THE CRESTED BUCKLER FERN. 109 



arrangement of pinnae and pinnules very symmetrical. 

 Fructification produced over the whole under sides of the 

 fronds, and consisting of rows of sori, one on each side 

 of the midvein of each pinnule each sorus covered by a 

 kidney-shaped indusium in the earlier stage of growth. 

 The indusia, however, fall away and disappear on the 

 ripening of the spores. 



HABITATS. Shady, boggy places, oftentimes under 

 shrubs or trees in such situations. Though the habitats 

 of this species are thus marshy, it is invariably found to 

 prefer little mounds, knolls, or other elevations a few 

 inches above the surface of the bog. Bog tree-stumps 

 upon which have accumulated leaf-soil, grass, and moss, 

 are amongst the favourite places for the finding of Lastrea 

 cristata, which, however, is local in its appearance, and 

 not widely distributed. 



WHERE FOUND. In England, in the counties of 

 Chester, Huntingdon, Norfolk, Nottingham, Suffolk, and 

 York. In Cheshire, it has been found in the Wybunbury 

 Bog ; in Norfolk, at Bawsey Heath, near Lynn, near 

 Dersingham, between Hunstanton and Lynn ; at Edge- 

 field, near Holt ; at Fritton, near Yarmouth ; and at 

 Surlingham Broad, near Norwich ; in Nottinghamshire, 

 on the Bulwell Marshes and in Oxton Bogs (although 

 it may possibly at the present time have become extinct 

 on the Bulwell Marshes) ; in Staffordshire, near Madeley, 

 and in a bog in the vicinity of Newcastle-under-Lyne ; in 

 Suffolk, at Bexley Decoy, near Ipswich, and at Westleton ; 

 in Yorkshire, near Knaresborough and near Malton. It 

 is said to have been found in Scotland only in Renfrew 

 and Wigtonshire, and neither in Wales nor Ireland. It 

 grows generally at low elevations not exceeding three 

 hundred feet above the sea-level. 



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