462 FILICES. [ASVLKNUM. 



7. A. lanceola turn, Huds. ; frond broadly lanceolate membranous 

 2-pinnate, pinnules broad crowded acutely serrate. 



Wet rocks, from N. Wales and Gloucester southwards ; Cork only in Ireland ; 

 frt. June-Sept. Raotstock short, stout, clothed with subulate scales. Stipes 

 2-4 in., chesnut-brown, glossy. Frond 6-9 in., bright green ; pinnae many, 

 shortly petioled, lower smaller distant, cut to the rachis into broad- acutely- 

 toothed crowded ovate or obovate pinnules ; veins forked. Sori short, at 

 length confluent. DISTRIB. Europe from France, Spain, and Germany to 

 Turkey, N. Africa. 



8. A. Adian'tum-ni'grum, L. ; frond deltoid-ovate 2-3-pinnate, pin- 

 nules petioled inciso-pinnatifid and serrate. 



Banks, rocks, and walls ; ascending to 1,900 ft. in the Highlands ; frt. June- 

 Oct. Rootsiock stout, oblique, scales subulate. Stipes 6-9 in., almost 

 naked, polished, chesnut-brown. Fronds 6-12 in., coriaceous ; rachis brown 

 below, winged and compressed above ; pinnae polished, ovate-lanceolate, 

 pinnules J-jj in.; veins pinnate and forked. Sori copious, short, crowded, 

 at length confluent ; involucre free, pale brown, edges entire. DISTRIB. 

 Europe, N. Africa, W. Siberia, W. Asia to the Himalaya. 

 VAR. acu'tum, Bory (sp.) ; lower pinnae triangular acuminate, segments narrow, 

 very acute. 



SUB-GEN. 2. Athy'rium, Roth (gen.). Involucre short, oblong or ob- 

 liquely reniform, reflexed after dehiscence, margin laciuiate. Frond not 

 scaly beneath ; veins free. 



9. A. Fi'lix-foem'ina, Bernh. ; frond large membranous oblong-lanceo- 

 late 2-3-pinnate, pinnules' very many close-set subsessile oblong serrate. 

 Moist woods, rocky places, &c. ; ascending to 2,200 ft. in the N. of England ; 



frt. July-Aug. llootstock stout, ascending, often 6-8 in., clothed with 

 broad ferruginous scales. Stipes 6-12 in., stout, copiously scaly below, 

 brittle, brown or pale yellow. Frond 1-5 ft., bright green, flaccid, waving ; 

 pinnae sessile, close-set, lanceolate, acuminate, spreading and ascending ; 

 pinnules ^-f in., sessile, spreading, obtuse, lower pinnatifid, upper coarsely 

 serrate ; veins pinnate in the segments. Sori many, small ; involucre 

 variously curved, membranous, very convex, margin fringed or erose. 

 DISTRIB. Europe (Arctic), N., S., and trop. Africa, N. Asia, W. Asia to the 

 Himalaya, N. and trop. America. 



VAR. 1, Fi'lix-fiem'ina proper ; frond 2-pinnate, pinnules separate pinnatifid 

 basal si 



(_ . 



narrow convex toothed, basal longest. Var. convexum, Newm. VAR. 3, 



obtuse, basal shorter, "sharply toothed at the sides and tip." Athyrivm Inti- 

 foliitm, Bab.- -VAR. 2, rhc/ticum, Roth, (sp.) ; frond 2-pinnate, pinnules 



mol'le, Roth, (sp.); stipes short, frond small pinnate, pinnules oblong flat 

 confluent below loss toothed. VAR. 4, inci'sum, Hoffm. (sp.); frond very 

 large 3-pinnate, pinna) broad, lower pinnules again pinnate flat toothed. 

 SUB-GEN. 3. Ce'terach, Willd. (gen.). Involucre almost obsolete. 



Frond covered with chaffy scales beneath. Veins anastomosing. Hcmi- 



dictyum, Presl. 



10. A. Ce'terach, A. : frond pinnatifid. Ceterach officinarum, Desv. 



Rocks and walls, especially in the W. counties, from Argyle and Perth south- 

 wards ; and in Ireland ; frt. April-Sept. Rootstnck short, stout. Stipes 

 1-3 in., wiry, blackish, chaffy. Frond 4-6 in., erect or spreading, leathery, 



