BOSS TERNS. 



63 



Limestone districts in tlie north of England alone 

 furnish this fern, which was first found at Ingleborougb 

 in Yorkshire. 



No special precautions require to be taken in the cuh 

 tivation of this species either in pots or in the open air. 

 Good drainage is essential to this as to most ferns, and 

 ordinary garden soil is all that is required. It is well to 

 elevate the crown a little, so as to avoid the settling of 

 water upon it, and w^hen grow^n in pots a mixture of loam 

 and peat will suffice. 



SPINY BOSS FEEN.* 



This fern has a stout branching root-stock, from which 

 the fronds are developed in tufts of from 1 to 3 feet in 

 height, ^he outline of the fronds is long and narrow, 

 scarcely spear-shaped, with feathery branches of nearly 

 equal length, except near the apex of the frond. The 

 foot- stalk occupies about half the entire length of the 

 frond, and the leafy portion is flat. The leaflets are ar- 

 ranged in a feathery manner along the branches. These 

 are of an elongated oblong outline, deeply cut into nu- 

 merous lobes, each lobe being in itself surrounded by 

 sharp-pointed teeth or little spines, whence the name 

 of the fern is derived. The leaf-stalk is clad throughout 

 with little scattered pointed scales. The tufts of spore- 

 cases are rather small, and their covering is kidney-shaped, 

 with a waved margin destitute of glands. (Plate Y., 

 fig. 2.) _ 



This is only available as an outdoor or a hardy pot 

 fern, requiring no special instructions for cultivation. It 

 is often confounded with other species, and some regard 

 it only as a variety. 



CEISPED BOSS EEEN.f 



This is sometimes called the Hay-scented Eern and the 

 Triangular Boss Eern. The fronds are produced in a 



*Lastyed spimdosa, Peesl. 



■fLcistred ssmtda, J. SM. 



