THE BUCKLER FERNS. 239 



embankments, which, with the trees which crowned 

 their tops, cast dark shadows on the narrow 

 carriage-way. We were close upon the habitat of 

 the fern we were seeking ; but although carefully 

 searching the hedge-bank as we neared the spot 

 we could not find a stray specimen. All at once, 

 however, our guide stopped, and pointing to the 

 hedge-bank on the right, invited us to search. 

 We had arrived within the charmed circle. The 

 bank was literally clothed with splendid specimens 

 of Lastrea recurva, their fronds revelling in the 

 twilight of the hedge, and their roots plunged 

 into the rich soft leaf-mould of the bank. 



The inexperienced fern-hunter is very likely to 

 mistake small plants of the Broad Buckler Fern 

 for the Hay-scented Fern. But although there 

 is a general resemblance between the two, there are 

 peculiarities about the latter which render it easily 

 recognizable. The general form of the frond, the 

 form of the branches, and the peculiar elongation 

 of the leaflets on the under part of the mid-stem 

 of the lower branches of the frond are characteristic 

 of both Dilatata and Recurva. But there is this 



