220 
HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS. 
out and terminating in a rigid point ; they are attached 
directly to the stems without stalks, and are arranged in 
an indistinctly spiral or somewhat five -ranked order. The 
lower leaves, that is to say, those remaining on the older 
portions of the stem, are more spreading than those on the 
younger growth, and indeed on the oldest portions often 
become somewhat deflexed : they have a yellowish-green 
colour, and are of a hard, rigid texture ; they have, more- 
over, a stout midrib, prominent at the back. 
The spike of fructification is in this species perfectly 
stalkless, being seated directly on the termination of the 
leafy branch. It is about an inch long, of an oblong form, 
and consists of closely-overlapping bracts, of a roundish- 
ovate form, having a long narrow point and jagged mem- 
branous margins. In the axil of the bracts is produced a 
large reniform capsule, containing numerous minute pale- 
yellowish spores. The bracts become reflexed when these 
spores have escaped from the burst capsule. 
This is a rare species, confined to wild mountainous 
localities, occurring in the Scottish Highlands and the 
Northern Isles, and in Carnarvonshire and the Lake district. 
It is plentiful in the pine-forests of the North of Europe, 
and in some parts of North America. 
