LADY FERN. 31 



pinnule ; they are shortly oblong, diverging from the 

 centre of the segments, with the indusium attached 

 along one side, as in other spleenworts, but showing 

 an approach, by the kidney shape of some of them, to 

 the Shield Ferns. 



The varieties of this fern are very numerous, many 

 only dependent on situation and circumstances, but 

 some decidedly persistent. Professor Lindley enume- 

 rates seven permanent monstrous forms. 



The fructification of the Lady Fern is so abundant 

 that Sir J. E. Smith has remarked : " If a single plant 

 were uninterrupted in its possible increase for twenty 

 years, it would cover an extent equal to the surface of 

 the whole globe." 



The Lady Fern is distributed more or less all over 

 the British isles, its favourite resort being moist warm 

 woods; but it does not shrink from the exposure of 

 open moors and naked hill-sides. In Ireland it takes 

 the position of our common brake, and, like that, is 

 employed as a packing material for fish and fruit. It 

 is found in Scotland, and is alluded to by Sir Walter 

 Scott in " Waverley," who expresses its love for moist, 

 shady woodlands thus : 



" Where the copse-wood is the greenest, 

 Where the fountain glistens eheenest, 

 Where the morning dew lies longest, 

 There the Lady Fern grows strongest." 



It occurs in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, 

 though the specimens sent from America differ in 

 many respects from the true Lady Fern. 



No collection, either in the open air or in a case, is 



