84 BRITISH FERNS. 
the Scotch and Irish ones more usually erect: there 
is also a difference in the colour, that of the English 
and Welch specimens approaching the ordinary hue of 
Aculeatum, while that of the Scotch and Irish spe- 
cimens is full, rich, shining green, the substance thick 
and leathery, and the entire frond as rigid and prickly 
as a spike of mini holly-leaves, so much so, indeed, 
that the fronds are not to be flattened for the her- 
barium without considerable difficulty. ‘The lateral 
veins are alternate and generally three-branched, the 
anterior branch usually terminating half-way between 
the midvein and the margin, the others reaching 
the margin but being quite free at the extremity. 
Tt should, however, be observed that the auricle 
Or lobe at the base of each’ pinna has a formula 
of venation decidedly different from the remainder 
of the pinnule, since the principal vein in this 
lobe emits several fruitful branches in an opposite 
on each side of the pinna, about equidistant from the 
midrib and margin of each pinna. Some imen a 
_ are so densely seeded that the erbieed acters ma 
