23 



the natural platform, and occasionally high in the clefts of the rocks. 

 It is generally, he observes, much shattered by the winds, or cropped 

 by the sheep, which seem to be fond of it. Mr. Tatham found it 

 abundant in the fissures of limestone rocks, near Settle, in York- 

 shire,' at an elevation of 1550 feet; and also on White Scars, above 

 Ingleton. A single plant, found by Mr. Vize, near Bath, and one 

 Irish habitat furnished by Mr. Darby, who gathered it at Townley 

 Hall, Louth, from a wall " built of clay-slate, and much overhung 

 with trees," are scarcely to be regarded as exceptions to the fact 

 that its natural site in this country is limited to the district above 

 recorded, as in both of the latter instances circumstances seem to 

 indicate that it was planted. 



The fronds spring in tufts from the summit of a thick, slowly- 

 lengthening rhizoma : they grow nearly erect, varying much in 

 height according to situation, from six inches to two feet or more : 

 the leafy portion occupies about two-thirds of the length, the lower 

 part of the rachis being densely covered with reddish-brown mem- 

 branaceous scales, broad at the base, but attenuated upwards and 

 terminating very acutely. In general outline the frond varies, but 

 is mostly of an elongated triangular form. Mr. Newman, however, 

 remarks that this form is only met with in young or weak specimens, 

 and that an elongate-lanceolate one prevails in older and stronger 

 plants ; he has figured both of these varieties, the latter having the 

 lower pinnae gradually shortening from the middle of the frond. 

 The figure in Mr. Moore's ' Handbook of British Ferns/ page 54, 

 accords with this, and, as far as my own observation extends, con- 

 veys a very erroneous notion of the general character of the species, 

 a circumstance to be regretted, because it is almost the only faulty 

 representation in one of the most valuable manuals ever published. 

 Mr. Newman's left-hand figure is very characteristic of that which 

 is generally regarded the normal condition of the plant. The pinnae 

 are alternate, linear-lanceolate, and all pinnate : the pinnules are 

 oblong obtuse, sometimes slightly decurrent, more or less deeply 

 lobed or pinnatifid ; the segments broad and terminated with from 

 two to five very acute, but not spinulose teeth, the number of 

 which is determined by the branching of the lateral veins. The 

 sori are disposed on the upper branches of the veins, which are always 

 the result of the first bifurcation, and thus form two parallel lines, 

 one on each side of the midvein ; in maturity they become con- 

 fluent. The indusium, reniform and attached to the vein by a short 

 stalk at its sinus, is very permanent and conspicuous, and is fringed 

 round the margin with stalked globular glands. Similar glands 

 with shorter pedicels are found scattered over the whole surface of 

 the frond, and to their secretions is probably due the not unpleasant 

 odour that obtained for this plant the early specific name of fra- 

 grans, a name, however, which undoubtedly occasioned the frequent 



