LASTREA. 109 



bi pinnate fronds, rather more deeply divided than the fore- 

 going ; it has \Yhole-coloured blunt scales to the stipes, 

 and a creeping caudex. 



Lastrea d'datata grows more spreading ; has still broader 

 or ovate lance-shaped fronds ; the stipes is clothed with 

 lance-shaped scales, which are darker-coloured in the 

 centre than at the margins ; and the caudex is erect. This 

 is a very variable plant. 



Lastrea ccmula grows spreading, is evergreen, and has 

 fronds smaller than the last ; they are triangular, bipin- 

 nate, and the segments have their edges curved back, so 

 as to present a hollow upper surface ; the scales of the 

 stem are narrow, pointed, and jagged ; and the caudex is 

 erect. 



The true Crested Buckler Fern, L. crhtata, though not a 

 very elegant plant, is of considerable interest on account 

 of its rarity. It forms a thick creeping stem or root- 

 stock, from which a limited number of narrow, very upright 

 fronds arise early in May, and attain the average height of 

 a couple of feet. The fronds are destroyed in autumn by 

 the frosts. Their outhne is linear-oblong ; that is, from 

 a narrow width at the base of the leafy portion — say two 

 and a half or three inches in the case of fronds of the 



