THE LADY FERN. 18 
in dense tassels, having narrow projecting laciniately-toothed seg- 
ments; sori small, scattered. [Plate LXV. | 
ATHYRIUM FILIX-F@MINA, ?. ACROCLADON, Clapham MS. 
Var. crispum: monstrous, dwarf, irregularly ramose, the apices of 
the branches and pinne dilated and multifid-crisped in compact obtuse 
tassels ; sori small, scattered, often wanting. [Plate LXVI.] 
ATHYRIUM FILIX-FŒMINA, v. CRISPUM, Moore, Handb. Brit. Ferns. 1 ed. 94; 
3 ed. 146, 155; Id., Ferns of Gt. Brit. Nature Printed, t. 34 A. 
ATHYRIUM FILIX-FGMINA, v. SMITHII, of gardens, 

Caudex stout, erect or decumbent, sometimes elongated and trunk- 
like, often tufted, scaly at the crown. «Scales lanceolate or ovate- 
lanceolate, dark brown, sometimes almost black. Fibres strong, 
wiry, blackish, branched, the younger parts tomentose. 
Vernation circinate, the. apex in the partially developed fronds 
becoming liberated and bent downwards in a curve like that of a 
shepherd's crook. 
Stipes terminal, and adherent to the caudex, from about one-third 
to one-fourth the entire length of the frond, pale green or dull 
purplish red, stoutish, much thickened just above the base, so as to 
become somewhat spindle-shaped, scaly; scales numerous on the 
lower part, lanceolate or linear, usually dark-coloured varying from 
dark reddish brown to almost black, fewer and narrower on the upper 
part, often contorted. Rachis channelled in front, rounded behind, 
and furnished sparingly with small narrow deciduous scales. 
Fronds very variable in size, outline, and division, soft herbaceous, 
erect, spreading, or drooping, usually of a bright tender green, two 
or three feet in height, and from nine inches to a foot in breadth; the 
smaller mature states from one to two feet high, and from three to 
six inches broad. The outline is lanceolate, sometimes broad, some- 
times narrowish. The less developed forms are scarcely bipinnate, the 
pinnules being connected by the winged rachis, but the more highly 
developed forms are bipinnate, the pinnules being distinct. Pinne 
numerous, pinnate, opposite or alternate, more distant below and there 

