PSEUDATHYEIUM ALPESTRE. 201 



adopted, the name of rh£eticum became unrepresented : as a 

 remedy for this, Roth, followed by Newman and Moore, trans- 

 fer it to a form of Filix-femina ; Hudson to foenisecii; Bolton, 

 Withering, Villars and Willdenow to fragile ; Swartz, Fries, 

 Ledebour and Woods to alpestre. On this subject I again 

 refer the reader to Mr. Babington's opinion, cited at page 149 

 of this work. 



This fern occurs in Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany 

 and Russia, and probably also in other European countries : 

 but, if so, the records have escaped me. 



In Great Britain it is at present only known as a native of 

 Scotland, where it apj)ears to grow in the greatest profusion, 

 particularly in Forfarshire. 



For my knowledge of this as a British fern I am indebted to the kind- 

 ness of Mr. Watson, who describes the localities &o. in the following pas- 

 sage : — "In July, 1841, I gathered two fronds of this fern in the great 

 corrie of Ben Aulder, a lofty mountain situate on the west side of Loch 

 Erricht, Inverness-shire, which is part of the boundary line between the 

 East and West Highland provinces. Another frond of the same species 

 was picked at some other spot in the neighbourhood of Loch Enicht, pro- 

 bably on the hills between Ben Aulder and the north end of the lake, but 

 it might be on the hills of Drumochter Forest, eastward of the lake ; and 

 if the latter, the station would be within Moray or Eastern Inverness. In 

 1844, I brought a frond of it from Canlochen Glen, in Forfarshire> 

 These specimens (except the second from Ben Aulder, given to Mr. Ba- 

 bington) remained in my herbarium until 1851, first doubtfully labelled, 

 and then temporarily forgotten. Theh close resemblance to small fronds 

 of Athyrium FiUx-fcemma made me feel very uncertain whether they could 

 be properly referred to Polypodium, until Mr. Newman (to whom the Can- 

 lochen frond was at length shown, when again recollected) decided it to be 

 Polypodium alpestre. Now that it is known to be a native of at least two 

 Highland counties, we may reasonably e.xpect that it will be found in other 

 counties by botanists who seek it in the knowledge of its close resemblance 

 to Athyrium Filix-foemina, for which latter fern tliis species may readi'y 

 have been mistaken and passed by." — Cyb. Brit. iii. 2-53. It has since 

 been found in vast quantities by Mr. T. Westcombe and Mr. Backhouse. 

 The former gentleman, mader date " Clova, July 23, 1852," writes as 



