52 



The Perns 



pected it to spread to neighbouring hedges, but the closest 

 inspection fails to reveal it ; and renewed examinations seem 

 to prove that the plant is dying out, as the crop becomes less 

 yearly. I think it the last remnant of a once more common 

 plant, rather than a modern introduction spreading from new 

 centres. My attempts to spread it have failed. Several speci- 

 mens have been identified by competent judges, dried and 

 growing specimens have been exhibited to the members of this 

 society, so I think myself justified in adding it to the Guernsey 

 list. 



The other seventeen are acknowledged by all to be in- 

 digenous. 



1. Polypodium Vulgaris is very abundant, and is by Pro- 

 fessor Ansted mentioned as the characteristic fern of Guernsey. 

 Observe its rigid harsh form on walls and rocks ; then see it 

 growing in deep soil on the top of a hedge-bank ; and notice 

 how thin and flexible it has become, look at the increased 

 length of the fonds, and observe the frequent tendency to de- 

 part from the normal form, the serrated edges of the pinnae 

 tend to an imitation of the variety " Cambricum." 



2. The Polystichum found in Guernsey is P. Angularis. 

 It is a large fern with fronds three feet in height growing in a 

 circle round a tufted crown. In some parts of England it is 

 the commonest of ferns growing in the hedges among the 

 rough vegetation. In Guernsey it is not so common ; it is 

 abundant and has a charming appearance in almost inaccessible 

 places on the cliffs from Fermain to Bee du Nez ; it has been 

 barbarously exterminated from the banks in the Moulin Huet 

 water-lane, and near Ste. Helene, but is still abundant in more 

 than half a dozen places in different parts of the island. 



3. Lastrea Filix-mas, or Male Fern is a large, well-known 

 and common species. It is the one most frequently planted on 

 the borders of lawns. 



4. Lastrea-dilata or Broad Buckler fern, is also a large 

 species. It is unfortunately not so common as the last. Its 



