bree’s fern. 
‘235 
the frond is a most lovely green, and its every division is par- 
tially concave, giving to the plant, especially when young and 
barren, a very peculiar and crisped appearance. 
I am indebted to the Honorable W. H. Dawnay for pointing 
out to me that the fronds of this fern are covered with minute, 
nearly globular, whitish, sessile, glandular bodies, and these 
probably emit the very obvious scent by which this fern may be 
readily distinguished from those with which it has generally been 
confounded. Mr. Dawnay found the plant near Redruth in 
Cornwall, and was struck by its difference, particularly in colour, 
from the species last described, without being aware that Mr. 
Bree had announced it as a distinct species. 
The clusters of capsules are circular, and are equally distri- 
buted over all the frond ; they are partially covered by a slightly 
convex, reniform, and generally lead-coloured involucre, the 
margins of which are jagged and uneven, and more or less beset 
with very minute, globular, sessile glands, similar to those on 
the frond : this character w^as first pointed out to me by Mr. 
Jenner, when we were examining the living plants at Eridge 
rocks ; and I am indebted to that gentleman for much kind as- 
sistance in my endeavours clearly to distinguish this species 
from its congeners. One of these involucres is shown in the 
right-hand figure on the following page. 
A word remains to be said respecting the name. When in 
Ireland I spoke of the plant to Mr. Moore by the name of con- 
cavum, which I merely gave it as a provisional appellation, until 
we could find out some further particulars concerning it : this, 
coupled with the fact that Mr. Babington has mentioned the 
plant as a well-marked variety, probably led to the supposition 
that he proposed the name, which he himself assures me he has 
nowhere done ; if therefore the name be hereafter remembered 
at all, it must be as an unpublished synonym, thus : — Lastrcea 
recurva — Aspidiiim recurvum^ Bree, and Lastrcea concava^ 
Newman, MS. I may perhaps be pardoned for adding that the 
word recurva does not convey to me an idea of the concavity 
of pinnules, for which the plant is particularly remarkable. 
Contrasted with cognate species, this fern may be known by 
its triangular instead of linear or lanceolate frond, by its first 
