

128 THE BRITISH FERNS. 
plants, though a good deal damaged in severe winters if exposed, are 
thoroughly evergreen under shelter. 
The Common Prickly Shield Fern is a widely-dispersed and not 
uncommon plant, in shady hedge-banks, woods, and similarly shel- 
tered situations. It is found all over England, Scotland, and Wales, 
in the majority of the counties, the records of the variety lobatum 
showing an equally wide, if not wider range. The four provinces of 
Ireland also produce it, as do the Channel Isles; but we are not 
aware of its having been found in the Northern or Western Isles. 
It occurs at the sea-level, in the south-western parts of England; 
and in the form of lobatum, which seems the more common in 
Scotland, it ascends to upwards of 2000 feet in the Highlands. The 
records of its distribution, so far as we have ascertained, are as 
follows, but this species and P. angulare not being always well dis- 
tinguished, the particulars are doubtless imperfect, and perhaps in 
some cases incorrect :一 
Peninsula.—Cornwall. Devonshire: Lynmouth ; Kingsteignton ; 
between Totnes and Ashburton; Barnstaple, F. Mules. Somer- 
setshire : Portishead; Dundry Hill, near Bristol, G. H. K. Thwaites ; 
Nettlecombe. 
Channel — Hampshire: Maple-Durham, near Petersfield, J. 
Goodyer, July, 1633; Selborne, Miss Bower ; Bramshot; Alresford, 
etc. Isle of Wight: Gurnet Bay. Dorsetshire. Wiltshire: Box 
quarries, R. Withers ; Bretford, Salisbury; and Redlynch, Down- 
ton, W. Moore. Sussex: Henfield; Cuckfield ; Hastings, etc. 
Thames.—Hertfordshire: St. Alban’s; Totteridge; Hitchin ; 
Essendon; Cheshunt, ete. Middlesex: Norwood, S. F. Gray; 
Osterley Park; Lampton lane; Hendon, W. Pamplin. Kent: 
Tunbridge Wells. Surrey: Ockshot, H. C. Watson; Mayford; 
Dorking; Denham, Mrs. James, and elsewhere. Buckingham- 
shire: Fulmer. Berkshire: Swallowfield, R. Heward. Oxfordshire. 
Essex: near Ongar; Brentwood; Chingford; Little Warley 
Common. 
Ouse.—Suffolk: Sudbury, ete. Norfolk: Edgefield, near Holt. 
Cambridgeshire: Gamlingay. Bedfordshire. Northamptonshire. 

