Aspidium.] CRYPTOGAM! A FILICES. 385 



pears to me, they must all be united, or, as Smith has done, they must 

 constitute 3 species. In Scotland the A. lobatum is very common, but 

 I am not aware that the present species or variety is ever found there. 



** Involucre orbiculari-reniform, fixed by the sinus. (Nephro- 



dium, RicJi. Br.) 



5. A. Oreopteris, Sw. (^Heath S/iield-fern) ; fronds pinnate, 

 pinnse lanceolate pinnatifid glabrous resinoso-glandnlose beneath, 

 the segments lanceolate obtuse entire, lowermost ones longer, 

 sori marginal. — Poli/podium, Ehrli. — E. Bot. t. 1019. 



Mountainous countries, in heaths and dry pastures. Abundant in 

 Scotland. — Involucres small, indistinct. 



6. A. Thelypferis, Sw. (3Iarsh Shield-fern) ; fronds pinnate, 

 pinnae linear- lanceolate pinnatifid and as well as the rachis 

 slightly pubescent, the segments ovate acute entire, sori mar- 

 ginal contiguous at length confluent. — Polypodium, L. — E. Bot. 

 t. 1018. 



Marshy and boggy places — Root creeping. 



7. A. cristdtum, Sw. (^crested Shield-fern) ; fronds linear-lan- 

 ceolate pinnate, pinnae cordate attenuated deeply pinnatifid 

 scarcely again pinnate, segments oblongo-ovate obtuse acutely 

 and doubly serrated. E. Bot. t 2125. Hook, in Fl. Lond. N. 

 S. t. 113. 



Boggy heaths, very rare. Near Holt, Norfolk. Westleton, Suffolk. 

 CaxtonBogs, Notts. Br Howitt. Fritton, near Yarmouth, Mr Wig- 

 ham. (1837) A species most distinct from any of the following, even 



in the outline of its frotid, which is narrowed below. 



8. A. Filix mas, Sw. (blunt Shield-fern) ; fronds bipinnate, 

 pinnules oblong obtuse serrated, sori near the central nerve, 

 stipes and rachis chaffy. E. Bot. t. 1458, and t. 1949, {A. cris- 

 tatum). 



Woods and shady banks, frequent. — A beautiful, though very common 

 fern ; 3 — 4 feet high ; its fronds growing in a circle. 



9. A, rigidum, Sw. {rigid Shield-fern) ; fronds lanceolate 

 bipinnate, pinnules narrow-oblong obtuse slightly pinnatifid, the 

 segments broad and rounded bi-tridentate (without spinulose 

 points to the teeth), stipes and rachis chaffy, involucre persistent, 

 very convex reniform entire. Schkuhr, Fil. t. 38. Hook, in E. 

 Bot. Suppl. t. 2724. — A. spinulosum, y. Hook. Br. Fl. ed. 1. 



On Ingleborough, Yorkshire ; Rev. W. T. Brec. Wharnside, abund- 

 ant; Jfr W. Wilson.— Frond 2 feet high and more, dull yellowish-green, 

 pinnge very numerous closely set of nearly the same width throughout, 

 (often widest in the middle) with numerous rounded 2 — 3-toothed 

 lobes, teeth broad and triangular. Involucre slightly glandular on the 

 margin, with a reticulation quite unlike that of A. spinulosum. This 

 dlant differs from the 'following in having a permanent large con- 

 vex and rounded involucre, resembling that of A. F. mas, covering 

 the mass of capsules at every stage, with an attachment as truly central 

 as that of A. cristatum. It agrees also with F. 7nas in the oblique 



VOL.. I. 2 c 



