196 POLYSTICHTTM ACULEATUM. 



Aspidiuin affine, Wallich. 



" disc return, Don. 

 " lohatum, var. lonchitidoides, HooKEH AND Aenott. 



" intermedium, Sadler. 



" munitum, Sadler. {Not Kaulfuss.) 



Polypodium aculeatum, Linn^us. Bolton. 



" lohatum, Hudson. 



" Plulcenetii, Loiseleue. 



Polystichum — From tlie Greek, polys — many, and sticlios — order. 

 Aculeatum — Prickl}'-. 



This very near ally of Polystichum angulare was considered 

 by the older botanists as identical witli it, and, even at the 

 present day, by some authorities, as doubtfully distinct. On 

 the other hand there are those who would even again divide 

 it into Polystichum aculeatum and Polystichum lohatum. My 

 experience of this latter Fern leads me to consider it as 

 unworthy of even the rank of a variety, as in the young state 

 the plants are always simply lobate, whilst the more mature 

 plant gradually loses this character. It has only the permanence 

 of youthfulness, and, although found fertile, must be regarded 

 as the young state of Polystichum aculeatu7n, which will 

 eventually assume its normal characters. 



An inhabitant of damp shady banks, along hedgerows or in 

 woods. A widely-spread and common Fern, recorded as 

 inhabiting Cornwall, Devonshire, Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, 

 Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, Sussex, Hertfordshire, Kent, 

 Middlesex, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, 

 Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, North- 

 amptonshire, Warwickshire, Monmouthshire, Herefordshire, 

 Worcestershire, Staffordshire Shropshire, Leicestershire, Lincoln- 

 shire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, 

 Cheshire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Durham, Northumberland, 

 Pembrokeshire, Glamorganshire, Brecknockshire, Denbighshire, 

 Carnarvonshire, Carmarthenshire, Island of Angiesea, Isle of 

 Wight, Isle of Man, Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Ren- 

 frewshire, Lanarkshire, Edinburghshire, Berwickshire, Fifeshire, 

 Forfarshire, Perthshire, Kincardineshire, Aberdeenshire, Argyle- 

 shire, Rosshire, Isle of Islay, Isle of Bute, Isle of Cantyre, 



