THE SPLEEXW0ET3. 
435 
countering anything at all like our descriptions of 
Oeterach. Presently, however, the boundary wall 
was cast into deeper shadow by the high and 
overlapping branches of the trees in the wood; 
and continuing our search along the inner side of 
the wall, we at length found several fine plants of 
the Scale Fern revelling in the old mortar and leaf- 
mould, in a deep shady cleft formed by the pointed 
coping-stones. There could be no mistaking the 
strongly-marked characteristics of Ceterach —the 
thick, green velvety texture of the frond on one 
side, and the dense carpeting of rich reddish- 
brown scales on the under surface. 
The finest specimens of the beautiful Scale Fern 
which we have ever encountered, we found on the 
top of a very high wall which skirted another wood 
in the neighbourhood of Totnes. The large stones 
at the top of the wall had become loose with time, 
and the perpetual droppings of leaves during many 
years from the trees which overhung it, had accu¬ 
mulated a rich deposit of leaf-mould between the 
loosened stones. Immediately underneath the 
crowning stones we found the largest specimens 
of Ceterach , with fronds over seven inches long, 
