418 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



amongst the trees in the Hoz de Barcena, on the Pena Castilla at Fuento 

 del Mar, and where lashed by the waves of the Bay of Biscay at Santander. 

 In the Highlands of Scotland it ascends upwards of 2000ft. above the sea, 

 and in Northern Spain I have seen it most common above the height of 

 3000ft." 



According to Beddome, A. aculeatum, as an Indian Fern, "is very common 

 about Otocamund and the higher elevations of the Pulney and Anamallay 

 Mountains." The same authority, in his splendid book on the "Ferns of 

 Southern India," in which he gives two illustrations, also makes the following 

 statement : " It is a very variable species, with numerous forms which have 

 received different names, but they all run into one another. Polystichum 

 rufo-barbatum, Wallich, is a very beautiful form, common about Otocamund : 

 it is densely clothed with reddish hairs. Polystichum, a?igulare, which has 

 been united with P. aculeatum by Sir W. Hooker, is a very common form at 

 Otocamund, &c." 



Eaton, speaking of A. aculeatum as a native of North America, says : 

 " It is found in deep, rocky ravines in mountainous districts in North 

 America, where several very distinct forms occur in wild state, some 

 of which, strange to say, are also found in natural state in England. 

 For instance, the varieties lobatum and angulare, found in various parts of 

 the British Isles, have equally been found in the canons of the coast ranges 

 of California, especially in Santa Cruz and Mendocino Counties, which 

 have also produced the variety califomicum, of Eaton. The variety Braunii, 

 of Doell, has been found amongst the mountains of North Vermont and 

 New Hampshire, on the Catskill Mountains of New York, in Oswego 

 County, &c." 



It is as a British species, however, that A. aculeatum is best known, 

 and the fact of its being widely distributed all over the country, where it is 

 generally found to luxuriate on damp, shady banks, along hedgerows, or in 

 woods, and usually in somewhat stiff, loamy soil, greatly adds to its value 

 as a decorative plant for the outdoor Fernery. As an instance of the 

 exceptionally wide distribution of the Prickly Shield Fern, it may be stated 

 here that, while it formerly was plentiful in Osterley Park, Hampton Lane, 

 and Sion Lane, near Brentford ; near Hastings and other places in Sussex, 

 as well as about Tunbridge Wells and near Gurnet Bay, in the Isle of Wight, 



