192 HISTOllY OF BRITISH FERNS. 



branched, and attached to the soil here and there by means 

 of tough pale-coloured wiry-looking roots. The young 

 branches, which are very thickly clothed with leaves, grow 

 rather upwards at first, but soon all become prostrate, and 

 cross and interlace, forming a close matted tuft, whence 

 comes, in fact, the name it bears in Sweden Matte-grass, 

 or mat-grass. 



These stems are densely clothed with small, narrow lan- 

 ceolate, flattish leaves, which remain fresh through the 

 winter; they are smooth on the margin, or very slightly 

 toothed, and terminate in a long white filamentous point, 

 which gives the branches a somewhat hoary appearance. 

 The upright stalks supporting the spikes are bare of leaves, 

 but have at intervals whorls of smaller bodies closely pressed 

 to the stalk, and tipped with shorter but broader membra- 

 nous chaffy processes; they are also of a pale yellowish- 

 green colour. 



The spikes of fructification are usually over an inch in 

 length, and are supported by a stalk of about twice their 

 own length. They are commonly produced in pairs, though 

 sometimes singly, and occasionally three together on the 

 same stalk. These spikes are cylindrical, and supported 

 on a short pedicel at the top of the common stalk ; they are 



