604 



his first edition of the History of British Ferns. The speci- 

 fic name brevisetum, however, was still retained through 

 the several editions of the British Flora, until the discovery 

 by Mr. Andrews, in September, 1842, in a wild and wooded 

 glen in the western part of the County of Kerry. The 

 striking characters and fine state of fructification exhibited 

 by these splendid plants, the most rare and most beautiful 

 of British ferns, and now altogether confined to the south- 

 western parts of Ireland, led Mr. Andrews to examine mi- 

 nutely, and to trace their affinities with the numerous exotic 

 species of that beautiful genus; and from communications 

 with Sir William J. Hooker, and to the great kindness of 

 that most excellent botanist and encourager of science, and 

 the reference to his very extensive fern herbarium, it was 

 traced and detected to be the true Trichomanes radicans of 

 Swartz, setting aside the species brevisetum of the English 

 flora, and the Speciosum of Willdenow. Thus the mild 

 temperature of the south-western parts of this country pro- 

 duced, in the utmost luxuriance of tropical growth, a plant pe- 

 culiar to the West India Islands, and to the western coast of 

 South America. To Dr. Scouler's kindness Mr. Andrews was 

 also much indebted for specimens of Trichomanes radicans, 

 and T. Scandens, collected by Dr. S. in Brazil, and which 

 enabled many doubts to be cleared. 



Mr. Andrews noticed a very remarkable character of 

 fructification in the new variety from Kerry, " that the cap- 

 sules formed around the base of the receptacles within the 

 cylindrical involucres, and as the receptacles elongated and 

 became exserted considerably beyond the involucres, the 

 capsules continued forming in an even dense mass to the ex- 

 ti'emity of the receptacles." This is described as of rare 

 occurrence in Trichomanes. The Trichomanes reniforme 

 of New Zealand, and the Hymenophyllum fuciforme of 

 Chiloe, are noticed as having the capsules external to the 

 involucres, but their being exposed to view was supposed 



