ot within the margin 
,__ The Blechnvm may, 
however, be at once mown from the Pteris, by the division 
of its fronds, which are merely pinnate, while those of Pteris 
The name Blechnvm is an adaptation of the Greek Uech- 
non, which signifies a Fern. 
COMMON haed feeht. [Plate vnL right-hand fig.] 
This plant is the Blechnvm Spicant. It has also the fol¬ 
lowing names: Blechnvm boreale, Lomariq, Spicant , Aspic- 
mum Spicant, Onoclea Spicant, Acrostichum Spirant, S'Sii- 
thwpterw Spicant, Osmunda Spicant, and Osmunda borealis. 
The common name of this species is very appropriate, 
from the rigid harshness of its texture. It is one of the few 
native kinds which produce two distinct-looking kinds of 
frond—fertile and barren. The fertile ones have their pinnae 
much narrowed, or contracted, as it is called, while the fronds 
themselves are considerably taller than the barren ones. 
Wiese fronds grow in large tufts, and being very gracefully 
/estowed,the — -- ^ 1 
--1 kinds of fronds are of a narrow 
lanceolate form: the barren ones being only deeply pinnar 
tifid, while the fertile ones are pinnate; but the segments in 
both are long and narrow, like the teeth of a comb. The' ; 
batten fronds, which are from one-half to two-thirds the 
height of the fertile ones, assnme a spreading or horizontal 
position, and are attached to the caudex by a very short scaly 
stapea The fertile ones, which are situated in the centre of 
the tufts, are erect, from one to two feet high, the stipes, 
whidi is sparingly furnished with long pointed scales, being * 
nearly half the length, and of a dark Drown colour. The 
Irenas arenot very evident in thefertile fronds, on account of the 
contraction of the parts, hut they resemble those of the bar¬ 
ren ones, except in having a longitudinal venule on each side 
the midvein, forming the receptacle to which the spore-caset 
are attached. The midvein is prominent, and produces a 
series of venules on each side, these becoming forked, and 
extending almost to the margin, terminating in a club-shaped 
head. In the fertile fronds the veinlets are necessarily 
shorter, and connected, as already mentioned, by the longi- 
