112 PRICia^Y FERN. 



Polipodium aculeatum, Bolt. Fil. Brit. 48, t. 26. " Polipo- 



dium lobatum, Hall. Hist. 1712, and Fl. Ang. 459, is 



doubtless a young jilant of Polipodium aculeatum ; of 



this I am certain from observation." — Bolt. I. c. 



Aspidium lobatum, {Swarte), Sm. E. F. iv. '291; Mack. Fl. 



Hih. 338. 

 Potystichum aculeatum, (Roth), Newm. N. A. 25, F. 169 ; 



Bah. 411. 

 The division of the bipinnate aculeate ferns into three spe- 

 cies, in all probability originated in a mere error of nomencla- 

 ture. I arrive at this conclusion from a careful consideration 

 of the original descriptions. Linneus considered the plants 

 referrible to a single species, to which he gave the name of 

 " aculeatum." Hudson, observing the great discrepancy be- 

 tween the extreme forms, divided them into two species, calling 

 the rigid and least divided form "lobatum," and the lax and 

 most divided form "aculeatum." Kunze adopted these names; 

 but Willdenow redescribed the species, transferring the name 

 aculeatum to Hudson's lobatum, and giving the new name of 

 " angulare " to Hudson's aculeatum, a transposition that will 

 be rendered clear by the following formula : — 



Lobatum, H^ids. ) 



^ -rr f = Aculeatum, WiUd. 



et Kunze J 1 , , , t- ■ 



:=: Aculeatum, Linn. 



I = Angulare, Willd. 



Aculeatum, Huds. 

 et Kunze 



Thus the three names were not intended to represent three 

 objects, a conclusion inadvertently adopted by Sir J. E. Smith, 

 who consequently endeavoured to find characters for all three. 

 There is now a growing disposition to reunite them as one 

 species. DeCandoUe in France, Godet in Switzerland, Weber 

 and Mohr in Germany, Ledebour in Russia, and other bota- 

 nists of unquestioned ability, peremptorily discard the idea of 

 a second species ; and Bernhardi, going stiU further, consi- 

 ders them to be divided forms of Lonchitis. These opinions, 

 however, are not so general as to preclude the necessity for 

 my describing the extreme forms, leaving it, however, to be 

 understood, that the observations on geographical range treat 

 aculeatum and angulare as a single species. From a some- 

 what voluminous correspondence with British botanists, on 

 the subject of this fern and the next, I find there is a very 



