60 OAK FEEN. 



Hoar Edge, and at Whitcliffe coppice near Ludlow, by Mr. Westeott. In 

 Herefordshire, Mr. Lees observed it in great profusion by the side of a 

 shady path in a wood or copse on the southern side of the Teme, leading 

 from a wooden bridge over the river in Mr. Knight's grounds, and not far 

 from Downton Castle : I have found it near Amestrey quarry, and in im- 

 mense profusion in Shobden-hill woods ; in the latter locality it covers acres 

 of gi-ound, is of small size, and all the divisions of the frond are convex or 

 convolute : Mr. Bennett and Mr. Purohas have also found it sparingly in 

 several woods in the vicinity of Eoss ; the last-named botanist states that 

 it grows " in shady parts of Penyard, where its habit is very delicate, 

 and very little fruit is produced." In Worcestershire, Mr. Lees finds it 

 plentifully on the Malvern Hills, in a stony ravine between the north 

 and end hills, North of Great Malvern ; Mr. Westoombe has found it on 

 the north hill, and in Shrawley Wood : I am indebted to the hberality of 

 the Botanical Society of London for specimens from the first of these loca- 

 lities. In Gloucestershire, Withering has recorded its occurrence in woods 

 north-east of the road up Frocester Hill ; Mr. Lees informs me that it 

 grows in the Forest of Dean, south-east of the rooks of New Weir, on the 

 Wye, by a path through the woods towards Staunton : and Mr. E. T. Ben- 

 nett has found it in woods at the Lea Bailey, and also on Atterbury Hill, 

 above Lydbrook. In Somersetshire, Mr. Flower informs me he has found 

 it in rocky places on the Mendip Hills, also near Bristol and near Bath. 



In NoETH Wj\les, as in Scotland, the localities are too numerous to par- 

 ticularize. In the counties of Denbigh, Caernarvon, Cardigan and Merio- 

 neth, I have observed it in more than a hundred localities. In Sodth 

 Wales it is perhaps less abundant, but the recorded localities are very 

 numerous. 



The oak fern is the rarest of all the species found in Ireland. Mr, 

 Moore, of the Dublin Glasnevin Garden, has a specimen which he gathered 

 in the county Antrim. Localities have been published in the counties 

 Down, Galway and Kerry; but there is reason to fear that in each instance 

 a mistake has accidentally crept into the record. 



gcstription. 



The radicles are black and fibrous : the caudex is a stolon- 

 like rhizome, black, wiry, and creeping, often, when long esta- 

 blished, forming a dense matted mass. The young fronds 

 make their appearance in March and April, each at first resem- 

 bling three little balls on wires, presenting a very curious and 

 excellent diagnostic : these three balls gradually unfold, and 



