104 WHERE TO FIND FERNS. 



rous, broadly lance-shaped, sometimes nearly triangular, 

 tripinnate at the base, and bipinnate above; stipes of 

 varying lengths half as long, a third as long, or the 

 same length as the leafy part, scattered over with dark- 

 coloured scales ; pinnae opposite or alternate along the 

 rachis, narrowly triangular in shape, and divided into 

 oblong pinnules alternate on the secondary rachides, 

 the pinnules being again divided into larger or smaller 

 sharply-incised lobes, whose under sides are concave. 

 The two pinnae at the base of the frond have the pin- 

 nules on the under sides of their midstems longer than 

 those above them, and more developed (being con- 

 sequently tripinnate). The next pair or two above 

 partake slightly of the same character, and the pinnules 

 gradually become equal on both sides towards the apex 

 of the frond. Fructification in rows of small sori, one 

 on each side of each pinnule or lobe, according to the 

 size and development of the pinnae, scattered pretty 

 evenly over the under surface of the frond, and covered, 

 in its early stage, by kidney-shaped indusia, which fall 

 away when the spores have ripened. 



HABITATS. Woods, lanes, hedgebanks, streamsides. 

 It grows with greatest luxuriance in the shade, and in 

 positions where accumulations of leaf-mould have been 

 formed. Small specimens may sometimes be found 

 on rocks and even on old walls, but these are not the 

 natural habitats of this species, which requires a depth 

 of rich earth and a sloping position to acquire its finest 

 proportions. 



WHERE FOUND. In England, in the counties of 

 Berks, Bucks, Cambridge, Chester, Cornwall, Cumber- 

 land, Derby, Devon, Dorset, Durham, Essex, Gloucester, 

 Hants (the mainland and the Isle of Wight), Hereford, 

 Hertford, Kent, Lancaster, Leicester, Lincoln, Middle- 

 sex, Monmouth, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumber- 

 land, Nottingham, Oxford, Salop, Somerset, Stafford, 

 Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, Westmoreland, Wilts, 



