338 
THE l-'EEN WORLD 
but tiny leafy expansions of less than a quarter of an inch in 
width. As a consequence the stipes is very short. It is 
furnished with a few golden-coloured scales. Its colour, as 
well as that of the raehis, is yellowish, or golden. The 
pinnae towards the base are distinct from each other, and 
triangular in shape, pointed at their apices, the short ones 
bluntly triangular, the long ones narrowly so. They are 
pinnatitid, or deeply cleft, on each side of their mid-stems, 
into oblong obtuse-pointed pinnules, ■which are never, how- 
ever, quite divided down to the mid-stems of the pinnae, but 
connected by a leafy wing, into which the pinnules run. It 
is in this, the form and arrangement of the pinnae, that they 
so nearly resemble the Male Fern. The system of veins 
consists of wavy mid-veins running through the pinnules, 
and giving out alternately from each side simple or forked 
venules, which bear upon their extremities the small roundish 
clusters of spore cases. The fructification is more abundant 
on the upper side of the frond, the spore cases being 
arranged in lines along the two margins of each pinnule. 
They are covered, as we have seen, by an imperfect indusium, 
which usually consists of a small scale over the centre of each 
sorus, or heap of i spore cases. The rich golden-green colour 
of the fronds of Montana are another feature which renders 
it distinct from most forms of Filix-mas ; and on the under 
surface are scattered a number of glandular bodies, which 
emit the fragrant] scent of the fronds. The young fronds, 
too, when unrolling from the crown, instead of being like 
those of Filix-mas, rust-coloured, have the appearance of 
white silvery balls, and are most beautiful. Then* are 
about eight or nine variations from the normal form of this 
species. 
Distribution. — Ranging from the sea level to an altitude 
of three thousand feet above it, this Fern is found throughout 
Europe, to which quarter of the globe it is believed to be 
