69 



ginal line covered by the reflexed epidermoid prolongation of the 

 edges of the pinnules, seems to denote a nearer structural affinity 

 to Pteris. 



The name, from the Greek aAAo?, implying difference or change, 

 evidently alludes to alteration that takes place in the appearance of 

 the sori as they become confluent. 



ALLOSORUS CRISPUS. Parsley Fern. Curled Rock-Brakes. TAB. 

 XXXIX. 



Fronds deltoid, bi-tripinnate, of two kinds : ultimate divisions of 

 barren fronds wedge-shaped, cut and toothed ; of the fertile linear- 

 oblong, entire. 



Allosorus crispus, Bernhardi. Babington. Moore. Newman. Pteris 

 crispa, Linnaeus. Smith. E.B. 1160. Cryptogramma crispa, 

 Brown. Hooker and Arnott. E. B. ed. 2, 1443. Osmunda 

 crispa, Linnaeus, Sp. PI. 



This elegant little fern is exclusively European, growing in the 

 more sheltered crevices of mountain rocks, from Lapland to the 

 Mediterranean. In this country it is generally regarded as a com- 

 paratively rare, or at least local species ; the former it certainly is 

 not, the latter only in accordance with its alpine habit. In Scot- 

 land its distribution is a wide one, though apparently less abun- 

 dant than in the North of England and North Wales, where it 

 often grows profusely on the ledges and in the narrow clefts of the 

 slate and trap rocks. Southward it is found more sparingly, and 

 is rapidly disappearing owing to the rapacity of collectors. In 

 Ireland it has been rarely met with. The fronds spring in tufts 

 from a slowly creeping and branching rhizoma, the fertile ones 

 growing erect from six inches to a foot high, the barren ones, 

 more numerous, being not above half that height ; the latter are 

 of a bright yellowish-green, and much resemble, at first sight and 

 when newly expanded, the leaves of a small umbelliferous plant. 

 The ultimate divisions of the barren frond vary in form in differ- 

 ent specimens from wedge-shaped to oblong or oval, and in being 

 entire or toothed and serrated : those of the fertile frond are oval, 

 oblong, or linear, stalked, mostly entire, but in some instances 

 forked at the extremity, and occasionally showing a tendency to 

 become hastate below; the reflexed margins nearly meet in the 

 middle at first, so as to completely cover the fructification. The 

 circular form of the sori is only evident when examined at an early 

 stage : no trace of an indusium has yet been observed. 



The delicate green hue and close growth of the Parsley Fern 

 render it one of the most beautiful among the smaller species, but 

 its duration is very limited, the fronds appearing in May and 



