ASPIDIUM. 



hooked or curved in a curious manner, not well exprefled in 

 Sloane's plate. Sort in double rows clofe to the mid-rib at 

 each fide. Involttcntm perfeftly peltate, orbicular, and 

 entire. 



Se£t. 4. erroneoufly marked 3 by Willdenow, as is 

 often the cafe in other parts of his work. Frotid p'mtmte ; 

 leaflets pinnatifid. Involucrum rounded, or kidney-Jhnped. 

 Thirty -feven fpecies in Willdenow. Swartz does not fepa- 

 rate this fedion from the following. 



A. H'lppocreph. Horfe-ftioe Shield-fern. Swartz n. 45. 

 Willd. n. 46. (Polypodium Hippocrepis ; Jacq. Col. v. 3. 

 186. Ic. Rar. t. 641. Hemionitis laciniis crifpis incifa ; 

 Plum- Fil. 129. t. 150. Petiv. Fil. t. 7. f. 7.) — Frond pin- 

 nate : leaflets oblong, finuated ; the upper ones confluent 

 and decurrent ; lowermofl: ft;alked, pinnatifid ; fegments 

 obtufe, fumewhat crenate ; veins downy. Involucrum 

 crefcent-fliaped — Native of South America, and of Hif- 

 paniola, from whence our fpecimen was brought by M. 

 Thierry de MenonviUe. Jacquin had living plants of this 

 rare fern from Venezuela, and cultivated it at Vienna. The 

 fronds are eighteen inches or two feet high, tufted, of a fine 

 green, more or lefs downy, efpecially about the ribs and 

 veins : their leaflets fmuated in the manner of fome fpecies 

 of oak ; the fegments alfo finuated, wavy, or crifped. Sort 

 chiefly ranged on each fide of the mid-ribs of the fegments, 

 but not being uniformly perfected, they appear irregularly 

 fcattered. Involucrum like a horfe-ftioe, to which the fpe- 

 cific name applies. 



A. unltum. United Shield-fern. Swartz n. 47. Willd. 

 n. 57. Ait. n. 5. Schkuhr Crypt. 34. t. 33, b. (Poly- 

 podium unitum ; Linn. Sp. PI. 1548; omitting the fyno- 

 nyms of Sloane and Plukenet. Filix pyramidalis madraf- 

 patana elegans, pinnulis ferratis ; Pet. Muf. 10. n. 55. t. I. 

 F. zeylanica denticulata, non ramofa ; Burm. Zeyl. 98. t. 44. 

 f. I.) — Frond pinnate: leaflets linear, pinnatifid; their 

 very numerous fegments ovate, acute, combined, hairy be- 

 neath. Stalk downy in the leafy part. Involucrum nearly 

 circular, with a deep notch. — Native of Tranquebar and 

 Ceylon. Frond two feet, or more, in height : fmooth and 

 nearly naked in its lower half, except a few diftant fmall 

 leaflets : finely downy and rufty in the upper half, and 

 crowded with feffile, narrow, acute, linear leajlets from three 

 to five inches long. Thefe are compofed of innumerable 

 little convex fegments, a quarter of an inch in length ; 

 fmooth and veiny above ; ribbed and downy beneath ; ap- 

 pearing as if deeply feparated, but their edges are firmly 

 united for one-half or three-quarters of their length. Near 

 the margins of thefe fegments are fimple rows of fmooth 

 horfe-fhoe like involucrums, covering numerous capfules with 

 glittering brown rings. 



A. obtufatum. Blunted Shield-fern. Swartz n. 30. 

 defer. 248. Willd. n. 58. (Pteris interrupta ; Willd. 

 Phytogr. 13. t. 10. f. I.) — Frond pinnate: leaflets linear, 

 pointed, flightly pinnatifid ; fegments obtufe, downy be- 

 neath. Stalk fmooth. Frudlification near the margin. — 

 Native of the Eail Indies. Very like thelaft, but the leajlets 

 are more pointed, rather crenate than pinnatifid, and the 

 rows oi fori fo near the margin that Willdenow actually took 

 the plant for a Pteris ! 



A. Creopteris. Heath Shield-fern. Swartz n. 39. Willd. 

 n. 70. Fl. Brit. n. 3. Engl. Bot. t. 1019. " Schkuhr 

 Crypt. 37. t. 35, 36." (Polypodium Oreopteris ; Ehrh. 

 Crypt, n. 22. Dickf. Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. i. 181. 

 Fl. Dan. t. 1 121. P. Thelypteris ; Hudf. 457. Bolt. 

 Fil. 40. t. 22i f. I, 2. Hedw. Theor. 44. t. 6.) — Frond 

 pinnate : leaflets lanceolate, pinnatifid, entire, befprjnkled 

 Vol. XXXIX. 



with refinsus glands beneatli. Fructification near the mar- 



gni, confluent Mountainous heathy ground, and dry 



woods, in various parts of Europe, from Denmark to Italy, 

 produce this fern, bearing capfules in .July. Our Britifh 

 botanifts long overlooked it, as a variety of the common 

 Filix mas, whilll others miftook it for Thelypteris. The 

 refinous dots at the back of the frond exhale a fragrant 

 fmell, more or lefs perceptible at different times; which 

 niduces a fufpicion that tliis fpecies may have been taken by 

 Mr. Hudfon for Polypodium fragrans of Linnasus, -never 

 fciimd m our ifland. In fize the prefent fpecies vies with 

 /I. Filix mas, hereafter to be defcribed, but the whole 

 frond is rather narrower. The fegments of the leafets 

 ufually quite entire, are occafionally fomewhat crenate about 

 their rounded obtufe points. Sort crowded, in a fimple rov/ 

 near the marghi, at length confluent, forming a beaded 

 line. Involucrum fmall and thin, umbilicated, with a deep 

 lateral finus, and foon vanifhing. Root large, fcaly, tufted, 

 not creeping. 



A. Thelypteris. Marfli Shield-fern. Swartz n. 39. 

 Willd. n. 74. Fl. Brit. n. 2. Engl. Bot. t. 1018. Purfli 

 n. 4. " Schkuhr Crypt. 51. t. 52." (Polypodium The- 

 lypteris ; Linn. Mant. 505. Fl. Dan. t. 760. Acrofti- 

 chum Thelypteris ; Linn. Sp. PI. 1528. Bolt. Fil. 78. 

 t-,43> 44- Thelipteris non ramofa; Schmidel Ic. t. 11. 

 Filix tenuiffimS et profundi denticulata Montbelgardica ; 

 Bauh. HilL v. 3. 731, good. F. paluilris repens, pinnulis 

 non dentatis ; Morif. feft. 14. t. 4. f. 17, i.) — Frond pin- 

 nate : leaflets lanceolate, pinnatifid, fomewhat crenate ; dif- 

 tinft, but croffing each other, at the bafe. Frudification 

 fcattered, confluent. Root thread-fliaped, creeping Na- 

 tive of rotten bogs, and turfy marfhes on a fandy foil, in 

 various parts of tiie north of Europe, as well as in North 

 America. Mr. Purfli fays the fruftification is very rare in 

 the latter country : with us it is but fparingly produced, 

 the plant increafing mofl; by the roots, wliich are long, flen- 

 der, and creeping. The fronds are not half the fize of the 

 laft, and much more delicate ; their height about a foot, 

 their colour bright grafs-green. Leajlets generally fmooth ; 

 fometimes a little hairy ; the loweft lobe of each extended, 

 fo as to fold over the oppofite one. Frudijcation, if prefent, 

 abundant, confluent, blackifh. 



A. criflatum. Leffor Crelled Shield-fern. Swartz n. 49. 

 Willd. n. 79. Sm. Compend. Fl. Brit. 157. Engl. Bot. 

 t. 2125, not 1949. Purfli n. 5. " Schkuhr Crypt. 39. 

 t. 37." (Polypodium criftatum ; Linn. Sp. PI. 1551. 

 Afzel. in Stockh. Tranf. for 1787. 248. t. 9. P. Callip- 

 teris ; Ehrh. Crypt, n. 53.) — Frond pinnate, nearly bipin- 

 nate : fegments ovate, obtufe, crenate or pinnatifid, with 

 fliarp little terminal teeth. Stalk fcaly at the bafe. Invo- 

 Ivicrum nearly orbicular, with a deep notch. — Native of 

 Sweden, Germany, and England, as well as North Ame- 

 rica, in low boggy woods and thickets. Found by the 

 Rev. R. B. Francis, on the heath between Holt and Hcmp- 

 ftead, Norfolk. The root is tufted, as in yl. Oreopteris, not 

 creeping like that of Thelypteris, and the whole habit and 

 texture of the fern liiore refembles the firft of thefe two ipe- 

 cies. Fronds pale green, from one to two feet high : the 

 fertile ones remarkably eredl ; their barren leajlets fhorter and 

 rather more diftant, than thole which bear friidification, 

 the latter compofing the upper half of the frond ; all are 

 very deeply pinnatifid, fometimes to the very rib, their feg- 

 ments, or partial leaflets, clofe, broad, obtufe, with fliarp, 

 fcarcely fpinous, teeth. Ribs fomewhat zigzag. Capfules 

 ' blackifli when frefli, with a white circular involucrum to each 

 affemblage, having a deep finus at the lower fide; b*it the 

 y y dried 



