42 FERNS OP GREAT BRITAIN. 



Hampstead Heath, and the heather-clad spots about 

 Tunbridge Wells, its handsome coronals of green rise 

 up in May, and, as summer advances, overshadow the 

 Harebells and Tormentillas, and remain green till winter 

 has swept all blossoms save the daisy from the green- 

 sward. On the hill sides of the north of England, and 

 in the Highlands of Scotland, it is even more frequent 

 than the common Bracken, and it is plentiful on the 

 hilly districts of Wales, but it is rare in Ireland. 

 Mr. Newman remarks of the fronds, — "Immediately 

 they begin to unroll they exhibit the pinnae placed at 

 right angles with the main stem, and are not convolute 

 as in the aUied ferns — a character worthy of particular 

 notice, because unusual among our ferns." The fronds, 

 which are annual, are erect, and in their outhne lanceo- 

 late and pinnate, remarkably narrowed downwards from 

 about the middle, so that the lower part is quite as 

 tapering as the upper. The stipes is very short, the leafy 

 portion of the frond continuing almost to its base. The 

 pinnae are generally opposite, and are narrow, pointed, 

 and pinnatifid, and attached only by the mid-rib to the 

 main stem. The fructification is very abundant, forming 

 a line close to the margin ; and this plant differs from the 

 Marsh Pern in not having the edges of the lobes turned 

 back. Over every portion of the under-surface lie 

 numerous small, round, glossy, bright yellow glands, 

 which give the young fronds a golden tinge, and form 

 a marked feature of this fern. If we handle or bruise 

 the frond, these diffuse a pleasant odour, similar, how- 

 ever, to that which is possessed in a less 'degree by 

 several other ferns. Some writers have, on account of 



