510 FILICES. [TRICHOMANES. 



3. ADIAN'TUM, L. MAIDENHAIR. 



Rootstock tufted or creeping. Frond compound, 2-4-pinnate, rarely sim- 

 ple ; rachis and branchlets capillary ; veins forked or netted. Sori rounded 

 or oblong, parallel with and on the margin ; involucre formed of the 

 reflexed often kidney-shaped coriaceous margin of the frond, opening in- 

 wards, surface veined. DISTRIB. All temp, and hot climates ; species 

 62. ETYM. The old Greek name. 



A, Capil'lus-Ven'eris, L. ; frond 3-4-pinnate, pinnules cuneate lobed 



erenate glabrous. 



Damp rocks, walls, &c., especially near the sea, local, Dorset to Cornwall, 

 I. of Man, Glamorgan; W. Ireland, local; frt. May-Sept. Rootstock 

 creeping, scaly. Stipes 4-9 in., slender, black, polished, naked. Frond 

 4-12 in., ovate, with a short terminal and many spreading capillary branches, 

 the lower pinnate ; pinnules ^-1 in., membranous, outer edge rounded ; 

 stalks 5 in. ; veins repeatedly forked. Sori in the crenatures of the 

 pinnules ; involucre subreniform. DISTRIB. From France southd. ; temp, 

 and trop. Old and New World. 



4. PTER'IS, L. BRAKE, or BRACKEN. 



Rootstock usually creeping. Frond various ; veins free, forked or netted. 

 Sori continuous ; involucre scarious or membranous, confluent with the 

 recurved margin of the frond, not recurved in age. DISTRIB. All regions ; 

 species 83. ETYM. irreoo*/, from the wing-like fronds. 



P. aquili'na, L. ; frond coriaceous 3-4-pinnate, veins free. 

 Forests, heaths, moors, &c., N. to Shetland ; ascends to 2,000 ft. in the High- 

 lands ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; frt. July-Aug. Rootstock stout, sub- 

 terranean, extensively creeping. Stipes 1-6 ft., stout, erect, pale, dark at 

 the base. Frond 2-3 ft.; rachis glabrous or pubescent; upper pinnae 

 simple, next cut into linear pinnules, lower stalked, 1 ft. or more, again 

 pinnate ; pinnules 1 in., sessile, auricled at the base ; veins close, 1-2-forked. 

 Involucre glabrous villous or ciliate, sometimes double, inner very narrow. 

 DISTRIB. Arctic Europe, and all temp, and many trop. regions. 



5. CRYPTOGRAM'ME, Br. PARSLEY-FERN, ROCK-BRAKE. 



Rootstock tufted, often elongate. Fronds, outer barren, inner fertile, 

 2-4-pinnatifid ; veins forked, free. Sori terminal on the veins, subglobose, 

 afterwards confluent along the margins of the fertile pinnules ; involucre 

 membranous, continuous with the recurved margin of the frond; spreading 

 in age DISTRTB. N. temp, and Arctic regions ; species 1. ETYM. 

 KpvTTTos and ypa.fji/ji'fi, from the concealed sori. 



C. cris'pa, Br. ; fertile pinnules fusiform. Alloso'rus, Bernh. 



