LADY FERN. 
245 
Athyrium Filix-femina^ var. convexum.^ (See figure c, p. 244). 
Athyrium rh(Bticu7n, Roth. 
Stalk scarcely a third as long as the frond, and clothed with 
a few long brown scales : fronds of moderate size, semi-erect, 
pale yellowish green, linear, pinnate ; pinnae distant, pinnate, 
midrib not winged; pinnules linear, very narrow, distant, convo- 
lute, the edges folding over the clusters of capsules, instead of 
being flat and spreading as in the forms previously described ; 
their margins are notched rather than toothed, and the divisions 
from their convexity appear rounded, 
the clusters of capsules are densely 
crowded, and when mature become con- 
fluent, covering the entire under side of 
each pinnule. Roth describes a seedling 
of this species under the name of var. 
minus y of which the fronds are less than 
a foot in length and of a brighter green 
colour, the pinnules are more deflexed 
and still more convolute, and the clus- 
ters of capsules, even in the mature 
state, are less confluent. 
Smith has described this seedling or 
starved variety under the name of Aspid, 
irriguum; why he has done so without 
alluding to Roth’s invaluable volume, 
which, from the frequently recurring 
quotations, evidently lay open before 
him, is one of those botanical mysteries 
which often perplex the enquirer, yet so 
it is. His description of Roth’s Athy- 
rium rhddticUmy var. minus y under its al- a. rhsetlcum, var. mmus, [Roth). 
tered generic and specific names, is in these words. 
A. irriguum. Brook Shield-fern. Frond lanceolate, doubly 
pinnate ; leaflets oblong, deeply serrated, pointless. Stalk 
quadrangular. Cover roundish oblong, finally kidney-shaped, 
* In this instance I substitute a name of my own, from feeling a doubt 
whether the plant be really the rhceticum of Linneus. 
