32 
FERNS. 
[Aspidium. 
but from the discovery of other remedies equally potent and better understood. 
The stem & roots are bitter and astringent, and have been used instead of hops. 
fi ( variegatum.) White tipped, and edged with green (same habit), 
y (recurvum. ) Pinnae crisped, turned down. Frond small. Rachis smooth, 
c (spinosum.j Pinnules serrate, smaller blended together, larger aurieled. 
The above states of the plant appear constant, besides which it is sometimes 
found with a cormus, some inches above the ground ; Mr. W. Wilson has 
seen it thus in Caernarvonshire, and Mr. Mackay in Wicklow. A singular 
variety with the upper pinna; remarkably compound or branched, has been 
observed in Bore-hill Lane, below Dorking, Surrey, by Mr. W. Pamplin. 
Sit. — Hedge-banks, &c., and in shady lanes throughout the kingdom. 
FIab. — I have received numerous habitats from most of the English and 
Scottish counties, from the extreme south to the Orkney Islands, and yet in 
some places it is rare. Inchnedamff, in Sutherland, is one of these. — $ : Near 
Keswick, Cumberland, Mr. H. C. Watson. — y : Not very uncommon in dry 
situations in the south. — i ; Bomere Pool and Sutton Spa, both near Shrews- 
bury, Mr. W. Leighton. Nettlecomb, Somerset. Mr. W. C. Trevelyan. 
Geo. — North America, throughout Europe, and in Africa. 
7.— ASPIDIUM CRISTATUM. 
CRESTED SHIELD-FERN. 
(Plate 2, fig. 9.) 
Cha. — F rond pinnate. Pinnae opposite, pinnatifid, oblong, 
obtuse. Segments ovate, decurrent, crenate, bristled. 
Syn. — Aspidium cristatum, Sirs., Willd., Smith, Hook., Spreng., Gulp., 
Mack., Schk., Pursh. — Polypodium cristatum, Linn., Afzel in Stockh. 
Trans, for 1787. — (Not of Bolt., With., or Hnds.) — Polystichum crista- 
tum, Roth, Decan, Hqffm. — Polypodium callipteris, Ehrh., Hoffm. 
Fig. — Hook, in Flo. Lon., new ser. 113. — E. B. 2125. (not 1949.) 
Des. — Root tufted. Fronds erect, rigid, yellowish green, bipin- 
nate, oblong, blunt. Pinnae opposite, 8 to 1 4 pairs, very distant 
from each other, short, ovate, oblong, obtuse, very deeply pinnatifid 
or rather pinnate at their lower part. Segments ovate, crenate, 
each crenature furnished with two or three small sharp points or 
bristles, the principal vein in each segment slightly crooked, but the 
midrib of the whole pinna straight. Rachis slightly scaly only 
towards the lower part, where for about one-third of its height it is 
otherwise naked. Sori large, very distinct, black at first, afterwards 
brown. Cover white when young, very thick, circular, with a 
lateral notch, and fixed by the centre. 
Few plants liave occasioned more discussion than this. The difficulty has 
arisen chiefly because sufficient stress has not been laid upon the simply pin- 
nate character of the frond ; had this been regarded more, Aspidium spinu- 
losum would not so often have been confounded with it. The Cristatum, 
besides being less divided, has a more obtuse, more linear frond, and contracts 
very much below. The sori of Cristatum are comparatively much larger and 
