594 
cix. osmundacEjE. [ Hymenophyllum . 
maglaun mountain, Mount Eagle near Dingle, Iveragh, &c., Co. 
Kerry. — /3. Glouin Caragh, Iveragh, Co. Kerry: IV. Andrews , Esq. 
y.. 6 — 9. — This rare and beautiful fern, together with the species of 
the following genus, have a habit very different from the rest of our 
ferns, and belong to a group which abounds in the tropics. Their 
fronds are membranous and elegantly reticulated ; their depressed 
sessile capsules have a jointed ring which completely surrounds them 
transversely, and they are attached to the receptacle at a distance from 
the ring. 
14. Hymenophyllum Sm. Filmy-fern. (Tab. XI. f. 1.) 
Sori marginal. Capsules upon a narrow receptacle, within a 
2-valve<l involucre which is of the same texture as the frond, 
opening vertically. — Veins forked. — Named from vpqv, iiptvoc, a 
membrane, and cpvWov, a leaf; an admirably characteristic ap- 
pellation. 
1. H. Tunbridgense Sm. ( Tunbridge F.) : fronds tender pin- 
nate, pinnae distichous vertical pinnatifid, the segments linear 
undivided or bifid and as well as the axillary solitary suborbi- 
cular compressed involucre spinuloso-serrate, rachis strongly 
winged. E. B. t. 162 : Newm. p. 321 ; ed. 3, p. 297. 
Moist rocks among moss, in mountainous countries. First found 
at Tunbridge. Abundant in the north-west of England and in Wales, 
and many parts of Ireland. Banks of the Clyde ; Luss by Loch Lo- 
mond ; Arran; Drumlanrig, Dumfrieshire. y. 6, 7. — Habit 
tender and delicate. Pinna pointing in two opposite directions, flat 
and vertical, on the same plane with the winged rachis. Involucres 
slightly swollen at the base, the rest compressed, especially at the 
margin of the valves. 
2. Ii. Wilsoni Hook. ( Scottish F.) ; fronds rigid pinnate, pin- 
nae recurved subunilateral wedge-shaped and 4 — 6-lobed, the 
segments linear undivided or bifid spinuloso-serrate, involucres 
axillary solitary ovate inflated entire, rachis only slightly mar- 
gined towards the extremity. E. B. S. t. 2686 : Neivm. p. 
325. H. unilateral Willd.?: Newm. ed. 3, p. 301. 
Wet rocks. Devon, Cornwall, and north of England; rare. 
Wales. Abundant in the Highlands, especially in the west of 
Scotland, and in many parts of Ireland. 2/.. 6, 7. — More rigid, 
and with larger reticulations than the last ; distinct in its mode 
of growth, for all the pinna are strongly curved backwards, in a 
direction contrary to that of the fructification ; the involucre is larger, 
of a more rigid texture, truly ovate, each valve remarkably convex for 
its whole length, the edges only of the valves being applied to each 
other, and they are quite entire. 
Ord. CIX. OSMUND ACEiE B. Br. (Tab. XI. f. 2.) 
Capsules clustered on the margin of a transformed frond, 
with an obscure ring, reticulate and pellucid, opening by two 
regular valves. Fronds circinnate in vernation. 
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