HEATH’S FERN PORTFOLIO. 
MALE Y^^'^—Lastrea Filix-mas, Fig. i 
OBLONG WOODSIA— ilvensis. Figs. 2 and 3, 
ALPINE WOODSIA— alpina. Fig. 4. 
TUNBRIDGE FILMY FERN — Hymenophylhim hmbridgense. Fig. 5, 
ONE-SIDED FILMY FERN —HymenophylhLm tmilaterale. F ig, 6, 
R ob UST looking and Vigorous, THE MALE FERN — Lastrea Jilix-mas — well earns its 
virile name. From its stout rootstock it throws up fronds from one to hve feet in length. 
Root-stock, crown, stipes and rachis^ are densely scaly. The stipes is short, the leafy part 
lance-shaped, and the pzsmx, in pairs or alternate, are long, tapering, and more or less deeply cut into 
short, oblong pinnules. The son occur in short lines parallel with the mid-veins of the latter, on 
the upper half of the frond underside. Habitats. — Lanes, stream-banks and woods. Distribution. 
Africa, America, Asia, Brazil, British Islands, California, Caraccas, Equator, Guatemala, 
Madeira, Newfoundland, New Granada, and Peru. 
ELEGANT in appearance, the fronds of THE OBLONG W O OD SI A— Woodsia ilvensis 
which grow from one to six inches, are shaped in accordance with their name.' The pinnce^ 
opposite or alternate, are also oblong and divided into .short, oblong lobes. The sori appear 
along the margins oi the pinncE. Stipes, rachis, and the whole underside are densely covered with 
downy hairs. Habitats. Moist rocky crevices in mountainous districts. Distribution. — 
America (North, and United States), Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, 
Iceland, Italy, Kamtschatka, Lapland, Norway, Russia, Siberia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. 
ITS smaller size is the chief mark distinguishing THE ALPINE OOVtSl A— Woodsia 
alpma from the Oblong Woodsla. Its length varies from one inch to three. The form of 
its frond is oblong, and the opposite or alternate pinnce are notched rather than cleft into rounded 
lobes. The son on the pinncB are arranged on the same plan as in Woodsia ilvensis, but the 
covering of hairs, though similar. Is not quite so dense as in that fern. Habitat.s. — Crannies of 
dripping rocks in mountainous regions. Distribution. — America (North), Finland, France, 
Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lapland, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Siberia, Silesia, Spain, Sweden, 
Switzerland, Transylvania, and Wales. 
THE two species of Filmy Ferns now to be described are remarkable for the .seml-pellucid 
character of their ovate leafy parts. Taking first THE TUNBRIDGE FILMY FERN— 
Hymenophyllum tunbndgeiise — -the black hair-like of each frond rises from a creeping, ha,ir-llke 
rhizoma, and the dark-green alternate pinncB are irregularly branched and forked on both sides of 
their mid-veins, much like the branching of coral. The spore cases are contained in urn shaped 
receptacles borne on the points of veins in the angles of the pinnce. Habitats. — Dark, dripping 
rocky holes and rocky surfaces where perpetual moisture is maintained. Distribution. — Australian 
Islands, Azores, Brazil, British Islands, Cape of Good Hope, Chili, France, Germany, India, Italy, 
Madeira, Mauritius, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, and Tasmania. 
SIMILAR in its general character to the fern just described, the only distinctions worth 
noticing in THE ONE-SIDED FILMY Hymenophyllum unilaterale-2xe, that the 
leafy portion proceeds from one side and that the upper one — of the mid-vein of each pinna, and 
that the fronds are thus one-sided and narrow. The spore cases are contained in the same kind of 
urn-shaped receptacles, and the general length of fronds is about the same. Habitats.— Dark, 
dripping, rocky holes, often at somewhat higher elevations than those of Hymenophyllti7n tun- 
biddgense. Distribution.— Australian Islands, Azores, Brazil, British Islands, Cape of Good Hope, 
Chili, France, Germany, India, Italy, Madeira, Mauritius, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, and 
Tasmania. 
