26 
European Ferns. 
which seldom attain the dimensions given above, the frond being usually nearer three than four 
inches in diameter, and similar small specimens occur from other localities. 
C. alpina is one of our rarest alpine species, and has only occurred in a few localities in 
the highest of our Scotch mountains. It was discovered on Ben Lawers, in 1836, by Mr. W. 
Wilson, and has been since collected in Glen Lyon, Glen Lochay, and a few other spots in the 
Breadalbane Mountains. We have also seen specimens from the head of Glen Callater, Braemar, 
in Aberdeenshire, and from Glen Islay in the Clova mountains in Forfarshire. Tracing the 
distribution abroad, we find this fern fairly abundant in the mountainous parts of Scandinavia, 
extending into Finmark ; and it occurs in most of the mountain chains of Europe, the Pyrenees, 
the Swiss Alps, the Tyrol, the Carpathians, and the Apennines. It has also been found in 
France, in Dauphine, and in the Jura, and shows a special predilection for calcareous rocks. In 
Eastern Europe it does not occur, nor is it met with in the whole Asiatic Continent, with the 
exception of Kamtschatka. It, however, puts in an appearance in North America in the Rocky 
Mountains, especially their eastern side, and is also found in Labrador. In all its localities C. 
monta.ua may be considered to be a rare species. 
CYSTOPTERIS MONTANA. 
