THE BUCKLER FERNS. 
239 
embankments, which, with the trees which crowned 
their tops, cast dark shadows on the narrow 
carriage-way. We were close upon the habitat of 
the fern we were seeking; but although carefully 
searching the hedge-bank as we neared the spot 
we could not find a stray specimen. All at once, 
however, our guide stopped, and pointing to the 
hedge-bank on the right invited us to search. 
We had arrived within the charmed circle. The 
bank was literally clothed with splendid specimens 
of Lastrea recurva , their fronds revelling in the 
twilight of the hedge, and their roots plunged 
into the rich soft leaf-mould of the bank. 
The inexperienced fern-hunter is very likely to 
mistake small plants of the Broad Buckler Fern 
for the Hay-scented Fern. But although there 
is a general resemblance between the two, there are 
peculiarities about the latter which render it easily 
recognizable. The general form of the frond, the 
form of the branches, and the peculiar elongation 
of the leaflets on the under part of the mid-stem 
of the lower branches of the frond are characteristic 
of both Dilatata and Recurva. But there is this 
