518 100. FILICES. 



based rather persistent. Phijtol. v. 19 (1853). S. 12. St. 

 1 2 ft. high, its central hollow equalling about f of diameter. 

 Sheaths loose, pearly white ; teeth long, usually light brown, 

 whitish above, more persistent and longer. Damp banks and 

 woods, ft. Wicklow. Wexford. P. VII. VIII. E. S. I. 



8. E. traehy'odon (A. Br.) ; st. simple or very slightly branched 

 very rough with 8 12 furrows, sheaths close ultimately wholly 

 black, teeth slender persistent. H. F. 65. E. Mackaii N. 24. 

 S. 9. St. 1 3 feet high, simple or with solitary distant 

 branches, biennial, its central hollow equalling of diameter. 

 Spike apiculate. Sheaths quite cylindrical, pale green with a 

 black band beneath the teeth but ultimately wholly black. 

 Teeth much more persistent than in the preceding, usually black. 

 N. and W. of Ireland. P. VII. VIII. I. 



9. E. variegdtum (Schleich.) ; st. simple or slightly branched 

 very rough with 4 10 furrows, sheaths slightly enlarged upwards 

 green below black above, teeth blunt each tipped with a deciduous 

 bristle. H. F. 66. N. 31. St. about a foot high, erect, usually 

 simple except at the base or irregularly branched, its central 

 hollow equalling -| of diameter. Lower half of the sheaths 

 green like the stem, upper part black ; teeth persistent ovate, 

 black in the centre, with a white membranous margin. Spike 

 apiculate. E. Wilsoni (Newm. 39. S. 10) is a large form 

 [with smoother st. and less prominent angles to the ridges.] /3. aren- 

 arium ; st. procumbent, usually more slender r teeth of the- 

 sheaths wedgeshaped. E. variegatum Sin., E. It. 1987. ' & 11. 

 Wet places, or in water. /3. Sandy places near the sea. 

 P. VIL. VIII. E. S. I. 



Order C. FILICES. 



Leafy plants with a rhizome or trunk. L. or fronds usually 

 circinate when young (Tribe VII. excepted), simple or divided. 

 Fructification springing from the veins on the underside or at 

 the edge of thel., of 1-celled capsules (thecae) which are stalked 

 and have an elastic ring or sessile and without a ring 1 . 



1 Dr. Boswell in E. S. ed. 3, vol. xii, described many varieties of ferns, 

 and these are enumerated in Lond. Cat. ed. 9. We have not, however, 

 thought it desirable to include most of them, as they were no doubt known 

 to Prof. Babington, and rejected by him as unimportant. The vegetative 

 organs of ferns are so liable to trivial variations that there is no limit to 

 the number of forms which might be described. H. & J. G. 



