40 
European Ferns. 
indeed, its spores deveiope in such abundance, and so rapidly, that the plant* sometimes 
becomes a positive nuisance in hothouses. It was introduced to English gardens in 1770, 
having been brought from the West Indies by Mr. James Gordon. There is an admirable 
folio plate of the European plant in a little known work by MM. Chaubard and Bory de 
St. Vincent, published in 1838, and entitled, “ Nouvelle Flora du Peloponnese ct des 
Cyclades.” 
PTERIS CRETICA, Linn. 
This is well known in cultivation, and is not a very variable plant. Its caudex is very 
short, so that the fronds are closely set and have a tufted appearance, and is sparingly 
clothed with small dark brown paleae. The fronds are of no great size, varying from one to 
two feet, of which the stipes occupies about half ; this is stiff, erect, and perfectly smooth, 
somewhat three-sided above, but rather dilated at the base, where it is darker in colour. The 
frond itself is wider than in the last species, P. longifolia, its outline being distinctly ovate, 
or even broader than long, abrupt at the base, and more or less acuminate at the apex. It 
is pinnate, but not so simply as the last, the lowest pair or pairs being again divided. In 
texture this Fern is thick and firm, and in colour a glossy bright green. The pinnae are few 
in number, being, indeed, sometimes reduced to three— that is, one pair and the terminal one ; 
but more often there are six to ten pairs ; in form they are not unlike those of the last species, 
being distantly placed on the rachis, sessile, and very long, and tapering to a slender, much 
attenuated point; their base is also tapering, not truncate, and sometimes even decunent down 
the rachis. As above noted, the lower pinnae are compound, but they are so in a some- 
what peculiar manner, appearing rather as if two or three pinnae had coalesced ; the separate 
segment or segments being usually nearly as large as the primary pinna, and similar to it in 
form and venation ; this latter is free, the veinlets being branched close to their base. Though 
it can be scarcely said that the fertile and barren fronds of this species are always distinct, yet 
there are frequently fronds which produce no fructification. These possess broader pinnae, 
more lanceolate in shape and shorter. In all the fronds the margin of the pinnae is set with 
very sharp spinous teeth, especially developed towards the ends of the pinnae, but where the 
margins are occupied by sori these teeth are not found. The line of sori is broad and con- 
tinuous along the margin of the fertile pinnae for about three-quarters of their length, the 
upper part only being without them. The reflexed false indusium is much narrower than in 
the last species, and covers but little of the sori ; there is no rudiment of a true indusium. 
Like the last species, this is a South European Fern, and is rather widely spread through 
the Mediterranean region. We have seen specimens from Corsica, where it seems abundant; 
but it does not appear to reach westwards to the Spanish Peninsula, nor does it grow in 
Southern France, though there is a locality at Mentone, close to the frontier of that country. In 
several parts of North Italy it is met with, the most northern locality being near Como, and in 
South Italy and Sicily it is more frequent. Sardinia and Crete (whence it takes its name) 
also produce this Fern, which extends its range to the Caucasus, Persia, and Arabia. It has 
been collected, too, further north, in the Ural district near Baku. 
In Africa, P. cretica grows in Abyssinia and in the Cape Colony, and has been found in 
Bourbon. It is a frequent Fern in India, extending up to 6,000 feet in the Himalayas, and 
occurs in the Malayan Islands frequently, and in the Pacific ones also. It also reaches the 
southern part of North America and Mexico, and in South America it is found in Guatemala, 
