42 ferns. [Aspidium. 
Aspidium dilatatum, though the mountain form of this latter plant has the lower 
pinnse much abbreviated. 
In a variety of spinulosum given me by Mr. J. Merrick, of Manchester, the 
lobes on the upper side of each pinna are much larger than those on the lower ; 
also, it may be remarked, that in dry situations the lobes will become- convex, 
but this is by no means common. 
Sit. — On wet moors, sides of pools and ponds, wet hedge-rows, &c. 
Hab. — Sco. : Moray and Rosshire, Rev. G. Gordon. Aberdeenshire, Dr. 
Murray. Dumbartonshire, Mr. J. Hooker. Auchindenny Woods, Edinburgh, 
Mr. Watson. Isle of Man, Mr. Forbes. Near Richmond, Yorks., Mr. J. 
Ward. Ingleborough, Yorkshire, Rev. W. Bree. In a small state at Woolston 
Moss, Lane., and Newchurch Bog, near Over, Cheshire, Mr. W. Wilson. Tit- 
terstone Clee Hills, Shrops., Mr. J. S. Bayly. Bomere Pool, Salop, Mr. C. 
Babington. Warwicksh., Rev. W. S. Bree. Derbys.. Dr. Howitt. Pottery 
Car, near Doncaster, Mr. S. Appleby. Dallington Heath, near Northampton, 
Mr. Anderson. Norfolk, Miss Bell. Near the Windmill, and near the Spring-well, 
on Wimbledon Common, Mr. W. Pamplin. Barnes Common, Surrey (near the 
Water-house), Mr. Castles. Abundant in Essex, Mr. J. Bevis. Common in 
Kent, Mr. W. Pamplin. Tonbridge, Kent, Mr. W. C. Trevelyan. Sussex and 
S. Kent, Rev. G. E. Smith. Wood near Dunsford Bridge, Devon, Mr. Jacob. 
Near Torquay, Dr. Greville. — Wal. : Aber, Caern., Mr. Leighton. Near 
Wrexham, Denb., Mr. J. E. Boivman. Note. — I cannot say whether the Scotch 
and Welsh habitats refer to the above plant, or to the Spinulosum of the Br. FI. 
Geo. — Switzerland, Dauphiny, Saltzburg, Darmstad, and North America. 
9.— ASPIDIUM DILATATUM. 
GREAT SHIELD FERN. DILATED SHIELD FERN. 
(Plate 3, fig. 7.) 
Cha. — F rond tripinnate, triangular. Pinnae opposite, lobes 
deeply dentate, spinulose, petioled. Rachis scaly. 
Syn. — A spidium dilatatum, Willd. Spreng., Forst., Gulp., Gray. — Aspidium 
spinulosum, Sv)z., Sibth., Hook, (not a ) , Mack., Schk. — Polypodium 
cristatum, With., Bolt., Huds., Ehrh., Moench., Lightf . — Polypodium 
dilatatum, Hoffm., Mull . — Polystichum multiflorum, Ruth. Lastrsca 
dilatata, Presl. Newm. 
Fro. — E. B. 1461. — Bolt. 23. — Schk. fit. 47. Neivm. p. 59. 61. 
Des. — Root black, tufted. Frond tripinnate, triangular, from a 
few inches to 2 feet high, dark green, and drooping. Pirnne 
opposite, smooth, oblong, obtuse, pinnate, except the lower pair 
which are doubly pinnate. Lobes ovate, pointed, convex, deeply 
but irregularly serrated and spinulose, petioled, their midribs straight. 
Rachis covered with broad, brown scales. Sori all the summer, 
distinct. Indusiums soon becoming obliterated, round, with a 
lateral notch. 
A very variable plant, altered much by cultivation and circumstances ; thus 
if it grow in a situation which is wet in the spring and dried up in the summer, 
as on the margin of a pond, it will become var. /3, very dark, large, and quite 
