PRICKLY FERN. 89 
decurrent or united at the base; the direction which 
they assume, observable particularly in the inferior 
pinnules of each pinna, forms an acute angle with the 
midrib of the pinna. The seed is confined to the 
upper portion of the frond. 
The European range of this fern extends to every 
country except Spain, where one would rather suppose 
it unobserved than absent, since it occurs commonly 
ascends the Pyrenees to the height of 2,500 feet. It 
_ is found in Asia, Northern and Southern Africa and 
- North America: in the latter country it is extremely 
ee, but perfectly identical with our British plant. 
n one or other of its forms this fern seems to be dis- 
" tuibated throughout the United Kingdom. I have 
: seen it more or less abundantly in every coun 
I have visited, whether in England, Wales, Scotland 
or Ireland ; and the lists I have received through the 
Kindness of my correspondents invariably record its 
Gccurrence. It seems to delight in the protection of 
man, its perenite locality being our hedge-rows; and 
its being greatly increased by cultivation, 
by proximity to cultivated lands: its occur- 
@ on our ‘Moors, commons and mountains is com- 
vely rare, its stature diminutive, and its fronds 
1e Prickly Ferns, for it is needless to separate this 
from the er They are so 
