158 BRITISH FERNS— SUB-ORDERS III. AND VI. 
in Nottinghamshire. In 1855 only three plants could be found, 
and they were gradually perishing for want of water. One of 
these was removed into my fernery at Highfield House, and it 
is still alive ; the other two perished in 1857. It is, or was, 
found in twenty-six English, five Welsh, ten Scotch, and nine 
Irish counties, Anglesea, Isle of Wight, Arran, Bute, Mull, Islay, 
Uist, Harris, Lewis, Shetland, and Jersey. It is also widely spread 
on the Continent ; in India, Algeria, Natal, Madagascar, New- 
foundland, Canada, United States, Mexico, Brazil, and the Azores. 
Fronds somewhat erect and trunk-like, the stipes being half the 
length of the frond ; yellowish-green in colour, and broadly lance- 
olate in form ; the pinnules sometimes being i\ inches long. The 
fronds are part sterile, and part have a terminal fertile panicle, 
giving the appearance of a flower. It cannot be mistaken for any 
other fern. 
Varieties. 
1. bulbifera, Lowe. The exact counterpart of cristata, but bear- 
ing bulbils at the base of the pinnae. Raised from spores by Mr. 
Clift, of Birmingham. 
2. capitata, Lowe. Dwarf. 16 inches in length, three-fourths 
of which is the stipes. Crown, spreading and almost creeping, 
making a wide plant with numerous fronds, which give a ball-like 
character. It is a conglomerate variety, and was raised from a 
bulbil of bulbifera by myself. The plant is still in my possession. 
3. cristata, Moore. Extremely handsome. Length, 3 feet. The 
apices of all the pinnules are dilated and crested. It was intro- 
duced by Messrs. Osborn & Son, of Fulham. I had a plant in 
1866 that was 14 feet in circumference. 
4. interrupta, Moore. This has a few normal pinnae, the remainder 
reduced in size, and of a rounder form. 
5. Phillipsii, Lowe. Another interrupted form, found by Mr. W. 
H. Phillips, of Belfast, in Co. Fermanah. It is more distinct than 
v. interrupta. 36x15 inches. 
6. purpurascens, Moore. Remarkable for its colour; but is 
distinct also in habit, not being unlike Osmunda spectabilis, a 
North American species. 
7. ramo-cristata, Jones. Raised from spores. Almost a copy 
of cristata ; but the stalk splits into two in the upper portion of the 
frond. 
8. undulata, Brown. From the Azores. 
SUB-ORDER VI. OPHIOGLOSSACE^:. 
MOON WORT. 
Botrychium Lunar i a. — Swartz. 
A COMMON, but local, inconspicuous species ; growing in dry 
mountain pastures ; having a single, pinnate, stout, fleshy frond ; 
