CYSTOPTERIS. 



95 



Low Leytoii in 1835 by Mr. Pamplin, and also in 1840 by Mr. E. H. Bolton. 

 Later still, Mr, Thomas Moore received some specimens of it from Mr. Shepherd, 

 of Liverpool, who stated that they had been gathered in Yorkshire and Derby- 

 shire, but gave no further information ; and we also find that, on the authority 

 of Mr. Maughan, Hooker mentions its having been found on Ben Lawers, in 

 Scotland. It is also a native of the mountains of Europe, from Sweden to 

 Greece and Spain, and Asia Minor, and it is stated in the "Synopsis Filicum" 

 (p. 103) to have been naturalised in England on a wall at Low Leyton, Essex, 

 where, Mr. E. J. Lowe says, it formerly was abundant, but is now very rare. 

 A further and most interesting contribution to the discovery and history of 

 this rare species is furnished by the late Sir J. E. Smith, who says : " The 

 lowland station of this Fern, close to a much-frequented road at Low Leyton, 

 where I have, in company with the late Mr. Forster, seen it covering great 

 part of a brick wall, may be supposed analogous to its place of growth in 

 France ; but we seek in vain for any information on this head either in 

 Vaillant or Lamarck, nor is it evident that the latter ever fomid the plant. 

 The wall at Low Leyton has been repaired, and the Fern almost destroyed. 

 On Snowdon it is said to be very scarce, though Mr. Wilson, with his usual 

 bounty, has sent me an ample supply of specimens of various sizes. He 

 describes it as 'varying greatly in size and appearance, but always distinct 

 from C. fragilis^ It is unquestionably distinct from any other British Fern, 

 though the proper name and synonyms were not discovered till after its 

 appearance in English botany, where I feU into the same error with some 

 foreign botanists. Linnteus once thought it a Swedish plant, but erroneously, 

 nor had he an original or authentic specimen." 



C. alpma is a very pretty Fern, with fronds 4in. to 8in. long, lin. to 

 2in. broad, oblong- spear- shaped, tripinnatifid (three times divided half-way 

 to the midrib), and borne on slender stalks 2in. to 4in. long and of a pale 

 green colour. The largest leaflets are spear-shaped, lin. to IJin, long and 

 Jin. to fin. broad ; their pinnules (sub -divisions), of a soft, papery texture, 

 are cut down again into shghtly-toothed segments, upon which the small and 

 abundant spore masses, covered by involucres of a thin, transparent nature, are 

 disposed from two to twelve to a pinnule. — Hoolcer^ Species Filicum^ i., p. 199 ; 

 British Ferns, t. 24. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 428. Lowe, 

 Ferns British and Exotic, vii., t. 30 ; Our Native Ferns, ii., t. 67. 



