THE ANNALS 
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
[THIRD SERIES.] 
No. 35. NOVEMBER 1860. 
XLI.—Remarks on the so-called Woody and Vascular Fasciculi 
of Ferns. By Grorce Ocitviz, M.D.* 
[With two Plates. ] 
In a former communication (Annals, Dec. 1859) I have referred 
to a common feature in the rhizomes of Ferns, namely, that the 
vascular bundles form a curious netted cylinder, dividing the 
cellular matrix of the stem into a central or medullary, and a 
peripheral or cortical region. To the dark-coloured tissue 
which, in dense woody bands or in some other form, is frequently 
present in the substance of the stem, constituting one of its 
» most remarkable features, I made only a passing allusion, as I 
found that its arrangement (unlike that of the vascular tissue) 
varied so much in different species as to require a more particular 
examination of its modifications than I was able to undertake 
at the time. Since then, I have re-examined a considerable 
number of rhizomes with special reference to the disposition of 
this tissue, as well as of the vascular bundles. 
In regard to the former, I have not been able to arrive at any 
conclusion which could be reduced to the form of a general ex- 
pression. Still I have thought that a short notice of the actual 
structure and arrangement of the tissues in the species examined 
might be worth recording, as I cannot find that any systematic 
observations have yet been made on these pointst. Considering 
* Communicated by the author, having been read in part at the Meeting 
of the British Association at Oxford, June 1860. 
+ My attention has since been directed by the Rev. W. W. Newbould to 
some ‘ Hints on a new Character in Ferns,’ with illustrative figures, by the 
Rev. W. A. Leighton (Phytologist, n. s., i. p. 256). The author confines 
his remarks to the petioles of a few species, and does not always very 
distinctly state the part of the petiole examined, which may account for 
some apparent differences between his description and that here given 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. vi. 21 
