THE FEMALE BUCKLER FERN. 167 
Duration. The caudex is perennial. The fronds are only of 
annual duration; the barren ones grow up about May, the fertile 
in July, all being destroyed by the frosts of autumn. 
This plant may be distinguished from the other British species of 
Lastrea by its habit alone, its long, comparatively slender, creeping 
caudex being unlike that of any other native species; but not- 
withstanding this, and the fact that its fronds are really quite 
unlike those of L. montana (Oreopteris), the species has not unfre- 
quently been confounded with that plant. It will be found to 
differ from it in having the long creeping caudex just referred to, 
whilst L. montana has a short thick tufted caudex, merely decum- 
bent in habit. It differs further, in having its fronds of their full 
width almost to the very base, and supported by a long bare stipes, 
whilst L. montana has diminishing pinne carried down almost to 
the base of the stipes; and moreover, in having fronds which are 
almost free from glands, whilst those of .L. montana are very 
conspicuously resinose-glandular on the under surface, and very 
fragrant. It is still less like any other British species of Lastrea. 
Lastrea Thelypteris is easily cultivated, merely requiring a light 
boggy soil, and abundant moisture. Out of doors it should therefore 
have a damp border, or should be planted in some wettish place 
about the fernery. A boggy pool at the foot of a mass of rock-work, 
where it might be accompanied by Osmunda, would be a congenial 
position. In pots, it must have a very abundant supply of water; 
and the vessels in which it is planted, should be large and shallow, 
so that its long caudices may have space to spread naturally over 
the surface of the soil. Peaty soil, alone, or mixed with a propor- 
tion of decaying leaves and light sandy loam, will be congenial to it. 
It is inereased readily by division of the caudex. 
Though widely dispersed in the United Kingdom, the Marsh 
Fern is a comparatively rare plant, being local in its occurrence, and 
growing only in marshy and boggy situations, from some of which 
it is certainly being displaced by drainage. It is, however, generally 
abundant where present. In England it is spread from the southern 

