90 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND FERNS. 



banks of streams at elevations between 1200 and 3600 feet. 

 Up to 3000 feet it grows in company with the Lady Fern, but 

 at that height the vertical distribution of the Lady Fern ends, 

 and Polypodium alpcstre for 600 feet has undisputed possession 

 of its habitat. It is said to be much cropped by sheep, so that 

 whole fronds require some searching for. Outside Scotland it is 

 found in Western Europe, from the Arctic portions southwards 

 to Spain and Germany ; also in Greenland, Western Asia, and 

 North-west America. 



Annual Gymnogram (Gymnogramme leptophylla). 



The Annual Gymnogram is only politically a British fern, 

 for the only parts of our islands in which it is found are Jersey 

 and Guernsey. In the department of geographical botany it 

 would be included in the flora of France. The extensive genus 

 to which it belongs is well known in this country through the 

 medium of the Gold and Silver ferns that are grown in our hot- 

 houses, but whose homes are in the West Indies and South 

 America. The character of the genus is found in the long 

 narrow sori, which are not covered by an indusium, and which 

 later spread until they almost cover the pinnules. A special 

 point should be noted in respect to G. leptophylla, as it is rare 

 among ferns, and makes this species quite unique among those 

 included in the British list : that is, that it is an annual, 

 running through its prothallus and spore-bearing stages, and 

 dying, all in one season. (Plate 101.) 



The Annual Gymnogram is a small plant, its usual height 

 being something between three and six inches. The fronds, 

 which are few in number, and fragile, rise from a tufted root- 

 stock, and have a polished brown stipes. Some of the fronds 

 are barren, and these are much smaller and simpler than the 

 fertile ones. They consist of only three or four fan-shaped 

 pinnae at the top of the stipes, and it will be recognized at once 



