ASPIDIQM. 



fefSle, fiiai-ply ferrated without prickles, uniform. Mafles 

 of capfules crowded towards the rib and bafe of each leaflet. 

 Involucrum orbicular, with a lateral finus. — Very common 

 throughout Europe, as well as in the northern parts of ACa, 

 Africa, and America, in (hady fituations, under dry banks, 

 bearing feed about July and Auguft. The root is tufted 

 and fcaly, often ver\' large. Fronds numerous, bright green, 



copious aU over the frond, rather crowded not fl 



of a bright brown. In.olucrun, at fir7kT£^.rped Sd* 

 but foon becommg orbicular, the hnus nearly cS„t' '"^f' 

 ing only an umbd.cated depreffion, and at LrtSe'"'"'"- 

 brane remams folded too-pth^,- »»rt.;^,ii„ • .1^ * ^ 



mem. 



Lbout a yard high, and a^fpan wide, their Ja/is and"principai pinnatifid, 'or douhh \r ^ triil J„"„°X' ^^"^1 '''''"' f°"'''^ 

 v3 fcaly ; the rib of each kaf.t is fomerimes a little hai.!;-, Twenfy-fix fpeciesi <YSoiT^::;,edTtZ. S 



and flightly bordered, though the partial leajlets are fcarcely 

 decurrent, except the uppermoft. The fruSification is 

 abundant over great part of the frond, of a rich tawnv- 

 brown, crowded, not confluent. Involucrum tumid, umbi- 

 licated, with a lateral notch, which is rather more open than 

 is A. marginale, but not quite fo deep. The root is a cele- 

 brated cure for intellinal worms, in Switzerland and other 

 parts of the continent ; and its naufeous tafte may, as we 

 underftand, be detefted in one or more of the popular quack 

 medicines, which in this country obtain credit by puffino- 

 advertifements, v/hofe truth it is eafier to beheve than to 

 examine. Happy if they are never compofed of more dan- 

 gerous materials than the root of the Male Fern ! 



A. fpinulofum. LefTer Crefted Shield-fern. Fl. Brit. n. 8. 

 Engl. Bot. t. 1460. Swartz n. 58. Willd. n. 99. Purfh 

 n. II? " Schkuhr Crypt. 48. t. 48." (Polypodium fpinulo- 

 fum ; Retz. Prodr. 250. Fl. Dan. t. 707. P. n. 84I ; 

 Mull. Friedr. 193. t. 2. f. 2. Filix puniila faxatilis altera; 

 Pluk. Phyt. t. 179. f. 5.) — Frond doubly pinnate: leaflets 

 decurrent, elliptical, confluent, with deep-cut prickly ferra- 

 tures. Mid-rib fmooth. Nerves zigzag. Involucrum orbi- 

 cular, with a lateral finus. — Native of boggy (hady places, 

 in various parts of Europe ; as well as in North America, 

 if Mr. Purih be right ; but he fpeaks of his plant as " a 

 large fpecies ;" ours is certainly rather fmaU, not above a foot 

 high. The root is creeping. Frond broad, with a long 

 Jlali, which is fcaly in the lower part only. Partial leajlets 

 eUiptic-oblong, of an elegant bright pellucid green, with 

 wavy ribs ; decurrent, fo as to form a border to the partial 

 flalk. Dots of capfules fmall, and rather difl;ant. Involu- 

 crum fmall, foon pulhed to one fide. We fee nothing in it 

 of a glandular nature, as mentioned by Willdenow. 



A. dilatatum. Great Crefted Shield-feni. Fl. Brit. n. 9. 

 Engl. Bot. t. 1461. Willd. n. loo. Purfli n. 12. (Poly- 

 podium dilatatum ; Hoftm. Germ. v. 2. 7. P. ariftatum ; 

 Villars Dauph. v. 3. 844. BeUardi in Aft. Taurin. v. 5. 255. 

 P. criftatum; Ehrh. Crypt. 81. Hudf. 457. Bolt. Fil. 

 42. t. 23. P. n. 845; MuU. Fl. Freidr. 193. t. 2. f. 4. 

 Filix mas ramofa, pinnulis dentatis ; Raii Syn. 124. Pluk. 

 Phyt. t. 181. f. 2. F. mas, pinnulis criftatis ; Morif. 

 feft. 14. t. 3. f. 1 1.) — Frond doubly pinnate : leaflets deeply 

 pinnatifid, fharply cut, with prickly teeth and ferratures. 

 Stalk and branches fcaly. Involucrum kidney -fhaped, foon 

 orbicular, with a lateral finus. — Native of ftiady watery 

 places, fometimes on dn- banks, in a fandy or gravelly foil, 

 or in ftony moiil v.oods, throughout Europe. Mr. Purfh 

 met with this fpecies in the ibady rocky woods of Pennfyl- 

 vania and Virginia. The root is tuberous or tufted, fcarcely 

 creeping. Fronds generally two feet, or more, in height, 

 though fometimes much fmaller. Their broad, much com- 

 pounded, form and ftrufture, and their bright -green colour, 

 give them a very handfome afpect. They are often triply 

 pinnate, or at leaft their ultimate fubdivifions are fo deeply 

 feparated as to caufe that appearance : thefe are pretty uni- 

 form, with deep, fliarp, prickly -toothed ferratures and points. 

 Stalks, ribs, and veins, a little downy, or glandular ; none of 

 ihcm zigzag, or at moft very ilighth- fo. FruSifcation 



are peruaps moft entitled to conftitute a diftinct ^enus but 



to "r ■? 'f 'T" '^'^ '°° "•^^^^ «PP-^<^h the faftfeci 

 to admit of a clear generic definition: 



^■fontanum. Smooth Rock Shield-fern. 



Willd. n. 122. Engl. Bot. 



num. ; Linn. Sp. PI. 1550. 



Swartz n. 74. 

 t. 2024. (Polj^odium fonta- 



vii^s Dauph. V. 3. B4^rp. r;^ illiE ^t::i\', 



Adian.um fJicmum durius crifpum mimmum ; Bar-el Ic 

 t. 432. t. I. Fihcuia faxatihs, omnium mLnima, elc^a^tif- 

 fima ; Tourn. Inft 542. p^k. ph,^. t. g f. 3 )_f^J;^ 

 hnear-lanceolate, fmcoth, fimply or doubly pinnate • leafl^s 

 ^terrate. rounded, their fej^e.ts very^Lrply toothel 



England, France, Smtzeriand. and other parts of Europe 

 but veij rare in tms country. Mr. Hudfon, and the late 

 Mr. Alton, to our certain knowledge, have gathered it on 

 Amerfham church, Buckmghamfhire, where it is no longer 

 as we are told, to be met with. Linnsus confounded this 

 tern with what is now named Woodsia hyperborea (fee 

 that article) ; nor has it been well underftood by botanifts 

 m general, being of rare occurrence, obfcure in its generic 

 charafter, and very variable in luxuriance. This may be 

 leen by comparing Plukenefs figure above cited, fig- ? 

 «nth his fig. 2, quoted by Willdenow, after Fl. Brit, which' 

 lait is we believe the fame plant, but not under its ufual and 

 molt natural appearance. AVhen once feen in perfeclion 

 this truly degant httle fern can be confounded with no otiier' 

 The root 13 tufted. Fronds from two to fix inches high* 

 rigid, fmooth, rather glaucous, of a narrow lanceolltc 

 figure, compofed of numerous, alternate, pinnate or pinna- 

 tifid haflets, vihok partial leajlets, or lobes, are wedge-lhaped 

 fomewhat ftalked, with deep, very (harp, in fome degree' 

 fpmous, teeth, and all the fl:alks are winged. Mafles of 

 capfules at the mid-rib of each lobe, round, or nearly fo, 

 with a delicate white involucrum originating from the rib' 

 by a ftraight bteral infertion, and feparating inwards, that 

 is, towards fome other more principal rib, not towards the 

 margin. Perhaps this plant is truly an Afplenium. Profeflbr 

 Willdenow has an A. Halleri, n. 125, which he corlider* 

 abundantly diftinft from Jontanum, but to which he refers 

 fome of our above-mentincd fynon)-ms. We have Haller's 

 plant from Switzerland, and are perfeftly certain of its 

 being the fame as our fontaiium, tliough we have not the 

 means of verifying all Willdenow's fynonvms. 



This writer, whofe labours refpefting Filices will ever do 

 his memor)' great honour, notwithftanding errors unavoid- 

 ably incident to fo difEcult an enterprife, has, after the 

 example of Swartz, aflbciated with this tribe fome fpecies 

 which we refer to Cyathea. (See that article, written by 

 the late Rev. Mr. AVood. ) Thefe are, C. dentata, fra^ilis, 

 and regia of Fl. Brit, and Engl. Bot. ; there being alfo 

 feveral exotic fpecies in the fame predicament. Some of 

 them come very near A. fontanum, juft defcribed, in the 

 character of their involucrum, but they ill accord with the 

 reil of this genus. A few fpecies, now to be mentioned, 

 perhaps conneft them therewith. We fhall feleft fuch as 

 are moil likely to elucidate the fubjcCt. 



y )■ 2 ' A. iul. 



