92 WHERE TO FIND FERNS. 



XXIII. THE SOFT PRICKLY SHIELD FERN. - 

 Polystichum angulare. 

 (Plate V., page 57.) 



LENGTH OF FROND. One to four feet. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. Roots long, fibrous, abun- 

 dant. Rootstock) a thick, tufted cormus. the crown being 

 raised above the ground. Fronds lance-shaped, somewhat 

 soft in texture, light green, sometimes golden green, 

 though at times much darker in colour, produced in a 

 circle around the crown, which with the short stipides 

 each stipes being about one-fourth the length of the 

 leafy part of the frond is densely covered with rust- 

 coloured scales. These are continued thickly upon the 

 rachis and also frequently upon the secondary rachides. 

 Leafy part of frond bipinnate, pinnae alternate, lance- 

 shaped, divided into angular, slightly-indented, and 

 somewhat hairy pinnules, each of which is distinctly 

 stalked, though the stalk is short. The pinnules are 

 alternate upon the secondary rachides. The entire 

 aspect of the fronds of Polystichum angulare is more lax 

 and drooping than that of Polystichum aculeatum, and 

 the pinnules are more distinctly angular than those of 

 its congener, though in some other respects the two 

 species very much resemble each other. Fructification 

 produced in rows of sori, one row on each side of the 

 midvein of each pinnule. The sori are round, and are 

 covered in their early stage by round indusia, which fall 

 off when the ripening of the spores is completed. 



HABITATS. Woods, in all kinds of positions upon 

 the ground, growing oftentimes luxuriantly under trees, 

 or wherever there are rich deposits of leaf-soil ; stream- 

 sides, in the shade ; lanes, upon the sides and tops of 



