ASPIDIUM. 



dried foii are tawny. Cmnmon Jhilk of the frond chiefly 

 fcaly at the bottom. Mr. Purlli confiders Willdenow's 

 laiuajlfienfe, n. 97, as a variety of this. 



A. fragrans. Fragrant Shield-fern. Swartz n. 42. 

 WiUd. n. 80. (Polypodium fragrans ; Linn. Sp. PI. 1550. 

 Dryopteris rubum idseum fpirans ; Amman. Ruth. 174. 

 n. 251.) — Frond pinnate: leaflets lanceolate, crowded, 

 deeply pinnatifid ; fegments elliptic-oblong, bluntly and 

 deeply toothed ; (lalks and mid-ribs fcaly. Fruftification 

 crowded. Involacrum nearly orbicular, with a deep 



notch. Native of hilly fituations in Siberia, near the rivers 



Angara and Selenga. The inhabitants are faid to boil this 

 fern with their beer, in order to give that liquor the tafte 

 and fmell of Rafpberries, which is fo powerful in the plant, 

 that even in a dried ftate its odour fills the room where it is 

 kept. The root is tufted, very fcaly. Fronds feveral, a 

 fpan high, lanceolate, tapering at each end, the lower leaflets 

 being gradually much Shortened. Stalh Ihort, bearing large, 

 rounded, lax fcales ; thofe on the leafy part, as well as on 

 the mid-rib of each leaflet, being lanceolate and acute. The 

 upper fide of the leaflets is perfeftly fmooth ; their lobes 

 and indentations peculiarly elegant, without any terminal 

 briftles. Sori fo crowded about the lower half of each 

 leaflet, that their expanded involucrums fometimes touch, or 

 fold over each other, being moreover intermixed with rufty 

 membranous fcales. 



Seft. 5, mai-ked 4 by Willdenow. Frond doubly or 

 triply pinnate. Involucrum rounded or iidney-fhaped. Forty 

 fpecies in Willdenow. The involucrum in this, as well as 

 the preceding feftion, though, for the moft part, laterally 

 inferted, is often nearly or completely orbicular, and it is 

 even ftridUy peltate in ^. aculeatum and lobatum. Some of 

 profeflbr Willdenow's fpecies, adopted from Plumier's 

 plates only, appear to us fcarcely certain in genus, — fuch 

 are A. r.emorofum, Willd. n. 83, velleum, n. 84, and fqua- 

 matuni, n. 87. 



A. aculeatum. Common Prickly Shield-fern. Swartz 

 n. 53. Willd. n. 92. Fl. Brit. n. 5. Engl. Bot. t. 1562. 

 Purfli n. 7. " SchkuhrCrypt. 41. t. 39." (Polypodium 

 aculeatum; Linn. Sp. PI. 1552. Mill. Illuftr. t. loi. 

 Bolt. Fil. 48. t. 26.) — Frond doubly pinnate: leaflets 

 ovate, fomewhat falcate, ftalked, with prickly feiTatures ; 

 hairy beneath. Common ftalks and ribs fcaly. Involu- 

 crum peltate, entire. — Found in fhady woods and hollows, 

 throughout Europe, as well as in Africa, and North 

 America, bearing feed in fummer and autumn. The root 

 is large and tufted, producing numerous dark -green fronds^ 

 ufually two or three feet high, fpreading in a circular man- 

 ner, varying much in fize ; paler beneath ; their general 

 and partial Jlalks remarkably fcal)'-. Partial leajlets about 

 a quarter of an inch long, rigid or coriaceous, each taper- 

 ing down into a fmall fhort footftalk ; their points and ferra- 

 tures each tipped with a little fpinous briftle ; their upper 

 edge at the bafe dilated, more or lefs, in a broadifti auricle. 

 Sori plentiful on the upper part of the frond, but in fingle 

 rows, and diftinft, brov.m. Involucrums pale brown, orbi- 

 cular, peltate, at length deeply umbilicated, quite entire all 

 round, as in A. Lonchitis, to which this fpecies and the fol- 

 lowing are clofely allied, though all three are very diftinft. 



The late Mr. Rob. Teefdale, (fee Teesdalia,) found in 

 many parts of England, a variety of this, which he fufpefted 

 might prove a diftinft fpecies. It is fofter, and more deli- 

 cate in texture, than the common kind, with fmaller, more 

 copions, partial leaflets, which are more remarkably ftalked, 

 and their auricles are larger, broader, and different in 

 afpeft. This lay in Mr. Rofe's herbarium for A. lobatum, 



which it certainly is not, the partial leajlets being even lefs 

 decurrent than in our common aculeatum. It may probably 

 be the variety /3 of Fl.Brit. figured in Plukenet, t. 180. f. 1, 

 which figure reprefents well enough the general appearance 

 of the frond, and fliape of the leajlets ; but their partial 

 ftalks are much more confiderable and evident than they ap- 

 pear in that plate. A. aculeatum, if tranfplanted into a dry 

 open fituation, loon diminifhes greatly in fize, fo as to 

 reiemble A. Lonchitis, for which we once received it ; but 

 thefe fpecies are neverthelefs eflentially different, as any 

 careful inveftigator will find. 



A. lobatum. Clofe-leaved Prickly Shield-fern. Swartz 

 n. 54. Willd. n. 95. Fl. Brit. n. 6. Engl. Bot. t. 1563. 

 (Polypodium lobatum; Hudf. 459. Filix aculeata majoi, 

 pinnuhs auriculatis crebrioribus, foliis integris anguftioribus ; 

 Raii Syn. 121. F. aculeata, Lonchitidis asmula noftras ; 

 Pluk. Phyt. t. 180. f. 3.) — Frond doubly pinnate : leaflets 

 elliptical, fomewhat falcate, decurrent, with prickly ferra- 

 tures ; hairy beneath : the foremoft of the loweft pair very 

 large. Common ftalks and ribs fcaly. Involucrum pel- 

 tate, entire. — Found in fhady places, under hedges, in 

 England ; not unfrequent in the county of Effex, where 

 Ray firft noticed this fpecies, and from whence Mr. Edward 

 Forfter has fent us fpecimens. The Rev. Mr. Francis has 

 met with it at Edgefield, near Holt, Norfolk. There is 

 no record of this fern being found out of Britain. The 

 fronds are always of a narrower, more linear, form than the 

 laft, and generally altogether fmaller, as well as more rigid, 

 of a paler more fliining green. Leajlets rather elliptical than 

 ovate, and Mr. Dawfon Turner has well obferved that they 

 are decurrent, not ftalked, which is perhaps one of the moft 

 certain means of diftinguiftiing this fpecies from A. aculeatum. 

 The moft ftriking charafter, indicated by the fpecific name, 

 confiils in the great fize, and angular-lobed figiu-e, of the 

 loweft partial le^et, on the upper fide of each general lesflet 

 or pinna, clofe to the main ftalk, often extending beyond 

 the pinna above it. The upper half of the frond, principally, 

 is covered with frucliflcation. The involucrum is perfeftly 

 peltate, entire ; finally umbilicated. 



A. marginale. Marginal-flowering Shield-fern. Swartz 

 n. 41. Willd. n. 93. Ait. n. 11. Purflin. 8. " Schkuhr 

 Crypt. 195. t. 45, b." (Polypodium marginale ; Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 1522. . Nephrodium marginale ; Michaux Boreal. - 

 Amer. v. 2. 267.) — Frond doubly pinnate ; leaflets oblong, 

 obtufe, decurrent, crenate ; almoft pinnatifid at the bafe. 

 Maffes of capfules marginal. Involucrum orbicular, with a 

 lateral finus. — In rocky fliady places, from Canada to Caro- 

 lina, bearing capfules in July. This fpecies has often been 

 fuppofed a native of Britain, A. Oreopteris, whofe fruftifi- 

 cation is likewife marginal, having been taken for it ; but 

 the American plant is very diftinft, more refembling Filix 

 mas than any other. The marginale however is a fmaller 

 plant, the upper half of whofe frond only beai's fruftifica- 

 tion, and the leajlets are bluntly crenate, inftead of being 

 fliarply ferrated. They are moreover not uniform, as in 

 Filix mas, but the lower ones of each pinna are larger and 

 more or lefs pinnatifid. Involucrum tumid, corrugated, 

 forming a complete circle, though not peltate. 



A. Filix mas. Male Shield-fern. Swartz n. 59. Willd. 

 n. 94. Fl. Brit. n. 4. Engl. Bot. t. 1458. Purfli n. 9. 

 " Schkuhr Crypt. 45. t. 44. alfo A. erofum, t. 45, and A. 

 depaftum, t. 51," according to Willdenow. (Polypodium 

 FiHx mas; Linn. Sp. PI. 1551- Bolt. Fil. 44. t. 24. 

 Woodv. Med. Bot. t. 49. Fihx mas vidgaris ; Ger. Em. 

 1 1 28. Fuchf. Hift. 595. Matth.Valgr. V. 2. 626. Camer. 

 Epit. 991.) — Frond doubly pinnate : leaflets oblong, obtufe, 



feflile, 



