226 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
deeply cleft or lobed in the lowest part of the 
frond, the divisions diminishing in depth as the 
leaflets, nearing the point of the frond, become 
smaller and smaller. Finally the leaflets merge in 
the frond-tip, which is simply notched. The backs 
of the fronds are clothed to a greater or less 
extent with minute scales and shining hairs or 
bristles. Amongst these hide the spores. 
In both of our species of Woodsia the stipes is 
jointed at a distance of little more than half an 
inch from the crown of the root. When on the 
approach of winter the fronds fall off and decay, 
their separation from the plant takes place, not 
close to the crown, but at the spot where the 
joint already mentioned is placed ; and as the 
stems below the joint stand firm, a cluster of little 
frondless stems remains for some time attached to 
the crown. 
The Oblong Woodsia is only to be found in 
one or two localities in Scotland, in one locality in 
the north of England, and in one or two parts 
of North Wales. No specimen has been seen 
growing wild anywhere in Ireland. 
