87. FILICES. 291 



of the fern ; and they convey no information ahout its 

 range, whether of latitude, longitude, altitude, or tempera- 

 ture. A fern which is known to occur in 17 out of 18 

 provinces, and the latitudinal range of which extends from 

 Cornwall to Shetland, cannot be very local. 



1410. BOTRYCHIUM LUNARIA, Sw. 



Area general. 



South limit in Cornwall, Isle of Wight, Kent. 



North limit in Shetland, Orkney. 



Estimate of provinces 18. Estimate of counties 75. 



Latitude 50 — 61. British type of distribution. 



A. A. regions. Inferagrarian — Midarctic zones. 



Descends to the coast level, in the Peninsula ? 



Ascends to 900 yards, in East Highlands. 



Range of mean annual temperature 50 — 88. 



Native. Ericetal. Ascertained in about 60 counties, 

 and likely to be found in many of the rest. Still, the 

 estimate of 75 counties may seem high to the metropo- 

 litan botanist, for a plant so little frequent in the pro- 

 vince of Thames, Channel, or Ouse. In proportion to its 

 area and comital census, indeed, it is an infrequent British 

 plant, although probably found in several hundred distinct 

 stations. I cannot say that I have any where seen the 

 Botrychium really common or abundant, in the sense in 

 which we should apply those much-used terms to the 

 Pteris, Blechnum, Bellis, Anthoxanthum, Hydrocotyle, 

 or Narthecium. 



