58 ALLOSORUS CRISPUS. 



Allosorus — From tlie Greek alios — various, and sorus — a lioap. 

 Crisp us — Curled. 



TiiTS is really a cliarmlng Fern, and an ornament wherever 

 planted. In its native wilds it is found growing amongst loose 

 stones, or in the crevices of rocks, adding much to the beauty 

 of its home. It is a Fern not readily forgotten when seen in 

 all the luxuriance of wildness, growing amongst the shapeless 

 masses of a profusion of loose stones on the sides of a mountain. 

 The vivid greenness of its fronds contrasts greatly with the 

 sombre hue of its few companions. 



A local species, occurring in the counties of Cheshire, Lan- 

 cashire, Cumberland, Westmorland, Durham, Northumberland, 

 Derbyshire, Shropshire, Somersetshire, Worcestershire, and 

 Yorkshire. In Wales, in Caernarvonshire, Montgomeryshire, 

 Denbighshire, Glamorganshire, (rare,) and Merionethshire. In 

 Ireland it is extremely local, occurring only in the counties of 

 Down, Antrim, and Louth. In Scotland widely spread, being 

 found in almost every county. In England it is exceedingly 

 abundant on the mountains of Northumberland, Cumberland, 

 Durham, and Westmorland, (especially on Cheviot, Helvellyn, 

 Skiddaw, Fairfield, Scawfell Pikes, Keswick, Derwentwater, 

 Ennerdale, Borrowdale, Teesdale, and Lothrigg Fell.) In Lan- 

 cashire on the moor behind the town of Lancaster, and in 

 Yorkshire on Cronkley Scar, Wensleydale, Fountain's Fell, 

 Ingleborough, and Settle. 



Mr. Monkman remarks that it grows in great profusion at 

 the Lancaster station, setting the smoke from the silk mills at 

 defiance. An additional attraction to a tourist to visit this moor 

 is the prospect — one of the finest in our country. 



Abroad it is a native of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, 

 Hungary, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Lapland, 

 and at Sitka, in North-west America. 



The Allosorus crispus has received a variety of names; 

 Linngeus considered it to belong to the genus Osmunda, and 

 afterwards changing his opinion, placed it among the Pteris 

 family; Villars declared it to be an Acrostichum, liartmann a 

 Blechnum, R. Brown a Stegania and a Cryptogramma, Hoffmann 

 an Onoclea, Wallroth a Struthiopteris , Desvaux called it Phor- 

 olohus, and Bernhardi Allosorus. Desvaux, Brown, and Bernhardi 



