CHAPTER XI. 
THE BUCKLER FERNS 
{Lastrea. Stn. Nephrodium). 
E now come to the robuster genus of the Buckler 
Ferns, or Lastreas, the majority of which, though 
often found as seedlings in any chinks which 
will afford roothold and shelter, are thorough 
ground Ferns, attaining their greatest develop- 
ment in plantations, hedgerows, and so on. A 
general compost of good loam and leaf mould 
or peat, in equal parts, with a little sand to keep it 
open, will suit them all. This in most cases will 
he found to be Dame Nature’s own mixture where they grow 
most luxuriantly. They derive their name of Buckler Ferns 
from the shape of the little covers over the spore-heaps; the 
distinction, however, in this respect between the Buckler 
Ferns and the allied family of the Shield Ferns is, like the 
distinction between the names, too fine drawn to be popularly 
appreciable. The Buckler Fern spore-covers are, however, 
kidney shaped, and attached to the frond by a short stalk 
springing from the notch, while in the Shield Ferns they are 
quite round and attached, mushroom fashion, by a central stalk. 
It will be seen by this that, apart from the other characters 
of the two families, the notch in the spore-cover, or its absence, 
is the distinctive mark of the fructification. 
