25 . 
THE ALPINE WOODSIA. 
Woodsia alpina. 
Plate G, Fig. 4, Page 235. 
Though this extremely beautiful but diminutive little Fern 
is reputed to be exceedingly rare, even rarer than Woodsia 
ilvemis — only a small number of habitats having been 
recorded — it is possible, as already suggested in the case of 
the Oblong Woodsia, that it may grow plentifully in in- 
accessible localities, or in localities which, if not absolutely 
inaccessible, are so difficult of access as to have hitherto 
precluded search. The specific name of the present species 
denotes the nature of the localities in which it is found, 
namely, high mountainous districts. In such districts it 
grows in the shady clefts and crevices of moist and dripping- 
rocks . 
Description. — If a frond of the Oblong Woodsia were 
photographed, and the figure reduced by the process to half 
the natural size of the frond, the result would give something- 
like a general representation of Woodsia alpina. The little 
plant grows to about half the size of its relative Ilvensis, and 
may be, in some sense, regarded but as a diminutive likeness 
of the latter. Yet there are some peculiarities, which, in 
addition to its size, entitle it to take rank as a distinct 
species. It grows from a tufted rootstock, similar to Ilvensis, 
though smaller, throwing up its fronds in little tufts. The 
stipes is shorter than the leafy portion, the entire frond — 
