184 BRITISH FERNS. 
parallel lines to the extreme edge of the pinnule. The 
pinnules are jointed at the base, falling off after a sharp 
frost like autumn leaves, 
This noble fern is of common occurrence through- 
out Europe, and a plant very similar, and generally 
bearing the same name, is found in North America, 
It is so generally distributed over the British Islands, 
in swampy places, that I forbear publishing the im- 
mense list of localities with which I have been fur- 
nished. In Ireland, particularly in Connaught, it is 
most abundant: in Connemara I have often observed. 
it covering the small islands in the lakes, with a 
dense mass of its luxuriant fronds, those in the centre 
being more erect, those around the margins more pen- 
dulous, Of the pendulous habit I noticed a beautiful 
instance at Killarney, where it completely fringes the 
river between the lakes, and certainly forms a most 
