27. 
THE BROAD BUCKLER FERN. 
Lastreci dilatata. 
Plate 9, Fig. 1, Page 301. 
Besides being amongst the handsomest of the Buckler Ferns, 
and indeed amongst the handsomest of all our native Ferns, 
Lastrea dilatata is also the tallest of the Lastreas. Its specific 
name of dilatata , ‘expanded,’ or ‘spreading,’ has been given 
in allusion to its arching and spreading habit of growth. 
In damp woods and the sloping banks of shady lanes, as well 
as on the margins of running streams, this Fern is found. It 
is rarely seen growing in the open and exposed situations in 
which the Male Fern is frequently abundant. Small plants 
may sometimes be found in such positions, but the finest and 
the most handsome specimens, and withal the most graceful, 
must be sought for in the dampest and shadiest places. 
Description. — Under the most favourable circumstances 
of growth, the fronds of this Fern will attain a height of as 
much as five or six feet, though, as commonly encountered 
in our shady, wooded, and moist hedge-banks, three or four 
feet is its length. Tts rootstock is large and tufted, the 
crown often raised somewhat above the surface of the soil, 
and furnished with an abundance of fibrous rootlets. The 
stipes is very variable in length, sometimes being nearly as 
long as the leafy portion, sometimes, and indeed more 
usually, a third of its length, and sometimes less than 
that. It is furnished with very dark-coloured scales, 
