PRICKLY FERN. 
169 
PRICKLY FERN [one-Jifteenth the natural size), 
PoLYSTiCHUM ACULEA.TUM, Roth, Babington. 
Aspidium aculeatum and lohatum^ Smith, Hooker. 
In one or other of its forms this protean fern seems to be dis- 
tributed throughout the kingdom. I have seen it more or less 
abundantly in every county I have visited, whether in England, 
Wales, Scotland or Ireland ; in the last-named country, how- 
ever, it is less common than in either of the others, the fern 
next described appearing to take its place. It seems to delight 
in the protection of man, its favorite locality being our hedge- 
rows, and its luxuriance being greatly increased by cultivation, 
or even by proximity to cultivated lands : its occurrence on our 
moors, commons, and mountains, is comparatively rare, its sta- 
ture diminutive, and its fronds are rigid and sparingly divided. 
Its European range extends to every country except Spain, 
w^here one would rather suppose it unobserved than absent, since 
it occurs commonly throughout France, especially in the south, 
