6( HAXDY BOOK 01' 
Few of the fern tribe are more pleasing to the ere. The 
young fronds become developed in April and May ; the apex 
is circinnate (or bent backwards), and remarkably grace- 
ful ; the pinnas are also bent backwards. The whole plant 
attains its full expansion in July, and the seed appears to 
ripen in September. Unlike the generality of their brother- 
1. COMMON TKICKTA'-FEHX. 
hood, Prickly-ferns are decidedly evergreen, and continue 
throughout the year, uninjured by hard frosts and driving 
storms ; they even linger on till late in the succeeding 
summer, like the members of some patriarchal family 
who dwell peaceably together. Hence it happens, not un- 
frequently, that four generations are attached to the same 
root, equally green and nourishing, yet naturally producing 
leaves of a widely different character. Even experienced 
botanists have therefore been somewhat puzzled by dis- 
similarities, which have suggested the idea of different 
species. 
Four forms are assigned to the Common Prickly-fern. 
Newman, however, considers that three only can be 
reckoned ; and these he comprises in a single species, to 
which he assigns theLinu-sean name of Aculeatitm, terming 
the different forms merely varieties. Thus : 
Tar. 1. "Angular type: frond doubly pinnate; pin- 
nulsc ovate, bluntish, stalked, and auricled at the base ; the 
whole plant light, feathery, graceful, and extremely 
flexible." Figured as No. 1. 
