LASTREA SPINULOSA. 45 
the sunny glow of the south falls on ruddy banks 
of heather. 
I found Lastrea spinulosa in many places in 
Scotland ; it must be hunted for in shady nooks, 
where it grows side by side with A. Filix-foemina 
and Blechnum spicant. Mr. Bree gave me a very 
curious specimen of L. spinulosa which he found 
growing on the Coleshill bog ; the stunted frond 
was little more than a foot in size ; in colour it 
was a sickly-looking greenish yellow. Mr. Bree 
also gave me a frond of the very same root when 
cultivated, and it would have puzzled any one but 
a close observer to have known they were the same 
Fern ; and it is this altered aspect of Ferns, 
under altered conditions, that makes their study 
bewildering to a beginner. I dare not venture to 
say that L. spinulosa, under any conditions, would 
turn into L. dilatata, but it looks uncommonly 
like it ; and you find varieties so nearly approach- 
ing both Ferns that it is difficult to name them. 
This difficulty does not exist with Lastrea uligi- 
nosa, the under pinnules of the latter being the 
