312 
HYMENOPHYLLACEiE. 
possess his ^ Species Plantarum ’ may have an opportunity ol 
comparing it with the plant. 
The roots of Trichomanes speciosum., as well as the rhizoma, 
a good deal resemble those of Polypodium vulgare : the rhi- 
zoma is black, tomentose, tough, and remarkably long : I have 
collected specimens which must have been many yards in 
length, and I observed these rhizomata formed a kind of net- 
work over the surface of a rock, to which the roots were slightly 
adhering : this I found to be a character of the plant when most 
luxuriant, but I discovered other smaller plants possessing more 
root and less rhizoma, and having the roots fixed in a thin layer 
of moist earth, among a profusion of moss and Hymenophyllum, 
“ The formation of the young frond takes place about May ; the 
stem then gradually lengthens, without much development of 
the circinate character of the frond till September, when a more 
rapid growth takes place ; about November the full length of 
the stem is attained, but the pinnules are not perfectly formed, 
nor has the frond attained its full development until the autumn 
of the second year : no disposition to bear fruit is shown until 
the autumn of the third year, when the involucres appear, and 
the setae and capsules attain maturity in October. It is very 
rarely that the seed attains maturity in this country : the cap- 
sules are formed within the involucres around the setae, but do 
not attain sufficient ripeness and elasticity to burst and discharge 
the seeds.” Mr. Andrews, from whose letters this description is 
copied almost in his own words, believes that in Ireland the 
seeds are only matured in dry and warm seasons ; and he adds 
that when the fronds are in a moist situation, and do not fruit, 
they wdll preserve their evergreen verdure for many years, but 
when they fructify in perfection, at the third year, the pinnules 
assume a brown withered appearance, and the entire frond 
evinces symptoms of incipient decay. The tomentose covering 
of the rhizoma is found, under a lens of high power, to consist 
of articulated bristles, which are evidently analogous to the 
scales on the stems of other ferns : they may be seen most 
abundantly on the young frond before it has unrolled, and may 
be found scattered here and there on the stem after the frond 
has attained maturity : they are of a rich brown colour, the 
