124 
BRITISH FERNS. 
in one Welsh and two Scotch counties, but always at 
high altitudes. Mr. Backhouse, one of our most suc- 
cessful fern-seekers, had the satisfaction of finding it 
upon the Breadalbane Mountains. He rejoices in having 
discovered what he calls “ the home ” of the Woodsia 
hyperhorea . “ Just think,” he writes, “ of luxuriating 
in the sight of tufts bearing sixty-five, eighty, or even 
a hundred fronds, from two to four inches high ! On 
one ledge of rock I counted seven tufts, all visible with- 
out moving a step. Some are difficult to reach, even 
dangerous. One most luxuriant tuft remains in a con- 
spicuous position, quite near enough to show its true 
character, but guarded by crags that threaten almost 
certain destruction to any one who dares attempt to 
touch it. The erect dense tufts of silvery-green narrow 
fronds are very diverse, both in habit and appearance, 
from those of Woodsia Ilvensis , of which we found four- 
teen plants in less than an hour, on the Dumfriesshire 
Mountains, a few days afterwards.” 
It grows in Sweden, Lapland, Norway, Arctic America, 
the Swiss Alps, the Spanish Pyrenees, the Punjab, and 
in Greenland and British North America. 
Some writers term it the Alpine Woodsia. 
In cultivation this fern requires a compost of peat- 
earth and leaf-mould, with a large proportion of char- 
coal, porous stone, and silver-sand. Its treatment 
should be like that of the Pale Mountain Polypody, 
with drainage of bog-moss and broken crocks. The 
additional protection of a few small pieces of stone placed 
firmly about the base of the plant is prescribed by Mr. 
Johnson for both the Woodsias. 
