Li 
B. 2. 
Of the Hiftory of Plants: 
lii 9 
ThcVcfcription. 
I * I " He male Feme bringeth forth prefently from the root broad Ieaues and rough, fome- 
what hard, eafie to be broken, of a light greene colour, and ftrong fmell, more than a 
cubit long, fpred abroad like wings, compounded as it were of a great number Han- 
ding vpon a middle rib,euerie one whereof is like a feather, nicked in the edges, and on the backe- 
iide are fprinkled as it were with a very fine earthy-coloured duft or fpots.which many rashly haue 
taken for feed : the root confifteth of a number of tufts or threds, and is thicke and blacke, and is 
without ftalke and feed, and altogether barren. 
t Filicis ( vulgo) nuris varieties & different ie. 
Differences of the male Feme. 
T haue obferued foure forts of Feme, by moft writers efteemed to be the male Feme of Diofcoridcs: 
by AnguHLra, Gcfner, Cffalfintts, and Clufins , accounted to be the female, and fo indeed doe I 
thinke them to be, though I call them the male, with the multitude. Ifyoulooke on thefe Femes 
according to their feuerall growths and ages, you may make many more'forts of them than I haue 
done; which I am afraid hath beene the occafion of deferibing more forts than indeed there are 
in nature. Thefe deferiptions I made by them when they were in their perfect growths. 
I Filixmtts ramefa pimulii dent, it is. 
M 
iff t" 
The roots are nothing but an aboundance of finall blacke hairy firings, growing from the lower 
parts of the maine flalkes (for ftalkes I will call them) where thofe ftalkes are ioyned together 
Atthe beginning of the Spring you may perceiue the Ieaues to grow forth of their folding chi- 
llers, couered with browmfh feales at the fuperficies of the earth, very clofely ioyned together • a 
young plant hath but a few Ieaues 3 an old one, ten, twelue, or more : each ftalke at his lower end 
neeretheioyningtohisfellowesjathisfirftappearingjbeforeheis an inch long haui.ng fome of 
thole blacke fibrous roots for his fuftenance. The Ieaues being at their full growth hath each of 
them a three-fold diuifion, as hath, that Feme which is commonly called the female : the maine 
ltalke the tide branches growing from him, and the nerues growing on thofe fide branches bea- 
nng the leaiic s : the maine ftalke of that plant I deferibe was fully foure foot Ions (but there re 
vfually from one foot to foure in length) full of thofe brownilh feales, efpecia! ly toward the tool 
hrme, one fide flat, the reft round, naked fully one and twenty inches,to the firft paire of fide bran- 
c h^ s - The fiaeh; ranches, the longeft being the third paire from the root, were nine inches long 
and Ihorter and ihorter towards the top, in number about twenty paire • for the moft part towards 
the root they grow by couples, almoftoppofite, the neerer the top the further from onpofition : 
the nerues bearing the Ieaues, the longeft were two inches and a quarter long, and fo Ihorter and 
ihorter toward the tops of the fide branches ; about twentie in number on each fide of the lon<reft 
hde branch The Ieaues grow for the moft part by couples on the nerue, eight or nine paire on a 
nerue ; each leafe being gaftred by the fidcs, the gafhes ending with iharpe points, of a deep green 
onthevpperfide,onthevnder fide paler, and each leafe hauing two rowesofdufty red feales" of a 
browne or blackilh colour Howard the top of the maine ftalke thofe fide branches change into 
nerues bearing only the Ieaues. When the Ieaues are at their full growth,you may fee in the mid- 
deft of them at their roots the faid fcaly folding cluftet;and as the old leaueswith their blacke 
threddy roots wholly periftr, they fpringvp; moft yeares yon may finde many of the old Ieaues 
greene all the Winter, efpccially in warme places. Thisgroweth plentifully in the boggy fha- 
Oivie moores neerc Durford Abbey in Suftex,andalfoon the moift fhadowie rockes by Maple- 
durham in Hampftnre, ncere Peters-field , and I haue found it often on the dead putrified bodies 
and items of old rotten okes, in the faid moores ; neerethe old plants I haue obferued verie many 
imadyong plants growing , which came by the falling of the feed from thofedufty feales : for I 
beleeueall herbes haue feeds in themfelues to produce their kindes, Gen. i. n. & 12. 
The three other haue but a twofold diuifion, the many ftalks and the nerues bearino- the Ieaues 
The roots of them all are blacke fibrous threds like the firft, their maine ftalks grow manv thicke 
ant clofe together at the root, as the firft doth : the difference is in the fafhionof their Ieaues and 
manner of growing, and for diftimftions fake I haue thus called them : 
2 Filix mat non ramofapinnuUsUtii denfts minutim dent at k, 
Tne Ieaues are of a yellowifh greene colour on both fides, fet very thicke and clofe together on 
the 
