216 BRITISH FERNS. 
dwarf plant, the steins seldom growing higher than one 
foot, and often stopping far short of that stature ; the 
ridges on the stem are promi- 
nent from the size of the flinty 
particles; the sheaths are also 
ribbed, pale green below, and 
black above ; the teeth awl- 
shaped, black, with a white 
border. The black ring of the 
upper part of the teeth, its 
pale green base, and the white 
margin to the teeth has pro- 
cured for this species the 
name variegatum. 
The cone is pointed, bearing 
about twenty scales, and as many white capsules. 
In a section of the stem we observe a small central 
cavity, ridges well-defined by two prominent rows of 
crystals, a circle of egg-shaped apertures placed beneath 
the furrows but nearer to the inner than the outer sur- 
face, and the second circle of smaller apertures rather 
alternating with the larger than placed within it as in 
other species. 
This plant generally inhabits maritime regions, damp 
sands, and ditches in such localities. 
This species bears a close resemblance to the allied 
ones, E . hyemale and E . trachyodon , and many learned 
botanists regard them as varying forms of the same 
species. 
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