146 
Till. ATHYRIL'M. 
The variety mnltifidiim prows from one to two feet 
high, and is chiefly remarkable for the elegant and sym- 
metrical way in which the apices of all the pinme and of 
the frond itself become developed in a corymbose manner 
[A. Filix-foemina "/ and 6.] 
into a tassel-like tuft. The frond, pinnae, and pinnules 
are otherwise quite normal, the latter being narrow and 
elongate, distinct, and deeply cut into narrow lobes, as oc- 
curs in Athyrium rh&ticum. Indeed, were it not for the 
width of the frond, this might perhaps be more correctly 
considered as a form of that species. The son are sub- 
rotund, placed very near the midrib, and finally confluent. 
It is of Irish origin, and was first found by Mr. D. Moore, 
and subsequently by others. Its peculiarities are perpe- 
tuated in plants raised from the spores. 
The variety ramotum grows about a foot high, and is 
somewhat like the last ; but in this the apex of the frond 
is much more compoundly divided, and the pinn* are 
greatly and unequally reduced in size, the consequence 
of which is a total loss of symmetry in the frond. It is 
divided at the apex into numerous narrow branching 
