212 MACOUN AND BURGESS ON 



Var. Braunii, Doell, (Braun's Prickly Shield-Fern), G-ray, Man., 667. Macoun's Cat., 

 No. 2312. Fowler's N. B. Cat., No. 760. Ball, Trans. N. S. Inst. Nat. Sci., IV, 154. Eaton, 

 Ferns of N. A., II, 124. Underwood, Our Nat. Ferns, etc., 104. 



Polyslichiim angulare, Presl, var. Braunii, Lawson, Can. Nat., I, 285. 



Polystichum aculeatum, Moore, var. Braunii, "Watt, Can. Nat., IV, 363 



Aspidium Braunii, Spenner. 



Aspidium aculeatum, Pursh, II, 662. Provancher, Fl. Can., 719. 



This is a fine evergreen species, 1 to 2J feet high, with a prickly aspect, growing in 

 the crevices of moist, shaded rocks and in rocky woods. Rootstock stout, erect, closely 

 covered with old stalk-bases ; stalks very short and chaffy ; fronds growing in a crown, 

 elliptical-lanceolate in outline, tapering to both ends, covered with long, soft hairs and 

 chaff, bipinnate ; pinnee numerous, oblong-lanceolate, the lower short and almost obtuse, 

 the upper A r ery acute ; pinnules mostly distinct, very short-stalked, ovate or oblong, trun- 

 cate and almost rectangular at the base, generally more or less auricled, sharply serrate 

 with incurved teeth. Occasionally fronds of this variety arc seen which are oblong- 

 lanceolate in outline and but little narrowed at the base. 



Var. scopulinum, D. C. Eaton, (Ferns of N. A., II, 125), is also an evergreen, and grows in 

 the crevices of rocks. Stalks short ; fronds narrowly lanceolate, 3 to 10 or 11 inches long by 

 h to 1 1 inches wide, deciduously chaffy, pinnate ; pinnae numerous, ovate or ovate-oblong, 

 rather obtuse, pinnately lobed at the base, but serrate with pointed and barely aculeate 

 teeth above. By some good authorities this variety is placed under Aspidium mohrioides, 

 but Prof. Eaton, while saying it is almost as much like this species as A. aculeatum, prefers 

 to leave it with the latter, as it has the lobes of the pinnre somewhat aculeate. 



Vars. Californicum, D. C. Eaton, annulare, Braun, and proliferum, Wolleston, are Califor- 

 nian forms, the latter two being also well known in Europe. 



With us the range of Var. Braunii is restricted to the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New 

 Brunswick and Quebec in the east, and British Columbia in the west. Rare, even where 

 local, in Nova Scotia ; occurring at Marble Mountain. Bras d'Or Lake ; Sherman's Moun- 

 tain, Port Mulgrave, Strait of Canso ; Ehler's "Water-Fall, near Guysborough, and hills 

 above" Mabou, Cape Breton. — Rev. E. H Ball. Near Lake Ainslie, Cape Breton, N. S. — 

 A. H. McKay. Near Baddeck, and at River Inhabitans, Cape Breton, N. S. — P. Jack. Pirate 

 Harbour, Strait of Canso, N. S. — Macoun and Burgess. Cape Blomidon. N. S. — Lawson. 

 Sugar Loaf, Restigouche and Odell's Grove, Fredericton, N. B. — Fowler. St. Francis 

 River, Andover, N. B. — G. U. Hay. Plentiful in rocky woods along the Gaspe coast, Que., 

 generally near the shore and often within the spray of the waves. — Macoun. Quebec, 

 Que. — Hon. Win. Sheppard. Temiscouata, Que., not common. — Thomas. Abundant on 

 gneiss rocks and damp logs, valley of the River Rouge, Argenteuil Co., Que. — W. S. M. 

 D 'Urban. Portage and sources of the Columbia River, west side of the Rocky Mountains, 

 Lat. 52°. — Drummond. Nootka, Vancouver Island, B. C. — Hcenke. Having been found in 

 Washington Territory, U. S., var. scopulinum may be looked for in Southern British Col- 

 umbia, but as yet the only place it is known to exist in Canada is Mount Albert, Shick- 

 shock Mountains, Gaspe, Que., having been found by Professor Allan in July, 1881, and 

 by Professor Macoun in August, 1882. In the case of the latter, it was collected on the 

 summit of the mountain, at an altitude of 4,000 feet, and close to a quantity of still un- 

 thawed winter snow. 



