J3RISTLE FERN* 
305 
BRISTLE FERN, [half the natural size). 
Trichomanes speciosum, Willdeiiow, Babington. 
Trichomane% hrevisetum, Smith, Hooker. 
This appears to me the most interesting of all our ferns : 
whether we regard its rarity, its beauty, its excessive susceptibility 
to injury from exposure when in cultivation, its entire absence 
from all European countries or islands, with the single excep- 
tion of Ireland, or its remarkable botanical characters, — some- 
what combining those of true ferns, mosses and seaweeds,— it 
cannot fail to be regarded with feelings of deep interest. 
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