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LADY FEEJST. Aihyrium Jilix femina. 
See page 53 . 
1. Deep-cut or incised Lady Fern. Incisum, This is a 
very fine and luxuriant form of the Lady Derns, attaining 
the height of three or four feet. The root-stock is stout 
and firmly rooted. The fronds are large, broadly lance- 
shaped, and, though not quite erect, may be described as 
slanting or gracefully drooping. The foliage is soft, the 
stalk and rachis are quite stiff and rigid. The stalk is about 
a fourth the length of the frond, black and thickened at the 
lowest part. The mid-stem is by no means transparent. 
The pinnae have distinct leaves and would be linear if they 
did not taper towards the summit. The leafiets are large, 
long, gradually tapering, and deeply divided. Where they 
divide, the slit reaches almost to the mid-rib. These are also 
flat and have at the ends of their lobes two or three teeth. 
These lobes or segments are oblong, and have sometimes 
also at the sides a few sharp teeth. The clusters of fruit 
are generally curved, and when the covers disappear, are 
often crescent-formed rather than circular. This variety is 
common, and grows abundantly under hedge-banks where 
there are little purling streams. Magnificent specimens 
of this variety grow on the hedge-bank of a lane between 
Broadwinsor and Stoke. 
2. Erect Lady Eern. Convexum, Newman. SJioeticiim, 
Moore. This is more delicate and frail, of a pale green 
colour, and a softer texture. The root-stock is very stout, 
firmly fixed in the soil and difficult to be eradicated. The 
stalk is short, thickened and wide at the base, with dark- 
tipped brown scales. The frond is bipinnate, and grows 
erect, one or two feet high, sometimes more. Its appearance, 
though graceful, is never so fine and luxuriant as that of the 
preceding species. The rachis and stalk is four-sided, some- 
what transparent, and often tinged with a reddish colour. 
The lower pinnae frequently bend downward, and the higher 
ones upward, with a slight tendency near the summit to 
turn back. The leaflets, owing to the edge curling back, 
appear quite linear, but if they were expanded, it would be 
found that 'they are wider at the base, where there is a 
