162 LASTR^A FOENISKCII. 
LASTILE'A FCENISE'CII. 
THE specific name, from the Latin fcenum, hay, refers to 
the smell emitted by this plant, but that smell differs so 
little from the smell of other species that we agree with 
Mr. Charles Johnson in wishing that the specific name 
of recurvum, given it by some botanists, had been more 
generally preferred, for recurvum, curled-back, well points 
out the peculiarly crisped appearance of this Fern. 
It has been called Aspidium dilatatum var. concavum ; 
Aspidium recurvum; Aspidium spinulosum, var.; and 
Lophodium fcenisecii. In English it is the Hay-scented 
Buckler Fern, and Eecurved Prickly-toothed Fern. 
Root large and tufted, rootlets numerous. The Fronds 
rise from the tuft in a circle ; they are bright pale green, 
with the leaflets very much curled, or crisped upward; 
rendering their upper surface concave. The stem curves 
downward gracefully, the lower liali being without 
leaflets, but thickly clothed with pale, semi-transparent 
scales; these scales are long, narrow, and usually 
jagged. The general outline of the leaCeted portion is 
a long triangle. The leaflets in full-grown plants are 
constantly three-leafited (tripinnate) at the lower part of 
the frond, and of the lower leaflets generally ; the 
leafits and lobes of the upper parts of the leaflets are 
all finely toothed, each tooth ending in a short spine, 
giving it a crisped, irregular, yet graceful appearance, 
which, combined with the concave form of the leaflets, 
enables it at once to be identified. On the under 
