THE 



BROAD PRICKLY-TOOTHED 

 BUCKLER FERN. 



Lastrea dilatata. PEESL. 



The Broad Prickly-toothed Buckler is one of the 

 most compound and handsome, as well as one of the 

 most common, of our native Ferns, growing in broad 

 arched fronds, from a large tufted stem, to, when most 

 luxuriant, even the height of five feet, always more 

 or less drooping or curved. It is a species very diffi- 

 cult to understand, on account of its many varieties, 

 some of which pass almost into L. spinulosa on the 

 one side, and others into L. cemula on the other. The 

 distinguishing characteristics, however, of L. dilatata 

 in the group of Crested Shield Ferns, of which it forms 

 a very large proportion, are its lance-shaped dark- 



