3°8 
THE FERN WORLD 
stipes, and leafy part — rarely exceeding three inches in 
length. The leafy outline is somewhat oblong in shape, 
widest in the middle, where it is rarely more than half an 
inch across, tapering to a blunt point at the apex, and 
tapering also slightly towards the base. It is pinnate, the 
pinna? being bluntly egg-shaped, broadest at their bases, and 
pinnatifid, or deeply notched into lobes, though not cleft 
down to the mid-stems of the pinnae. They are placed in 
somewhat irregular alternation along on opposite sides of the 
rachis, growing smaller towards the apex of the frond, until 
they are merged at the extreme point into a blunt lobe. 
Like liven* is, the lower part of the stipes is jointed, the 
fronds falling off, when they decay, at the joint, and not close 
to the crown of the rootstock. It is noticeable, however, that 
both the stipes and the upper surface of the leafy portion of 
the frond in Alpiiia are much smoother than in llven*is, and 
that the under surface is not so densely covered with scales 
and shining hairs. On this account the spore cases, with 
their fringed indusia, are more conspicuous. The character 
of the venation in Alpina is similar to that in Ilvensis, the 
mid-veins of the pinnae sending out simple or branched 
venules into the lobes. The texture of the fronds is some- 
what thick and leathery. No variations from their normal 
form have been discovered. 
Distribution.- — Like most of our native Ferns this species 
has a tolerably wide range throughout Europe ; for it is an 
inhabitant of Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Lapland, 
Norway, Eussia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Transyl- 
vania. It is also found in India, Siberia, and North America. 
No specimen of this plant has ever been found growing wild 
either in England or Ireland; and in Wales and Scotland 
there are only two or three places in which it has been found. 
These arc in Wales, in the mountainous district of Snowdon, 
in the county of Carnarvon. In this district it has been 
