













` 86 THE BRITISH FERNS. 
basal pinnules of the lowest ones broadly and bluntly ovate, and 
quite separated into small thinnish obovate-wedge-shaped pinnules, 
which are somewhat pinnatifid in the upper half, the lobes tipped 
with a pair of small acute teeth. The plant, which is abundantly 
fertile, was found in Glen Urquhart, in the Highlands of Scotland, 
by Miss McInnes. : 
4. oblongum (M.). The chief peculiarity of this form is the paral- 
lelism of the sides of its fronds, which thus become narrow oblong, 
like what occurs in Lastrea spinulosa. In a specimen before us, the 
length of the lamina is five inches, and the breadth below about 
two inches. The pinne are short, remarkably triangular, acuminate,’ 
ascending, the three or four lower pairs almost equal in size. The 
subdivisions are small, but otherwise the structure is normal. We 
have received it from Guernsey, where it was found by Mr. C. 
Jackson; and it has also been found by Dr. Allehin. [Plate 
LXXI B.] 
5. oxyphyllum (M.). This variety, in its texture and the acuteness 
of its divisions, has a good deal of resemblance to that form of the 
true acutum, which has the fronds narrowly acuminate ; its fronds, 
however, show a tendency to diminution rather than enlargement 
in the lower pinna. The plant is of moderate size; the pinne 
are short, very oblique from the enlargement of the basal anterior 
pinnule, the latter being more distinet and distant than the 
remainder, which become a good deal confluent; the teeth are 
deep, narrow, and conspieuously acute. It was found in 1855, 
near Dunoon, in Argyleshire, by Mrs. East, of Blackheath; and 
has been subsequently gathered near Stirling, by Mrs. Macleod. 
[Plate LXXI C.] 
6. variegatum (Woll.). This exceedingly rare and beautiful 
variety has been found in Yorkshire, and also in Guernsey by Mr. 
Jackson. It is normal in every respect, excepting in being striped 
unsymmetrically with white ; and it is sub-permanent, depending for 
its variegation, as Mr. Wollaston has observed, on the mode of 
culture adopted. It is quite different from the usual so-called variega- 
tions of this species, which for the most part are certainly caused 
by insect attacks, although one example, found by Mr. Silver on 
Shottisbrook Church, in Berkshire, has the appearance of actual 

