DUBLIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
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vated lowlands, and bog; it flourishes even amidst the sea spray in 
some localities. I have met it in every locality I have been in. A crisped 
subform of it is worthy of notice. 
Pteris aquilina (linn .). Common Brakes. 
Common and general, but most affecting lowlands or sheltered glens. 
Polypodium mlgare (.Linn .). Common Polypody. 
Common everywhere from lowland glade to the summit of our wild¬ 
est hills. I have met it 1800 feet above the sea level, in the wild gorges 
of the county of Wicklow and county of Limerick, luxuriantly growing. 
The plant on the exposed ridges small and stunted, but wherever there 
is the smallest shelter, its growth is most luxuriant and beautiful. 
Gymnocarpium phegopteris '{Linn.). Beech Pern. 
Kerry : Killarney, Tore mountain, very abundant. Wicklow : Wa¬ 
terfall, very scarce, J.ILK. 
This fern has been recorded from Down and the north, generally; it 
is by no means so abundant here as in England. 
Gystopteris fragilis {Linn. sp.). Bladder Pern. 
Galway: Gort, J. R. K. Clare : Burren, J. R. K. 
Though recorded from Wicklow and Dublin, careful research in this 
latter locality, and in many parts of Wicklow, has been unrewarded 
on my part. I have never met it except in the west and north-west, 
where it is tolerably abundant. 
Polystichum aculeatum {Linn. sp. ?). Broad Prickly Shield Pern. 
Tyrone : near Aughnacloy, not rare. Monaghan : ditto. Galway : 
very common. Clare : Peakle, rare. Tipperary : near Birr, very rare. 
Kerry: rare,.local. Dublin : very local and rare. Kildare: very abun¬ 
dant; Levitstown. Carlow: ditto. Queen’s County, Maryborough, 
J.R.K. 
I have been particular in noting the localities of this and the follow¬ 
ing species, as they are often confounded. It is an extremely local spe¬ 
cies, commonest in the south-west; it, as far as I can learn, frequents 
lowlands chiefly. In Dublin it is one of our rarest species. It would 
appear to be a plant of most peculiar growth, which, perhaps, accounts 
for its very disjointed distribution over the country. The form met near 
Peakle differs so much in character from the ordinary plant, that I have 
some hesitation in positively considering them identical, being much 
stunted and narrower in its form, and retaining this character in cul¬ 
tivation. It grows as luxuriantly in Galway as anywhere in Cheshire. 
Polystichum angulare {Wildenow sp.). Angular Shield Pern. 
Tyrone: Omagh, extremely rare. Aughnacloy : rare. Galway : 
abundant. Dublin : extremely abundant, I. R. K. Kerry: very abun¬ 
dant. Tipperary: Annagh Inch, local, scarce, J. R. K. 
