48 
BRITISH FERNS . 
being covered by a kidney-shaped indusium, having 
the margin entire. The plant in the Royal Gardens, 
Kew, under the name of Lastrea uliginosa, corresponds 
vith this species. 
It is one of the most common and generally dis¬ 
tributed of our British Ferns, growing in woods and 
on sheltered banks throughout the kingdom. It is 
common on the continent of Europe and Russian 
Asia ; and is to be found in Epping Forest, near 
London, in Cheshire, Norfolk, and Nottinghamshire. 
This fern is by no means difficult to cultivate. It 
will bear exposure, if well supplied with water; but to 
obtain it in its beauty it must be screened from the 
direct heat of the sun. When potted, it requires 
nothing but peat, and should be kept constantly 
standing in water. It is often mistaken for Nephro- 
dium dilatatum , especially when dried ; as, indeed, in 
this state all plants are more difficult to recognise 
than when freshly gathered. Useful as is the herba¬ 
rium in preserving the outlines of each plant, its .style, 
tints, character, and texture, must of course be lost in 
the sameness of one now uniform body. It is 
“ And yet it is not; no more than the shadow 
Upon the hard, cold, flat, and polished mirror 
Is the warm, graceful, rounded, living substance 
Which it presents in form and lineament.” 
Sir Walter Scott. 
Nephrodium spinulosum recurvum is a variety 
figured in our plate; it differs from the original fern 
