10 



thickened in a club-like manner at the extremity. The fructification 

 is, in most instances, confined to the upper divisions of the frond 

 only, but sometimes they are all fertile. The sori, of a bright 

 yellow or orange colour, changing in maturity to brown, are desti- 

 tute of indusium, and very regularly disposed in a line on each side 

 of the mid- vein, halfway between it and the margin ; a disposition 

 resulting from their development at the extremity of the first branch 

 of the lateral vein. In very vigorous fronds the regular dotted line 

 of fructification thus formed is sometimes disturbed, by the pro- 

 duction of a sorus at the extremity of one or even two of the upper 

 branches of the same vein ; indeed, the thickening of this part seems 

 to be the first stage in the development of the sorus. 



The fronds of this fern are in perfection from August to Novem- 

 ber, but are, in exposed situations, always disfigured by the first 

 frost. Under shelter it becomes evergreen, retaining the old fronds 

 until the appearance of the new ones. In cultivation it does not 

 generally succeed so well as do most of our native species : Mr. 

 Newman observes that it is somewhat parasitic, and I believe he is 

 right, never having been able to keep it in luxuriance, until it was 

 accommodated with a large proportion of decayed wood, moss, and 

 straw, mingled with the compost previously employed, into the 

 interstices of which the delicate root-fibres very soon penetrated, 

 lining every cavity with their brown hair-like spongioles. 



Several varieties are met with, distinguished chiefly by the divi- 

 sion and serrature of the segments, viz. : 



1. bifidum, in which each segment is divided at the extremity 

 into two diverging lobes, not an uncommon occurrence, indeed, 

 in the frond itself. 



2. serratum, characterized by the more distinct or deeper ser- 

 ratures. 



3. Cambricwn, Welsh Polypody, with a broader frond and the 

 segments irregularly cleft : this is always barren. Linnaeus, by 

 whom it was first described, regarded it as a distinct species. 



4. Hibernicum, Irish Polypody, distinguished by the broader 

 frond being bi- or tri-pinnatifid and fertile. A very striking and 

 beautiful variety, found by Mr. Mackay, in the Dargle, in the 

 county of Wicklow, Ireland. 



Intermediate varieties connect all of these with the normal or 

 common form. 



The rhizoma is mucilaginous and has a sweetish flavour, but by 

 long boiling it becomes bitter. An infusion of it in a recent state 

 is sometimes administered in the country as a mild cathartic. It 

 was once highly esteemed by the faculty as an expectorant, and 

 especially recommended for hooping-cough; but although still 

 occasionally employed as a domestic remedy, it has long been 

 excluded from the list of orthodox medicines. 



