92 
BRITISH FERNS . 
does not thrive so well as some others in the atmo¬ 
sphere of towns. When grown in the greenhouse, 
it should be planted in large pans, with a free admix¬ 
ture of limestone and crumbled and sifted mortar; 
full exposure to the sun has rather a beneficial effect 
on it than otherwise. 
BEECH FERN, OR PALE MOUNTAIN 
POLYPODY. 
POLYPODIUM PHEGOPTERIS r 
Linnaeus, Bentham, and Moore. 
(Plate XIV. Fig. 3 .) 
SYNONYMS. 
Polystichum Phegopteris, Roth. Gymnocarpium Phegopteris, New- 
Lastrea Phegopteris, Newman. man (B. Ferns). 
THIS is a delicate plant, and disappears with the first 
frosts of the autumn. It has a slender creeping scaly- 
stern, with black fibrous roots. The fronds appear in 
May, and are about six inches to a foot long. The 
stipites are generally twice as long as the leafy part 
of the frond, and are fleshy and very brittle. The 
fronds are triangular, extended into a long narrow 
point at the top: they are pinnate only at the base. 
The lower pair of pinnae droop downwards, the rest 
grow in an upward position. The mid-rib, principal 
veins, and margins of the frond, are more or less hairy 
on the under side; by which this species may be 
