120 BRITISH FERNS. 
they advance the apex becomes free, and hangs down, 
assuming the appearance of a shepherd’s crook: the 
form of the frond is lance-shaped and regularly pin- 
nate: the pinnules are either simply toothed, or pin- 
natifid or pinnate, varying in different specimens; 
almost every two plants differ in this respect, and some 
cultivators, laboriously idle, have assigned Latin names 
to these varieties, which, like the slight differences 
among our fellow-creatures, are of no interest in 
Science, but yet are sufficient to distinguish indi- 
viduals from each other, and it is argued that, as we 
mow the members of a family not only by sight but 
by name, so should we be able to distinguish and 
name every individual plant—a theory that, while 
it cannot be disputed, would, if carried into practice, 
"render the study of Natural History absolutely im- 
possible. The stalk varies from a quarter to a third 
of the entire length of the frond, and is swollen and 
dilated at the base; it has numerous long blackish 
scales, which are particularly abundant at the base, 
and more scattered, smaller and less observable on 
the partial stalks: the principal stalks are frequently 
tinged with purple and red; in some instances I 
have seen them assuming almost the colour of coral. 
The midvein of the pinnules is waved; the lateral 
veins are forked shortly after leaving the midvein, and 
each branch runs into one of the teeth, but ceases 
__ before actually touching the edge: the anterior branch 
