Lastrea Spinulosa, Moore. 
Aspidium Spinulosum, Smith. 
Lophodium Spinosum, Newman. 
WITHERING’S FERN. 
Root — Radicles black and wiry: caudex stout. 
Frond — Narrow, linear-lanceolate, pinnate; from one to 
two feet in length. 
Stipes — Nearly as long as the frond, slender and fragile, 
t slightly covered with pale thin membraneous scales, which 
are composed of cells of one size and substance. 
PiNNiE — Pinnate, nearly opposite, angular-lanceolate ; the 
inferior pinnules in the basal pinnae, especially the first pair, 
being much longer than the superior. 
Pinnules — Detached: in the first six pairs of pinnae the 
lower pinnules are longer than the upper; the lobes dentate, 
and the serratures terminating in soft spines, the spinous 
serrature curving towards the apex of the pinnule. 
Venation — “The veins of the pinnules, rvhich in adult 
specimens are sunken on the upper side of the frond , are 
alternately branched, each system of branches entering a 
division of the pinnule, and the anterior branch bearing a 
circular cluster of capsules just within the sinus, which occurs 
between each two divisions/' ... “ Owing to the con¬ 
stant position of the clusters on each pinnule, they form 
a regular double line, the midvein of the pinnule passing 
up the centre."— Newman , p. 161, Third Edition. 
Fructification —The clusters are generally confined to the 
upper portion of the frond. Involucre with a wavy margin. 
Habitat — Damp moist woods and boggy places, near 
Matlock and Ashbourne. 
The careful study of this plant will confirm the character by which it is dis¬ 
tinguished from L. Dilatata in all its forms. L. Spinulosa inhabits more wet and 
boggy places in general, although not seldom gathered with L. Dilatata: its 
habit is slender and light; its stature, when mature, far below that species; its 
scales always of' a thin membrane, consisting of very minute, uniform and elon¬ 
gated cells. The species preserves these characters under cultivation, and has been 
studied in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Cumberland, and North 
Wales. Varieties of L. Dilatata may resemble it: but the scale and habit do 
not agree. 
