FILICES. 153 



CLASS III. ACOTYLEDONOTJS OR CELLULAR 

 PLANTS. 



"Whole plant with a cellular structure (except in the true 

 Ferns, which have tubular vessels among the cells, and hence ap- 

 proach the Second Class) . There are no real flowers, nothing that 

 can be considered as stamen or pistil. The seeds, or organs of 

 reproduction, are without any distinct embryo, consequently with- 

 out any cotyledon. This Class corresponds with the Twenty-fourth 

 (Cryptogamia) in the Linnaean system." Brit. Flora. 



STJB-CLASS I. FILICES. 



In describing' the Ferns I have departed from the arrangement 

 adopted in the ' British Flora,' and have followed that used by 

 Mr. Moore in his excellent ' Handbook of British Ferns,' a work 

 in which all the species and their many varieties are most clearly 

 and accurately described, and which those who are desirous of 

 making themselves acquainted with this beautiful order of plants 

 will do well to study. 



OED. I. POLYPODIACEJE. 



POIiYFODIUIVI. POLYPODY. 



"Sori without any indusium, globose or ovoid, superficial or im- 

 mersed, the receptacles terminal or medial on the free veins. 

 Veins simple or forked, from a central costa j venules free." 

 Moore's Handbook. 



1. Folypodium vulgare (common Polypody.) On walls, 

 shady rocks, banks, decayed stumps of trees, and old thatched 

 roofs. Fronds deeply pinnatifid ; lobes linear-oblong, obscurely ser- 

 rate, becoming gradually smaller towards the apex of the frond. 

 Rhizome, or rootstock, creeping, branched, densely covered with 

 brown scales. Stipes, or stalk, nearly equal in length to the leafy 

 part of the frond, and distinctly jointed at the base with the 

 caudex. Fronds varying in figure from strap-shaped or narrow- 

 oblong to a more or less ovate form. Venation of each lobe con- 

 sisting of a prominent wavy midvein, branching alternately ; the 

 lateral branches are again divided into from 3 to 5 small veins, one 

 of which terminates in a sorus, and the others, which are barren, 

 end in transparent knobs, which form a line near the margin of 



