ASPIDIUM. 
127 
sharp spines, they are generally crowded so as to overlap 
one another, but this is a variable feature. We saw 
Welsh specimens last year where the pinnae were far 
enough apart to be quite free of one another. Mr. Lowe 
describes an Irish form of this fern, which he calls Poly - 
stichum Lonchitis , var. confertum , it is smaller in size and 
the pinnae are numerous and crowded, overlapping one 
another so that the ear at the base of the one pinna is 
hid by the upper lobe of its neighbour. 
Aspidium Lonchitis , var. multifidum, is forked at the 
point. 
Aspidium Lonchitis , var. proliferurn 3 produces buds in 
the axils of the lower pinnae. 
Both these varieties are of very rare occurrence. 
This fern is sparingly distributed over our alpine dis- 
tricts, being occasionally found among the mountains 
in the lake district of England, and in similar situations 
in Scotland and Wales. It is very rare in Ireland. 
Mr. Backhouse describes this fern as growing on Ben 
Lawers and the Bread albane mountains, “ abounding at 
an elevation of 2000 feet and upwards, frequently asso- 
ciated with Polypodium alpestre and a dwarf Lastrea . 
Mr. Newunan found it in Wales, in a curious chasm 
called Cwm Idwal, the base of which is filled by a 
sheet of water, the Llyn Ogwen. He says — “ In the 
lake grow Isoetes subularia and Lobelia , on the broken 
ground around several species of Lycopodium , Allosorus 
crispus , Cystopteris fragilis, and Hymenophyllum uni - 
laterale , and above, Poly stichum Lonchitis , Asplenium 
viride , Rhodiola rosea , Thalictrum alpinum , and Anthe- 
ricum serotinum , whilst higher up still, Woodsia Ilvensis 
and Lycopodium annoiinum flourish.” 
The Holly-fern is a native of Greenland, North Ame- 
