PEKNS OP GREAT BRITAIN. 71 



two feet high; the pinnae are taper, pointed, and the 

 very narrow pinnules end in a sharp point. Then- 

 edges, which are somewhat bluntly toothed, are rolled 

 under so as almost to hide the serratures. 



The variety A. molle has a short stalk, with broad and 

 short scales. The frond rarely exceeds a foot in height, 

 and is usually erect, and of a bright green colour. Its 

 outUne is egg-shaped and lanceolate. It is pinnate, 

 having its lower pair of pinnae short and turning down- 

 wards. The pinnules are flat and toothed, and con- 

 nected at their base to the midrib by a narrow wing. 

 The clusters of fructification are distinct. 



Other forms are produced by culture, some of which 

 are very singular. Thus the variety multijidum has the 

 tips of the frond and of the branches cut into numerous 

 segments so as to form a tassel. This, too, is the case 

 with a dwarf variety termed crispum, which, with its 

 tasseUed fronds, looks in the closed case like a clump of 

 parsley. This form was first found on Orah Hill, 

 Antrim, Ireland, and has since been gathered from 

 Braemar, in Scotland. The Lady Pern was formerly 

 called Polypddium Mlice-fmmina, and later botanists 

 have termed it either Aspidium, or AspUnium Filix- 

 foemina. 



9. AsPLENiUM (Spleenwort). 



1. A. lanceoldtum (Green Lanceolate Spleenwort). — • 

 Fronds lanceolate, twice pinnate ; pinna egg-shaped and 

 lanceolate; pinnules toothed or lobed; clusters of fruc- 

 tijeatiiin neaxly marginal. This is one of the most 

 elegant of our British ferns, and one of 4he few which 



