POL 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



POL 



383 



75. Polypodium Pennigerum. Fronds pinnate, smooth ; 

 leaflets linear, very long, pointed, subpinnate ; pin'nas ovate, 

 oblong. Native of New Zealand. 



76. Polypodium Erectum. Fronds pinnate; pinnas oppo- 

 site, oblong, at the top linear, acuminate, serrate ; fructifi- 

 cations in a continued line along the margin. Native of the 

 Society Isles. 



' Frond bipinnate, or subbipmnate. 



77. Polypodium Phegopteris; Wood Polypody. Frond 

 pinnate ; leaflets lanceolate, pointed, pinnalifid, combined at 

 the base, the lowermost pair deflexed. The root is creeping; 

 the fronds about a foot high, pale green, with long pale stalks. 

 The drooping posture of the two lower leaflets constitutes the 

 most striking character. Native of most parts of Europe, and 

 of Virginia, in the clefts of rocks, moist and shady places, and 

 woods. With us in Devonshire, Yorkshire, Westmoreland ; as 

 at Barrowfield wood near Kendal ; and by the fall of Lodore 

 near Derwentwater ; also in the lowlands of Scotland about 

 Lang'holm, and Panton bridge in Eskdale. 



78. Polypodium Retroflexum. Fronds subbipinnate; low- 

 est leaflets reflex ; pinnas jagged. Native of America. 



79. Polypodium Fragrans ; Sweet Polypody. Fronds 

 bipinnate; pinnas ovate, sublobed, blunt, naked underneath, 

 bent back at the edge ; fructifications marginal ; stock dark 

 purple, smooth and even, with pale red chaffs towards the 

 base. When fresh dried, this species is extremely fragrant. 

 Native of the south of Europe ; known also in the East Indies. 



80. Polypodium Parasiticum ; Parasitical Polypody. 

 Fronds semibipinnate, lanceolate ; lobes rounded, quite entire, 

 striated. Native of the E.Indies, on trees. Found also in Java. 



81. Polypodium Variura. F'ronds lateral, bipinnate; low- 

 est leaflet pinnatifid. Native of China. 



82. Polypodium Cristatum; Crested Polypody. Fronds 

 subbipinnate; leaflets ovate, oblong; pinnas bluntish, sharply 

 serrate at the tip. Found in moist woods and shady places 

 in a gravelly soil, in chinks of moist rocks, on old walls, and 

 in marshy places at the foot of decaying oaks, in the north 

 of Eurcpe. 



83. Polypodium Patens ; Pubescent Polypody. Frond 

 bipinnatifid, somewhat villose underneath ; pinnas linear- 

 lanceolate, elongated ; pinnules oblong, acute, entire, the lowesl 

 longer. Native of Jamaica, on the banks of the Rio Cobra. 



84. Polypodium Filix Mas ; Male Polypody, or Fern. 

 Fronds bipinnate ; pinnas obtuse, crenulate ; stipe chaffy. 

 This is a native of Britain, growing about the borders 

 of woods near rivulets, and in stony rocky places. Male 

 Fern seems to have the same qualities with the Ptcris Aqui- 

 lina, or Common Brake. Both are burnt for their ashes, 

 which are sold to soap and glass makers. The bishop 01 

 Drontheim relates, that the curled leaves, at their firsi 

 appearance, are boiled and eaten like Asparagus ; and that 

 the poorer Norwegians cut off those succulent laminae like 

 the nails of the finger, at the crown of the voot, which arc 

 the bases of the future stalks, and brew them into beer 

 adding a third part of malt; and in times of great scarcity 

 they mix it with their bread. The same author adds, that 

 cut green, and dried in the open air, it affords not only an 

 excellent bitter, but, infused in hot water, becomes no con- 

 temptible fodder to goats, sheep, &c. which will readily eat 

 and sometimes grow fat upon it. The root has been greatly 

 celebrated for its effects upon the tsenia or tape-worm ; 

 and this quality was known to the ancients, though, notwith- 

 standing its subsequent recommendation by Hoffman, it was 

 generally neglected, till Madame Noufer, a surgeon's widow 

 in Switzerland, employed a secret remedy as a specific in 

 the cure of the tape-worm. The principal physicians at 



VOL. n. 98. 



Paris being deputed to make a complete trial of its efficacy, 

 t was purchased by the king of France, and afterwards pub- 

 ished by his order. After the patient has been prepared by 

 an emollient clyster, and a supper of panada, with butter and 

 salt, he is directed to take in the morning, while in bed, a 

 dose of two or three drachms of the powdered root, one 

 drachm being the dose for infants. The powder must be 

 washed down with a draught of- water, and two hours after 

 a strong cathartic of calomel and scammony is to be given, 

 proportioned to the strength of the patient. If this does 

 not operate in due time, it is to be followed by a dose 

 of purging salts ; and if the worm be not expelled" in a few 

 hours, the process is to be repeated at proper intervals. 

 That this treatment has been successful, there is abundant 

 evidence; but whether the Fern root, or strong cathartic, is 

 the principal a'lent in destroying the worm, has been doubted, 

 although it does appear from experiments made in Germany, 

 that the tape-worm has been expelled by giving the root 

 repeatedly without the addition of any purgative. Meyrick 

 says, the roots when chewed are at first sweetish, but soon 

 become nauseous and bitter. Some people make use of them 

 to destroy worms in children, others to remove obstructions 

 of the viscera, and a third class to cure the rickets. 



85. Polypodium Filix Foemina; Female Polypody, or 

 Fern. Fronds bipinnate ; pinnules lanceolate, piunatifid, 

 acute ; stalk waved, smooth, sometimes scaly. Native of 

 the northern and some of the more southern parts of Europe, 

 in moist and shady marshes, woods, and heaths, near rivulets. 

 It is however by no means so common as the preceding. 



86. Polypodium Oreopteris; Mountain Polypody. Fronds 

 subbipinnate ; pinnas alternate ; pinnules quite entire, lan- 

 ceolate, bluntish; fructifications marginal ; root scaly. Some 

 of the most remarkable particulars in which this species dif- 

 fers from the following and from the eighty-third species, 

 with both of which it has been confounded, are these : first, 

 the eighty-seventh species has a small creeping root, but this 

 a large scaly root wrapped and tied together with small 

 strong fibres, which cannot be separated without difficulty. 

 Secondly, when the former grows old, the under side of the 

 leaf is totally covered with the confluent fructifications, and 

 the edges of the pinnules are reflexed or contracted : in the 

 latter the fructifications are always on the margins, both in 

 a young and old state, and never run into one another. 

 Thirdly, this species is four times as large as the following 

 one, which grows in boggy places : whereas this is always 

 found in dry woods and on moors, rarely growing near water. 

 It is said to have an agreeable scent, and is more frequent 

 in mountainous situations than any other species. It is found 

 both in England and Scotland, but most abundantly in the 

 latter : in woods at Castle Howard and Hornby ; in moist 

 woods near Darlington, but never on dry hills in that neigh- 

 bourhood ; in a wood at Old Footswell near Bromsgrove ; 

 and on the north side of Shotover-hill. 



87. Polypodium Thelypteris ; Marsh Polypody. Frond 

 bipinnate; pinnas pinnatifid, quite entire, covered with pollen 

 underneath. Native of the northern parts of Europe in bogs. 

 Found near Bungay in Suffolk ; St. Faith's, Newton bogs, near 

 Norwich ; and at the foot of Snowden near Llanberys. 



88. Polypodium Aculeatum; Prickly Polypody. Fronds 

 bipinnate; pinnas lanceolate, ciliate, toothed; stipe strigose. 

 Native of most parts of Europe, of Barbary, Egypt, &<;. in 

 woods and shady places. There is a variety, the leaves of 

 which vary from six inches to a foot in height. It is also 

 found in shady places. 



89. Polypodium Hirtum. Frond at bottom tripinnatifid, 

 towards the top bipinnatifid, and finally pinnatifid ; segments 



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