426 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



A. (Polystichum) anglllare — Pol-ys'-tich-um ; ang-ul-a'-re (angular), 



Presl. 



This very handsome Fern, popularly known as the Soft Prickly Shield 

 Fern, which botanically is but a form of X aculeatum, but which to the 

 cultivator is abundantly distinct, is, like that species, of an evergreen nature, 

 its elegant foliage remaining green and in perfect condition until long after 

 the new growth is developed. In habit, however, it is more pendulous, and 

 its fronds, which frequently attain 3ft. in length and Gin. to 9in. in width, 

 are usually lax, lanceolate (spear-shaped), and bipinnate (twice divided to the 

 midrib) : they are produced from a stout, tufted caudex (short stem), are 

 numerous, spreading, and arched, and, like the stalks and the crown itself, 

 are covered with reddish-brown, chaffy scales. The pinna; (leaflets) are 

 abundant, and greatly vary in length : sometimes the basal ones are longest, 

 but usually they taper towards the base and also towards the summit. The 

 pinnules (leafits), of a dark green colour, are also of smaller dimensions, 

 more equal in size, and the lower ones are distinctly stalked ; they are usually 

 deeply divided, each segment thus produced ending in a slender but rigid 

 bristle ; they are also of a softer and more delicate texture than those of 

 A. aculeatum : consequently, being more flexible and drooping, they give the 

 whole plant a more graceful general appearance. The fructification is usually 

 spread over the upper two-thirds of the under-side of the fronds, and consists 

 of sori (spore masses) of circular shape and of diminutive dimensions, covered 

 by an indusiimi that is nearly round and of a soft, paper-like texture, 

 and disposed in two rows on each side of the midvein of each fertile 

 pinnule. 



Like A. aculeatum, the Soft Prickly Shield Fern is very widely 

 distributed, for it is found in Sweden, Norway, France, Spain, and Italy 

 alike in Europe ; in various parts of India, Abyssinia, and Natal ; also in 

 Madeira, the Canary Islands, and the Azores ; while in North America it is 

 plentiful, and it is even found in abundance in Mexico, Guatemala, Caracas, 

 Java, New Granada, and Singapore. 



Considered only as a British species, this lovely and most interesting 

 Fern has an extended, though somewhat local, range over England and 

 Wales, being most plentiful in the South and South- West. It is common 

 in Cornwall and Devonshire, also in Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, and Kent, 



