A THYRIVM . 
117 
ATHYRIUM. 
HE genus Athyrium , which was established by Roth in 1800, is closely 
allied to Asplenium , and is indeed considered a section of it by many 
authors. The differences between the two are but slight, consisting chiefly 
in the shape of the indusium, which in the true Asplenia is straight or 
slightly curved, and attached to the upper side of the vein, while in Athyrium 
it is always more or less curved, being sometimes of the shape of a horse- 
shoe. There are between twenty and thirty species of Athyrium , distributed 
through different parts of the world, but for the most part natives of the 
Eastern hemisphere. They are all pretty plants, but none of them is more 
elegant and worthy of admiration than our common English Lady Fern. 
Among the more recent botanists who keep Athyrium as a distinct genus 
from Asplenium, Milde may be cited ; and those interested in a more purely technical account 
of the differences between the two genera than it is our object to give in the present work 
cannot do better than consult the “ Filices Europese ” of this author (p. 48). 
THE LADY FERN : ATHYRIUM FILIX-FCEMINA, Roth. 
This is undoubtedly one of the most elegant as it is one of the most generally distributed 
and one of the most variable of European ferns. Few people who know British ferns ever so 
slightly are ignorant of this most graceful plant ; and its claims to admiration have enlisted 
the sympathies of poets in a way which is unusual among the members of the fern tribe — 
for, as we have already said, there is a striking absence of any reference to fern;; in the works 
of our poets. Sir Walter Scott (in “ Waverley”) may claim to have set the example of singing 
the charms of the Lady Fern ; he did so in the well-known lines : — 
“ Where the copse-wood is the greenest, 
Where the fountain glitters sheenest, 
Where the morning dew lies longest, — 
There the Lady Fern grows strongest.” 
It may be doubted whether other bards have been more successful than this in their allusions 
to the habits and localities of the Lady Fern ; but they have expressed themselves at somewhat 
greater length. 
But it is time that we should leave the realms of fancy for those of fact — that we should 
abandon the poetical consideration of the Lady Fern for some practical description of its 
distinguishing features. The subject cannot be said to be wanting in material, for, as if bent 
on affording an illustration of the not very gallant French proverb, “ Femme souvent varie,’’ 
the Lady Fern is one of the most variable of known ferns. Mr. Moore describes no fewer 
than sixty-six varieties (and the number has been since increased) as occurring in Britain ; 
and we may form some idea of the length to which this sort of thing might be extended. 
