46 COMMON POLYPODY. 



Linneus considered it a distinct species, and described it under 

 the name of Polypodium Cambricum : the identical frond so 

 named and described by the great naturalist, is now in the pos- 

 session of the Linnean Society of London. Figure/, on the 

 preceding page, is a careful representation of this frond. I 

 have never been successful in my search for this form of the 

 common polypody in Wales, but have seen in many botanic 

 gardens fine Irish specimens, and am indebted to Mr. Moore, of 

 the Dublin Glasuevin Garden, for a root found in the county 

 Wicklow many years since : it is still in full vigour, and its 

 remarkable character is perfectly unchanged by cultivation. 

 The late Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, informed me that a similar 

 plant was found by the late Mr. Templeton, in a glen at Eed 

 Hall, near Carrickfergus, county Antrim. Figure g represents 

 a still more remarkable variety, found by Mr. Mackay, in the 

 Dargle, in the county Wicklow ; the frond represented was sent 

 by Mr. Mackay to the late Sir J. E. Smith, and is also in the 

 possession of the Linnean Society : it differs from the preced- 

 ing variety in being fertile. In Ireland this species is much 

 more subject to vary than in England. I have gathered a num- 

 ber of fronds in various parts of the county Kerry, which bear 

 some slight resemblance to Mr. Mackay's beautiful plant. I 

 must not, however, omit to record my thanks to Mr. George 

 Smith, of Monkston Hill, near Dublin, for magnificent examples 

 of this variety ; to Dr. Greville, for a gigantic English speci- 

 men gathered at Sidmouth; to Mr. Jenner, for another gathered 

 in Kent ; and to Mr. W. SouthaU, jun., for others, deeply ser- 

 rated, gathered in a lane at Moseley, near Birmingham. 



This fern is one which thoroughly repays the trouble of cul- 

 tivation. Some care is required in removing it from its nati\'e 

 habitats : it frequently occurs with its rhizomes so closely in- 

 terlaced with the roots, branches, or bark of the decaying tree 

 on which it is growing, that a saw or chopper is required for 

 its removal. In a greenhouse, it is a remarkably striking and 

 beautiful object when suspended in a basket, which should 



