancashire, West- 

 moreland, and Yorkshire, but the haunt of this fern is just 

 where these three counties adjoin, so that together they only 

 constitute a small district for it. There it must be sought 

 on limestone rocks at elevations between 1200 and 1500 feet. 

 It does not occur in either Scotland or Ireland ; its con- 

 tinental range includes Norway, and several parts of Southern 

 Europe. It is also found in Western Asia and North 

 America. 



The name Rigid Buckler is of recent book origin, as must of 

 necessity be the case with a species whose range is so circum- 

 scribed and out-of-the-way. It is a mere translation of the 

 Latin name which was bestowed on account of its stiffness. 



Crested Buckler-fern (Nephrodmm cristatum). 



We now come to a group of ferns which are almost certain, 

 in some of their natural varieties, to cause trouble to the fern- 

 hunter. In most books they are treated as three or four species ; 



