228 LASTREA CRTSTATA, 



The varieties Uliginosa and Sjnnulosa of Moore have been 

 separated from Lastrea cristata, on account of a conviction 

 that they are distinct from this species. The former has been 

 described as a species by Newman, both as Lastrea uliginosum 

 and Lophodium uliginosum; and the latter by Presl, Babington, 

 Sowerby, and Moore as Lastrea spinulosa, by Newman as 

 Lastrea spinosa, by Mliller as Poly podium spinulosum, by 

 Hoffman as Poly podium cristatum, by Swartz, Schkuhr, 

 Sprengel, Fee, Mettenius, and myself as Aspidium spinulosum, 

 by Strempel as Nephrodium spinulosum, by Roth as Polysfi- 

 chum spinosum, and by Newman as Ijophodium spinosum. There 

 is something to me so very distinct in the above two Ferns 

 from Lastrea cristata, that I have hesitated in placing them 

 with the present Fern. 



Found in Norfolk, Suffolk, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, 

 Cheshire, and Yorkshire. In Nottinghamshire it is now con- 

 fined to Oxton Bogs, where it was originally seen by Dr. 

 Howitt. The other habitat, Bulwell Marshes, has now ceased 

 to be a locality: ten years ago I observed it, though rare, in 

 this place. In Suffolk it is recorded as occurring near Ipswich, 

 and at Westleton; in Norfolk in the neighbourhood of Lynn, 

 Yarmouth, Norwich, and Holt; in Staffordshire it is recorded 

 from near Newcastle-under-Lyne and Madcley; in Cheshire, 

 the Rev. G. Finder found it on Wybunbury Bog; and from 

 Yorkshire Mr. Monkman sends fronds from the neighbourhood 

 of Malton. A new station near Malton was discovered by Mr. 

 John Mackle in 1857. It does not appear to be found more 

 than three hundred feet above the sea level. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that Lastrea cristata is 

 a very local Fern, growing only near bogs. All the plants I 

 have seen are growing amongst grass in lumps of soil that are 

 elevated a foot or so above the bog, especially on the sides of 

 large tufts of Air a ccespitosa. 



Abroad it is generally spread throughout Europe, being as 

 far north as Moscow, Scandinavia, and Siberia, It is a native 

 of France, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Belgium, 

 Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, and Bccotia. Also found in 

 Canada and the United States. 



This Fern requires to be grown in peaty soil, with plenty 



