39 
as represented in woodcut c. page 15. The frond is scarcely 
ever erect in growth. The branches are nearly opposite. 
The clusters of fruit are distinct. The veins are branched 
and the fruit is always on the upper branch of the vein. 
As there is some difficulty in discerning the difference 
between this and the two following species we call attention 
to the four following marks of distinction. 1. In no case, 
except in seedlings and starved small specimens is the frond 
triangular. It is egg-shaped or lance-shaped. The three 
lowest pinnae, as has been already observed, are shorter than 
the fourth, and each of these shorter than the one above. 
Thus if the lowest were seven inches, the second would be 
about seven inches and three quarters, the third eight inches 
and a quarter, the fourth nearly nine inches. 2. The scales 
have a dark centre with a transparent edge as represented 
in woodcut d. This may not always appear at first, but 
will if the plant is kept for a few hours or some of the 
scales will have their middle darker than the. outer part. 
Babington remarks, The largest scales of the full-grown 
plant should be examined.” 3. The leaflets are more or 
less drooping. They may sometimes be flat, but never 
with their edges curled upward. The whole frond is arched 
or curved in its position. 4. The covers of the clusters 
of fruit, when examined under a glass, will be found to have 
stalked glands to their edges. This, as all other microscopical 
investigations, must be done carefully or we shall ourselves 
break off the delicate glands. 
It seems very doubtful whether this plant, so common in 
our woods and copses, has been alluded to by our old Her- 
balists or even Bay. Perhaps Gerarde when he describes 
what he calls ‘‘a branched Male Pern with toothed pin- 
nules”* speaks of this species. He says, “ The side branches, 
the longest being the third pair from the root, were nine 
inches long, and shorter and shorter toward the top, in 
number about twenty pair.” Whether Kay alluded to this 
or the following species is not clear ; Newman thinks the 
following. It is not at all likely that he passed by unnoticed 
all three of this group. In some instances, especially in dry 
Filix mas ramosa pinnulis dentatis. 
