24 
European Ferns . 
Britain or abroad ; it must be therefore regarded as an accidental, or extreme form of C. 
dentata. Milde refers it to the following species (C. alpind) as a variety. 
The distribution of Cystopteris fragilis under one or the other of its forms is a very wide one, 
as it extends into the extreme arctic regions and up to great elevations, whilst it also grows in 
temperate climates almost down to the sea-level. It is found especially in the interstices of 
rocks and stones, and on the sides and tops of the rough walls of hilly districts, and in Great 
Britain and Ireland is very common in the north, fairly so in the west, and rarer or nearly absent 
in the southern and eastern counties of England. Throughout northern Europe it is very common, 
and its range extends north to Iceland and Nova Zembla. It is found in all European countries, 
but in the south and Mediterranean region it is restricted to mountainous districts; thus in the 
Sierra Nevada of Spain it attains io,ooo feet, and in Sicily it grows on Mount Etna at an 
elevation of 9,000 feet. The Fern is found in Cyprus, in the Lebanon, the Caucasus, Persia, 
most parts of the Russian Empire, Kamtschatka, North China to the Himalayas (where it ascends 
to 16,000 feet), and other parts of Asia. In South Africa it is frequent, extending north into Natal 
and Abyssinia. In the New World it extends over the greater part of the North American 
Continent, where it is very common, reaching far into the Arctic regions, and extending south to 
California and Mexico. In South America it grows along the whole length of the Andean 
chain, also in the West India islanas, and it is found as far south as Chili. It also grows in 
Tasmania ; and is thus as nearly cosmopolitan as any plant can well be. 
CYSTOPTERIS ALBINA, Desv. 
By many good botanists this is not considered specifically different from the last, C. 
fragilis ; even Prof. Babington, in the last edition of his ‘‘Manual of British Botany,” places it, 
“with much doubt ” certainly, under that species. We, however, rather follow the opinion of Sir 
W. J. Hooker, who considered it a good species, and maintained it as such in the “ Synopsis.” 
The caudex and form of the fronds do not differ much from the last, but the stipes is less 
brittle and juicy. The fronds are bipinnate or almost tripinnate ; the ultimate divisions being 
deeply cut, very fine, narrow and linear, obtuse and slightly notched or cloven at the end, and 
from their number and close arrangement they give a crisped appearance, reminding one of the 
Parsley-Fern. A character requiring, however, minute examination, is relied upon by some 
botanists to distinguish this species from the last in the veinlet of the segments, which in this 
terminates in the notch just alluded to, whilst in C. fragilis the veins run to the termination of the 
teeth. 
This species is a rare one, and has a distribution of limited extent, chiefly in Southern 
Europe and Asia Minor. It is found in the Pyrenees, near Gavarni, and is not unfrequent in 
the Swiss Alps; it also occurs in the Jura. There are several localities in Spain and in Italy, 
also in Styria and Dalmatia, and this range extends to Greece, the Cilician Taurus mountains 
and Syria. The Greek plant of Mount Taygetus at 5,000 feet, called Aspidium taygetense, 
appears to be referable to this species. Britain seems to lie rather beyond the natural boundary 
of this beautiful Alpine Fern, but C. alpitta has had a place in our Floras. It grew for many 
years on one or more garden walls in the village of Low Leyton, Essex, where it seems to 
have been first recorded about 1788. In the early part of the century it was abundant there, 
and was certainly gathered there so recently as 1840 or 1841. In 1861 it was searched for in 
vain, and is probably now extinct in the locality where it could not have had any claim to be 
considered native, but had been no doubt introduced. The other British localities are all doubtful, 
