Blechnum. j 
FERNS. 
47 
than the barren ones, their pinnae more inclined to be alternate, 
pinnules oblong, elliptic, blunt, their crenate sides turned over upon 
the sori, which are in lines along each side of the lobe, distinct only 
for a very short time at first, then very confluent and crowded. 
Sit. — Southey calls this plant the “ Mountain Parsley,” an appellation 
which well expresses its tender habit, its delicate, lively color, and its numerous, 
finely cut, and crisped leaves. Covering large patches as it sometimes does on 
the tops of rocky mountains, it adds a bright gleam of verdure and of beauty 
to its romantic but barren dwelling place, and becomes an oasis of rich fertility 
upon the precipitous face of a sterile rock. 
Hab. — From 200 yards upwards to a considerable elevation in Caernarvon- 
shire (top of .Snowdon). In Cumberland from 200 or 300 yards to 1040 yards. 
In the Highlands, from the low valleys to 1100 yards on Ben-na Baird. More 
common in the lake district of England than in Scotland, but frequent in seve- 
ral parts of the latter, Mr. H. Watson. Breiddon Hill (12 miles west of 
Shrewsbury), Mr. J. E. Bowman. Greenfield, Saddleworth, Mr. J. Merrick. 
Common about Settle, Yorkshire, Mr. J. Tatliam. Skiddaw, Helvellyn, Sad- 
dleback, Grassmoor, Yale of Newlands, &c., Cumberland, Mr. H. Watson. 
On rocks at the foot of Cheviot, above Langley Ford, Mr. Winch. Near Lan- 
caster, Mr. W. Wilson. — Wal. : Mount Glyder, Mount Snowdon, and Mynydd 
Mawr, Caernarvonshire, Mr. C. C. Babington. Cader Idris, Mr. Purton. 
North Wales (abundantly), Mr. W. Christy. — Sco. : Higher parts of the Tees, 
Mr. Hogg. Rossliire, Rev. G. Gordon. Glen Tilt and Blair Athol, Perthshire, 
Mr. W. Brand. Not rare in Sutherland, Dr. Murray. — Ire. : Abundant on 
the Mourne Mountains, Mr. Mackay. 
Geo. — Lapland, Germany, Switzerland, Pyrenees, Silesia, Sweden, Jutland, 
N orway, Dauphinv, Holland. 
BLECHNUM, Linn. HARD FERN. 
(From jSxwov, a Greek name for a Fern.) 
PLATE OF GENERA, FIG. VIII. 
A genus of 31 species, known by bearing its fruit in closely united masses, not 
on transverse veins, as in Scolopendrium, but one on each side, and close to the 
midrib of the pinnule. Covers attached on the outer side of each mass, opening 
on the bmer side, but not folding over each other, as in the last genus. Our plant 
is properly a Lomaria, both in structure and in habit, and not a Blechnum, as its 
sori are really marginal, and only appear to be annexed to the midrib in conse- 
quence of the linear character of the pinnules of the fertile frond. 
BLECHNUM BOREALE. 
IIABD FERN. ROUGH SPLEENWORT. 
(Plate 4, fig. 2.) 
Cha. — Frond pinnate, erect. Pinnat linear, entire. Rachis smooth. 
Syn. — Blechnum boreale, Swz., Willd., Spreng., Smith, Hook. Mack., Galp., 
Gray. — Blechnum spicant, Roth. Osmunda spicant, Linn., Bolt., 
Hedw., Ehrh., Lightf. — Osmunda borealis, Salisb. — Lonchitis aspera, 
Ray, Ger. — Acrostichum nemorale, Lam. FI. Fr. — Acrostichum spicant, 
Sibth., Fill. — Asplcnium spicant, Bernh. — Onoclea spicant, Hoffm . — 
— Lomaria spicant, Desv. 
Fig.— E.B. Wrt.—Bolt. 6.— Flo. Dan. 99 .—Ger. 1140.— ScM. fil. 110. 
Des. — Root black, tufted, scaly, with stout fibres. Rachis smooth 
