HEATH’S FERN PORTFOLIO. 
MOUNTAIN BUCKLER Y^^^—Lastrea Montana, Fig. i. 
PRICKLY-TOOTHED BUCKLER YY.VM-Lastrea spinulosa. Fig. 2. 
iGIONS more or less mountainous produce THE MOUNTAIN BUCKLER FERN 
a-half feet long— are abundantly produced. These are deciduous and lance-shaped, but they 
taper at both ends, and especially towards the base, where the pinnce, nearly in opposite pairs 
dwindle rapidly in size, until they become, sometimes, mere leafy points. The stipes is short, 
and covered with light-coloured scales. The shorter, basal, pinnce are somewhat triangular ; the 
longer ones taper to a point from their bases, and are deeply cleft (nearly to the mid-stem) 
into short, obtuse, smooth-edged pinnules. The round clusters of spore cases occur in lines on 
each side of the mid-veins of the pinnules, and are more abundant on the upper parts of the 
undersides of the fronds. Habitats.— Open mountain sides, damp mountainous woods, and 
banks of high moorland streams. Distribution.— Belgium, British Islands, Croatia, Denmark, 
France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and 
Transylvania. 
THE PRICKLY-TOOTHED BUCKLER FERN — Lastrea spimilosa — has a tufted 
rootstock, which spreads Into numerous crowns. The fronds— a foot to three feet in length— are 
numerous, nearly triangular, the stipes very long, and scaly, at the base, the pinnce also nearly 
triangular, and placed In somewhat Irregular alternation on the racJiis. The pinnules are 
sharply indented and spined, and somewhat egg-shaped, the lower ones of each pinna, near 
the main rachls, being longer than the upper ones, and more deeply indented, the longest being 
again divided into sharply spined lobes. The spines are turned towards the apices of the 
pinnules. The spore cases. In their round clusters, are arranged In lines along the mid-veins 
either of the pinnce, pinnules, or lobes, according to their size and development (an arrangement 
which Is more or less noticeable in all ferns), and they cover, usually, the entire underside of 
the frond. Habitats.— Damp, marshy, or boggy positions In woods, where the ground is mossy 
from abundant and continuous moisture. Distribution.— Africa (South), America (North), 
Asia (North-east), British Islands, and Europe generally, with the exception of the countries 
of Greece and Turkey. 
Lastrea montana. From a stout rootstock, golden-green fronds— a foot to four-and- 
