A THYRIVM. 
119 
constantly occupies the anterior side of the vein, crossing at the upper end and returning more 
or less on the opposite ‘or posterior side. When the receptacle only just crosses the vein, the 
result is that the back of the sorus becomes concave, and the slightly curved or semi-lunate 
sorus is produced. When it returns on the posterior side, to about one-fourth or one-half the 
length of the sorus on the anterior side, the hamate or hook-like sorus is formed. In addition 
to these forms of sori, in all the more divided forms of the species, others occur at the base 
of the segments, which are hippocrepiform or horseshoe-like in figure. These are produced by 
the receptacle becoming shortened and more completely returned, so that the portions on 
the anterior and posterior sides of the vein are nearly or quite equal. The occurrence 
of these hamate and hippocrepiform sori, more or less numerous, is abundantly distinctive, 
and absolutely separates Athyrium from Asplenium, by a manifest tendency towards the 
structure of the Aspidiece, as represented in Lastrca So far as our British Aspleniums are 
concerned, the Lady Fern is sufficiently distinct in other than the technical characters 
presented by the sori ; in the shape of the fronds, their delicate texture, which causes them 
to wither almost directly they are gathered, and their strictly annual duration, they differ from 
any species of Asplenium. 
The geographical range of the Lady Fern is, as we have said, a wide one. It is 
found in nearly all the English and Scottish counties, and occurs also throughout Ireland, 
extending from the level of the sea to an elevation of about three thousand feet ; in the 
last-named country, indeed, it is a common bog plant, and is employed in packing fruit and 
fish, in the same way as the Bracken is used in England. With us the Lady Fern is 
most at home in damp, shady woods ; but it is a plant of varied habitat, and may be 
found either in the shady lane or upon the open hillside. It extends throughout the 
continent of Europe, from Lapland, Russia, and Scandinavia to Spain, Portugal, Italy, and 
Greece ; it is found in Madeira, the Azores, and the Canary Islands ; it occurs in Simla and in 
the Himalayas, at from ten or twelve thousand feet (A. pcctinatum, Wall.) ; in the Neilgherries 
and at Ootacamund. In South Africa the Lady Fern is recorded from Natal, and in the 
north from Algeria ; it is absent from Australia and Polynesia. In North America it is 
frequent, occurring in Labrador, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick, and throughout Canada 
to the Rocky Mountains, also in British Columbia ; it is found throughout the United States, 
where it is very variable. In South America it is found in Venezuela and Caracas ; and the 
island of Cuba is a tropical locality for the plant. 
In a necessarily brief account of all the European ferns it would be impossible to attempt 
anything like a complete description of the forms of the Lady Fern ; but we may draw 
attention to some of the more remarkable of them, beginning with those which have some 
more or less definite botanical characteristics apart from the “monstrosity” of the fronds, 
and then passing to those which owe their popularity to the singular malformations which they 
present. But we must admit that whether we study the plants in the living state, or pass 
through our hands a large series of herbarium specimens, it is far from easy to draw any very 
distinct line of demarcation between the forms, which pass one into the other almost imper- 
ceptibly, although extreme examples are distinct enough in appearance. 
The variety molle has small ovate-lanceolate pinnate fronds ; the pinnae are also pinnate, 
with a winged midrib, the lower pair being distant from the rest ; the pinnules are “ flat, 
decurrent, united by wing of midrib, their margins toothed ; the clusters of capsules are very 
* “Nature-printed British Ferns” (8 vo edition), vol. ii., p. 3. 
