12 
BRITISH FERNS. 
It is always undesirable to change a familiar name ; and there- 
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 : — 
Asplenii 
Division A. 
Group i (branched). 
Section a ramosum. 
,, ft grandiceps. 
,, 7 cristatum. 
,, 5 cruciatum. 
m Filix-fcemina. 
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 laxum. 
,, ft depauperatum. 
Section a rotundatum. 
,, ft lineare. 
Group 3 (abbreviated pinna:). 
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-imequale. ,, 5 sagittatum. 
Section ft cristatum. 
Sub-section ft ramo- marginatum. | 
Group 2 (truncate). 
Section a truncatum. 
Sub-section a peraferens. 
Division B. 
Group I (increased development). 
Section a crispum. 
,, ft undulatum. 
Group 3 (surface rough). 
Section a muricatum. 
,, ft supralineatum. 
,, 7 marginatum. 
Group 3 (flexuose). 
Section a flexuosum. 
Alteration of soft parts. 
Group 2 (narrowing of skeleton), 
Section a exiguum. 
Group 4 (margin altered). 
Section a fissile. 
Group 5 (variegated). 
Section a variegatum. 
