OAK FEN. 67 



OAK FERN. 



POL TPODI UM DR TOPTERIS. 



\Linnceus, Bentham, and Newman.'] 



(Fig. 42.) 



SYNONYMS. 

 POLYSTICHUM DRYOPTERIS. Roth. 



GYMNOCARPIUM DRYOPTERIS. Newman. 



THIS is one of the most delicate and elegant of our 

 species of ferns. The roots are creeping, fibrous, and 

 black, forming a dense, matted mass. The young 

 fronds make their appearance in March and April, as 

 Mr. Newman expresses it, " Each at first resembling- 

 three little balls on wires." These balls gradually 

 unfold, and display the triple character of the frond. 

 They soon arrive at maturity, and are often loaded 

 with fruit as early as June : they disappear in the 

 autumn. The stem is very slender, purple, and 

 shining, and is frequently twice as long as the frond. 

 There are a few scattered scales towards the base. 

 The fronds are slender and delicate, broadly triangular 

 or rhomboidal, with three branches ; the dursions 

 pinnate j the pinnae cut into segments nearly to the 

 mid-rib ; the uppermost entire. The colour is a 

 p 2 



