







232 THE BRITISH FERNS. 
of form assumed by this polymorphous species are numerous, 
the varieties have in some cases less definite characters and limita- 
tions than in the species we have previously dealt with. Some of 
the forms, on the other hand, are very marked and permanent. 
1. pumila (M.). A dwarf subdeltoid or ovate-deltoid bipinnate form, 
in which the scales are for the most part pallid but two-coloured. It 
is the plant called dumetorwm in the earlier editions of our Handbook 
of British Ferns, where, as we now believe, it was mistaken for Sir 
J. E. Smith’s plant. It may perhaps be the young fertile condition 
of some of the larger-growing forms, butwe incline to believe that 
there exists a dwarf permanent state, such as that we here describe. 
In some specimens quite similar in appearance to those with the 
pallid scales, the scales are more strongly two-coloured, but the pallid- 
scaled plants are more frequent. Specimens which we refer here 
have been obtained from—Middlesex: Hampstead. Worcester- 
shire: Malvern. Yorkshire: Wentworth. Devonshire: Ilfracombe, 
Rev. J. M. Chanter ; Ham, near Plymouth, Rev. C. Trelawny. Pem- 
brokeshire: Castle Malgwyn, W. Hutchison. Denbighshire: Rhu- 
abon, A. L. Taylor. Carnarvonshire: Aber, Rev. W. A. Leighton. 
Perthshire : Corrach Uachdar. Dumbartonshire: Tarbet. Forfar- 
shire: Guthrie Woods, 4. Croall. Aberdeenshire: Glen Callater, 
Braemar, A. Croall Arran. Bute: Rothesay. Galway: near 
Clifden, Connemara, R. Barrington. Donegal: Killybegs, R. B. 
Wicklow: The Dingle, R. B.; Glen of the Downs, R. B. Dublin 
Mountains, J. R. Kinahan. 
2. dumetorum (M.). This is a very distinct variety, in some at 
least of its forms. . The most marked, which we take as the type of 
the variety, is one found in the Lake district by Miss M. Beever, a 
dwarf or dwarfish form, with broad-ovate, or elongate-triangular, 
or sometimes deltoid fronds, remarkable for their glandular surface, 
and their large abundant sori produced freely on plants of very 
immature age. This form, or variety, which appears to us even to 
have some title to specific distinction, occurs under several modifica- 
tions, some of which have been referred to the var. collina, from 
which, however, they differ in their abundant glands, and fimbriated 
or jagged scales. Our typical form, that found in Westmoreland 

