30 
of this species, and a large number of new varieties, we are 
indebted to Mr. Moly, of Hawkchurch. This plant much 
resembles a small form of the Male Fern, but instead of the 
fronds having a leathery texture, they are thin, delicate, 
and of a pale green colour. The clusters of spores are 
small and round near the edge of the lobe or leaflet, and in 
fine specimens arranged in two rows, one on each side of 
the mid-vein. From the mid-vein issue on each side alter- 
nate or sometimes opposite veins. See Plate V., fig. a. 
The cluster of spores is not at the tip of the veins, as in the 
Common Polypody, but always a little before its extremity. 
The veins extend to the edge of the leaf, which is not the 
case with the Common Polypody. The leaflets or lobes are 
oblong and blunt, and, generally, not notched at the edges. 
The pinnae or branches are deeply pinnatifid, but scarcely 
ever sufficiently divided to form distinct leaflets. The 
pinnae also are nearly or quite opposite, united by the leaves 
to the mid-stalk or rachis, except the lowest, which some- 
times has a little stalk. All the branches point upwards, 
except the undermost pair, which always bend downward, 
as if they felt their great inferiority to their elder brothers, 
and hung down their heads before them. The lowermost 
branches are also at a greater distance than the others are 
from those above them. The stalk of the Beech Fern is 
frequently longer than the frond, pale green and brittle, 
except near the base, where it is glossy brown and covered 
with scales. The plant has a creeping root, about the 
thickness of a straw, dark brown, tough, hairy, and slightly 
scaly when young, but when old without scales and naked. 
The frond would be decidedly triangular in form if the 
lowest pair of pinnae did not bend downward. This makes 
it appear in some degree egg-shaped. This Fern rises up 
in May on erect and brittle stems. In July it attains 
perfection, when its position is nearly horizontal. Its 
foliage fades and dies, when the weather becomes cold and 
chilly. Its height, including the stalk, is from four to 
twenty inches. 
This plant has befen found in several parts of Devonshire, 
especially Dartmoor : it is, however, more luxuriant in the 
north of England and Scotland, amidst moss, on wet rocks 
