FERNS. 
[ Cryptogramma. 
58 
CRYPTOGRAMMA CRISPA. 
ROCK-BRAKE. STONE-FERN. CRISPED FERN. PARSLEY-FERN. 
(Plate VI, fig. 2.) 
Cha. — F rond thrice pinnate. Fertile pinnules oblong, blunt ; 
barren ones wedge-shaped, cleft, crenate. 
Syn. — Cryptogramma crispa, Hook, in Br. FI., Mack. — Pteris crispa, Linn., 
MSS., Wild., Sws., Hull, With., Smith, Hook, in FI. Sco. — Osmunda 
rupestris, Salis6. — Osmunda crispa, Linn, in Sp. PI., Huds., Lightf, 
Bolt. — Stegania onocleoides, Gray. — Onoclea crispa, Roth., Hoffm . — 
Allosorus crispus, Bernh., Kaulf., Sprang. 
Fig. — E. B. 1160. — Bolt. 7. — Flo. Dan. 496. — Pluk. Phyt. t. 5, f. 2. — 
Newm. 18. 
Des. — Root slightly creeping, long and fibrous. Frond thrice 
pinnate, deciduous, of a very lively green colour, 3 to 12 inches high. 
Rachis slender, smooth, and shining. Barren pinnules wedge- 
shaped or roundish, deeply cut and crenate, pinnae nearly opposite, 
but not always so, four or five pairs. Fertile fronds taller and more 
robust, but less expanded 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 hahit, its delicate, lively colour, 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 the otherwise sterile rock. 
IIab. — 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 tbe Highlands, from the low valleys to 1100 yards on Ben-na Baird. More 
common in the lake district of England than in Scotland, hut frequent in several 
parts of the latter, Mr. H. C. Watson. Breiddon Hill (twelve miles west of 
Shrewsbury), Mr. J. E. Bowman. Greenfield, Saddlewortli, Mr. J. Merrick. 
Higher parts of the Tees, Mr. Hogg. Common about Settle, Yorkshire, Mr. J. 
Tatham. Skiddaw, Helvellyn, Saddleback, Grassmoor, Yale of Newlands, &c., 
Cumberland, Mr. H. C. IV at son. On rocks at the foot of Cheviot, above Langley 
Ford, Mr. Winch. Near Lancaster, Mr. W. Wilson. — Wales: Mount Glyder, 
Mount Snowdon, and Mynydd Mawr, Caernarvonshire, Mr. C. C. Babington. 
Cader Idris, Mr. Purton. North Wales (abundantly), Mr. W. Christy. — 
Scot. : Ross-shire, 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, 
Norway, Tlauphiny, Holland. 
