Asplenium.] FILICES. 513 



Rootstock stout, clothed with purple-brown chaffy scales. Stipes 3-6 in., 

 red-brown below, stout, polished. Frond 3-10 in. ; rachis stout, winged, 

 green ; pinnae acute or obtuse, base truncate cuneate or cordate auricled 

 above siuuate-lobed or serrate, upper confluent ; midrib and forked veins 

 obscure. Sori large, oblique; involucre coriaceous. — Distrib. France, 

 Spain, Italy, N. Africa, N. America. 



7. A. lanceola'tum, Huds. ; frond broadly lanceolate membranous 

 2-pinnate, pinnules broad crowded acutely serrate. 



"Wet rocks ; York, Wales, Gloster, Cornwall to Kent ; Cork ; Channel Islands ; 

 frt. June-Sept. — Rootstock short, stout, clothed with subulate scales. Stij)es 

 2-4 in., chestnut-brown, glossy. Frond 6-9 in., bright green ; pinna; many, 

 shortly petioled, lower smaller distant, cut to the rachis into 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. 



Kocks and walls, 1ST. to Shetland; ascends to 1,900ft. in the Highlands; 

 Ireland ; Channel Islands ; frt. June-Oct. — Rootstock stout, oblique, scales 

 subulate. Stipes 6-9 in., almost naked, polished, chestnut-brown. Frond 

 6-12 in., coriaceous ; rachis brown below, winged au d compressed above, 

 pinnae polished ovate-lanceolate, pinnules §— § in. ; veins pinnate and forked. 

 Sori copious, short, crowded, at length confluent; involucre free, pale 

 brown, edges entire.— Distrib. Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia, Himalaya. 



Var. A. acu'tum, Bor y ; lower pinnae triangular acuminate, segments narrow 

 very acute; S.W. Ireland. — Var. A. obtu'sum, "Willd. (A. Serpenti'ni, 

 Tausch) ; pinnae triangular, ultimate segments broad obtuse. Aberdeenshire, 

 on Serpentine. 



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

 liquely reniform, reflexed after dehiscence, margin laciniate. 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, N. to Shetland ; ascends to 2,200 ft. in N". 



England ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; frt. July- Aug. —Rootstock 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 J-f in., sessile, spreading, 

 obtuse, lower pinnatifid, upper coarsely serrate ; veins pinnate in the seg- 

 ments. Sori many, small ; involucre variously curved, membranous, very 

 convex, margin fringed or erose. — Distrib. Europe (Arctic), Africa, N. 

 and W. Asia, Himalaya, America. 

 A. Fi'lix-fcem'ina proper ; frond 2-pinnate, pinnules separate pinnatifid obtuse, 

 basal shorter, sharply toothed at the sides and tip. — Yar. A. rhos'ticum, 

 Roth (var. convex'a, Newm.) ; frond 2-pinnate, pinnules narrow convex 

 toothed, basal longest. — Yar. A . mol'le, Roth ; stipes short, frond small 

 pinnate, pinnules oblong flat confluent below less toothed. — Yar. A. 



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