Lastrea Spinulosa, Moore. 
Asphidium Spinulosum, Smith. 
Lophodium Spinosum, Newman. 
WITHERING’S FERN. 
Root — Radicles black and wiry, caudex stout. 
Frond — Narrow, linear-lanceolate, pinnate; from one to 
two feet in length. 
Stipes — Nearly as long as the frond, slender and fra- 
gile, slightly covered with pale thin membraneous scales, 
composed of cells of one size and substance. 
Pinnae — Pinnate, nearly opposite, angular-lanceolate ; the 
inferior pinnules in the basal pinnae being much longer than 
the superior, and especially so in the first pair of inferior 
pinnules. 
Pinnules — Detached, in the first six pairs of pinnae the 
lower pinnules are longer than the upper ones ; the lobes 
are dentate, and the serratures terminate in soft spines, the 
spinous serrature curving towards the apex of the pinnule. 
Venation — “The veins of the pinnules, which in adult 
specimens are sunken on the upper side of the frond, are 
alternately branched, each system of branches entering a divi- 
sion of the pinnule, and the anterior branch bearing a circular 
cluster of capsules just within the sinus, which occurs between 
each two divisions.” ... “ Owing to the constant position 
of the clusters on each pinnule, they form a regular double 
line, the mid vein of the pinnule passing up the centre.” — 
Newman, p. 161 , Third Edition. 
Fructification — The clusters are generally confined to the 
upper portion of the frond. Involucre with a wavy margin. 
Habitat — Damp moist woods and boggy places, near 
Matlock and Ashbourne. 
4 
