Cyst opteris. 
23 
mm®* 
w- 
KftA 
\ V Vi ; ■? *■ er s 
L ^ 
type the var. angustata of Smith, who considers this the same as the Polypodium rhccticum of 
Dickson and Bolton, though not of Linnaeus. This form is apparently confined to Europe 
and is nowhere very common; the “ Index Filicum ” records it only from Scotland, Germany, 
and Italy. Our figure shows this plant (the 
upper specimen), and with it another narrow- 
pinnuled form, which has been called C. anthris- 
cifolia, in which the lobes of the pinnules are 
notched at the apex ; this, however, Mr. Moore 
does not distinguish from typical fragilis. In 
the second group, Dentatcz, are placed the 
blunter-pinnuled, less-toothed, or blunt-toothed 
forms, of which C. dentata, Sm. — a plant of wide 
distribution — may be taken as the type. This 
has small fronds, four to eight inches in length 
which are sometimes simply pinnatisect, the 
segments being bluntly toothed, broadly ovate, 
and less divided, having the sori near the edge. 
This is given in our upper figure below ; the 
lower one representing a form which has been 
called C. cynapifolia t but which Mr. Moore does 
not separate from C. fragilis. A curious per- 
manent monstrosity (var. interrupta ) is figured in 
“Nature-Printed Ferns;” it was found in West- 
moreland, by Mr. F. Clowes, and is remarkable for 
the long intervals between the pinna;, the fronds 
thus gaining a curiously-elongated appearance. 
Two varieties are so distinct as to require 
special notice. The first of these, called by Mr. 
Moore var. sempervirens, is a native of Madeira, 
which is said to have been found both in Devon- 
shire and Kent, some uncertainty, however, 
attaching to its claims to rank as a British plant. 
The striking differences presented by this form, 
which Mr. Moore thinks may be entitled to 
specific rank, are — its evergreen character, the 
plant continuing to grow, in a cool greenhouse, 
throughout the winter, all the other species being 
quite dormant : the toughness of the stipes as 
opposed to the brittleness noticeable in all the other forms, from which, as has been already 
remarked, the species takes its name; “the greater size of the anterior basal pinnules,” and 
“ the glandular hairy vestiture of the indusium, which is conspicuous in the fresh plant.” 
This is the only form of C. fragilis — if, indeed, it be not a distinct species — which occurs 
in the Canary Islands ; it is also recorded from Malaga. The other variety, a very remarkable 
form, is C. Dickieana , Sim, which has very broad, blunt pinnules, with rounded overlapping 
segments, and the general form of the frond oblong. This variety was discovered by Dr. 
Dickie in a damp cave near the sea near Aberdeen, and has not been gathered elsewhere in 
CYSTOPTERIS FRAGILIS. 
(a) Var. dentata. 
(b) Var. CYN API FOLIA. 
