50 PERNS OP GREAT BRITAIN. 



upwards, rendering their upper surface concave, and not 

 like those of several other ferns, rolled beneath. It rises 

 m circular clumps, and its fronds droop most gracefully, 

 forming concave arches. They are about one or two 

 feet in length. This fern grows in warm shady woods, 

 sometimes close by the stream or waterfall, at others, at 

 a little distance from it. Occasionally we find it on 

 exposed rocks, but it is not so luxuriant there as in the 

 recesses of the greenwood. It has, when bruised, a very 

 pleasant odour, and is sometimes called Hay-scented 

 Pern. Its triangular frond, broadest at the base, is 

 twice pinnate ; the lower pair of branches being not only 

 longer, but broader than the rest, and very distinctly 

 stalked. The pinnules on the lower side of the pinnae 

 are longer than those of the upper. The pinnules 

 are of oblong egg-shaped form, the lowest often much 

 lobed, and the lobes mostly running close together, so 

 as to form a wing, though they are sometimes shortly 

 stalked. Their margins are serrated, and have spinous 

 points. The stalk is about half the length of the 

 frond, and thickly beset with small, torn, pale-brown 

 scales. 



The pinnules have a winding mid-vein, from which 

 issue two alternate branches, and these send ofi" branches 

 of lesser veins, the lowest of these on the side towards 

 the point of the pinnules being the receptacle, or spot on 

 which the clusters of fructification are placed. These 

 extend almost all over the under surface of the frond, 

 forming two lines along each pinnule or lobe. The 

 clusters are circular, and partially covered by the indu- 

 sium, which is kidney- shaped, often of a lead colour. 



