166 EILICES. 



1. H. tunbridgense (Tunbridge Filmy-Fern.) On damp 

 rocks, and amongst moss, in moist and shady places. " Fronds 

 pellucido-membranaceous, ovate or oblong, more or less elon- 

 gated, pinnate ; pinnae subvertical, pmnatifid, decurrent, forming 

 a wing to the rachis ; segments linear, undivided or bifid, and 

 as well as the upper margin of the roundish valves of the axil- 

 lary solitary sessile compressed involucres, spinulosely serrate" 

 (Moore, Handbook, p. 261). (E. B. t. 162. Moore, Nat. Print. 

 Ferns, t. 49 A. Sowerby, Ferns, t. 42. Moore, Handbook, p. 

 262.) This Fern and the following species have very much the 

 appearance and habit of some of the Mosses, for which they may 

 easily be mistaken, without a careful examination. Bickleigh 

 Vale. Beckey Fall. P. vn. 



2. 23. unilaterale (Wilson's Filmy-Fern.) In similar locali- 

 ties to the last. " Fronds pinnate, pinna3 recurved ; segments 

 linear, undivided or bifid, spinosely serrate ; involucre inflated, 

 entire ; rachis slightly bordered" (Sab. Man., p. 428). (Moore, 

 Handbook, p. 264. Moore, Nat. Print. Ferns, t. 49 B. Sower- 

 by, Ferns, t. 43. H. Wilsoni, E. B. S. t. 2686 ; Hook, and Arn. 

 Brit. Fl. ; Bab. Man.) Very much resembling the preceding, 

 but distinguished chiefly by the involucre being stalked instead 

 of sessile, by its being longer and ovate instead of rounded, and 

 by its edges never being serrate. Tors on Dartmoor. Beckey 

 FaU, Mr. C. E. Parker. P. YII. 



OSMUNDA. ROYAL FERN. 



" Capsules clustered, arranged in a branched spike terminating 

 the frond." Bab. Man. p. 419. 



O. regalis (Royal or Flowering Fern, or Osmund Royal.) 

 In wet and boggy places, and in the damp borders of woods. 

 Fronds bipinnate, pinnae opposite ; the pinnules are oblong and 

 nearly entire, auricled to a greater or lesser degree at the base ; 

 fructification crowning the fertile fronds in terminal bipinnate 

 panicles. (E. B. t. 209. Moore, Nat. Print. Ferns, t. 50. 

 Sowerby, Ferns, t. 44. Moore, Handbook, p. 269.) The grand- 

 est and most stately in its growth of all our British Ferns, the 

 fronds varying in height from 2 or 3 to 8 feet, but sometimes 

 rising considerably higher. I have gathered fronds in Holne 

 Chase which measured 10, 12, and 13 feet. The fructification is 

 confined to the upper pinnae, which are converted into a clustered 

 panicle, the spore-cases covering the pinnules either wholly or in 

 part. For a detailed description of the specific characters, see 

 Moore's Handbook. Forde bog. Bovey Heath. Holne Chase, 



