12 
BRITISH FERNS. 
It is always undesirable to change a familiar name ; and theie- 
fore, in order to create as little alteration as possible,— in those 
families that are particularly rich in varieties, — a plan has been 
adopted of dividing the varieties of the species Aspidium angulare, 
Scolopendrium vulgare, and Asplenium filix-fcemina into divisions, 
groups, and sections, for the distinct varieties are now to be 
reckoned by hundreds in these species : — 
Asplenium Filix-fcemina. 
Division A. 
Group I (branched). 
Section a ramosum. 
,, ft grand iceps. 
,, 7 cristatum. 
,, S crucialum. 
Changes in skeleton. 
Group 2 (dwarfed) 
Section a pumilum. 
,, ft crispatum. 
Group 3 (flexuose). 
Section a flexuosum. 
Division B. Alteration of soft parts. 
Group i (subdivision of segments). 
Section a plumosum. 
,, ft dissectum. 
Group 2 (diminution of soft parts) 
Section a laxurn. 
,, ft depauperatum. 
Group 3 (abbreviated pinnae). 
Section a rotundatum. 
,, ft lineare. 
Section y laciniatum. 
5 lunulatum. 
Scolopendrium vulgare. 
Division A. Changes in skeleton. 
Group I (branched). 
Section a ramosum. Section y conglomeration. 
Sub-section a ramo-inrequale. ,, 8 sagittatum. 
Section ft cristatum. 
Sub-section ft ramo-marginatum. | 
Group 2 (truncate). | Group 3 (flexuose). 
Section a truncatum. J Section a flexuosum. 
Sub-section a peraferens. 
Division B. Alteration of soft parts. 
Group I (increased development). Group 2 (narrowing of skeleton). 
Section a crispum. Section a exiguum. 
,, ft undulatum. 
Group 3 (surface rough). 
Section a muricatum. 
,, ft supralineatum. 
, , 7 marginatum. 
Group 4 (margin altered). 
Section a fissile. 
Group 5 (variegated). 
Section a variegation. 
