MARSH BUCKLER FERN. 
49 
only in the pinnules being somewhat smaller and 
narrower, and a trifle curved forward in their margins, 
so as to present a prickly-looking surface, like that of 
holly. 
MARSH BUCKLER FERN. 
NEPHRODIUM THEL YPTERIS, 
Swartz, Smith, Hooker, Bentham. 
(Plate V. Fig. 2 .) 
SYNONYMS. 
Lastrea Thelypteris , Babington, Presl, Moore. 
Hemestheum Thelypteris , Newman. 
This fern has been described by botanists under the 
generic names of Poly podium, Acrosticum , Lastrea, 
and Polystichum , but has always retained its specific 
name, Thelypteris , which really means woman fern,, 
referring possibly to its delicate growth. It has a 
short creeping root-stock, with single (not tufted) 
erect fronds, which are bipinnate and without glands. 
The fronds are of two kinds, barren and fertile; the 
former appear in May, the latter in July. The pin¬ 
nules of the young frond stand out at right angles- 
with the stem. The fertile fronds are much taller 
than the barren ones, sometimes attaining a height of 
three feet. The indusium covering the spore-cases is 
thin, and soon thrown off and lost. 
This fern delights in marshy, boggy lands, and is 
found amongst sundews, heather, and asphodels: its 
distribution is very general. Where the soil is light 
