LASTR^A FIL.IX-MAS. 155 
durable, scolloped, swollen, with a cleft terminating in 
the centre. Spores numerous, shining brown, prominent, 
round, and just beyond the edge of the cover. 
Three varieties of this Fern occur, and have been 
thus well particularised by Mr. Charles Johnson : 
" 1. incisa. Frond robust, broadly lanceolate ; pinnae 
distant ; pinnules distinct, elongate, narrow, acuminate, 
deeply incised, the lobes serrated. Sori extending nearly 
the entire length of the pinnules. Lastrea Filix-mas, /8. 
incisa, Moore, Handbook Brit. Ffrns, 50. Aspidium Filix- 
mas, 0. erosum, Hooker and Aniott. Dryopteris affinis, 
Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 187. 
" 2. abbrKvisita. Frond small, lanceolate, pinnate. Sori 
confined to the base of contracted or obsolete pinnules, 
forming a linear series on each side of the mid- vein of the 
pinnae. Lastrea Filix-mas, 0. abbreviatn, Babington. Poly- 
stichum abbreviatum, De Candollv. 
" 3. Borreri. Frond narrow lanceolate. Rachis clothed 
with ruddy-golden scales and hairs. Sori few, large, two or 
three pairs at the base of each pinnule. Dryopteris Filix- 
mas, var. Borreri, Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 189. 
" Of these, the variety incita is far from uncommon ; 
abbreviata lias been found on Ingleborough, Yorkshire, on 
the basaltic cliffs of Teesdale, and in the Peak district, 
Derbyshire, everywhere apparently in dry localities ; Borreri 
seems to be common, though first observed by Mr. Borrer, 
in Devonshire, as a variety ' with more copious and brighter- 
coloured scales on the rachis, and with a bright golden- 
yellow tinge on the whole frond.' Brit. Flora. 
" Abbreviata retains its distinguishing features in all soils 
and under different treatment in cultivation, and may perhaps 
eventually prove a separate species." ( Sowerby's Ferns. ) 
This is too common a Fern to require the places 
