THE SOFT PBICKLY SHIELD FERN JJ3 



whole frond, is very shaggy, with reddish chaff-like 

 scales continuing though decreasing in size throughout 

 the upper portions of the frond. The fronds are bipin- 

 nate, with numerous tapering distinct pinnae, having 

 their pinnules flat, and somewhat crescent-shaped, from 

 the prominent am'icle at the anterior base, often blunt- 

 ish at the apex but sometimes acute, always with 

 spinulose marginal serratures, and sometimes in a few 

 of the lower pinnules with deep lobes so that the pin- 

 nules become pinnatifid. The pinnules taper to an 

 obtuse or right-angled base, and are attached, as before 

 said, by a slender stalk, which does not form a line with 

 either margin. The pinnules have branched free veins ; 

 and the sori are generally ranged in a row on each side 

 of the midrib and covered by a peltate (fixed to the 

 stalk by the centre) scale or indusium. 



Not only one of the most beautiful, this is also 

 one of the most remarkably varied of our Ferns. 

 Evergreen, and able to readily accommodate itself to the 

 changes of artificial culture, it is specially fitted for the 

 out-door or in-door fernery; growing readily in pots 

 (with sufficient room) in the garden or shrubbery, in 

 free sandy loam, or on shady rockwork. It is easily 

 increased by division whenever lateral crowns are pro- 

 duced. It is rare in the North of England, or of 

 Europe, though found in Sweden and Norway ; but is 

 more plentiful in the South of England, and very 

 abundant in Central and Southern Europe ; in Asia 

 also, from Georgia to India and Ceylon ; in Abyssinia 

 and on the African coast of the Mediterranean ; and in 

 North and South America, in New England and in 

 D 



