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here,. B'liy we prefer this specific name to that of loreale,
which is now more commonly used. The name of Blechnum
Spicant was applied to this plant by Eoth, Eelhan, Withering,
Symons, and Hull, before that of B . loreale was
given to it by Swartz ; it has, therefore, unquestionably the
right of priority. Besides this, the specific name Spicant
has been used to distinguish this plant by nearly all the
older botanists, though they have held very conflicting views
as to the genus to which it belonged, referring it, for example,
among others, to Osmunda, to Onoclea, to Acrosti-
chum, and to Asplenium. Thus all the evidence is in favour
of the name we adopt.
B l e c h n um S p ic a n t , Both.—PBo Hard Eern. (Plate
XVI. fig. 2.)
The common name of this species is very appropriate,
from the rigid harshness of its texture. It is one of the few
native kinds which produce two distinct-looking kinds of
frond—fertile and barren. The fertile ones have their
pinnæ much narrowed, or contracted, as it is called, while
the fronds themselves are considerably taller than the barren
ones. These fronds grow in large tufts, and being-
very gracefully disposed, the plant becomes one of the most
ornamental of our wild species during the summer season.
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when its fronds are in a fresh state. Both kinds of fronds
are of a narrow lanceolate form; the barren ones being only
deeply pinnatifid, while the fertile ones are pinnate ; but the
segments in both are long and narrow, like the teeth of a
comb. The barren fronds, which are from one-half to two-
thirds the height of the fertile ones, assume a spreading or
horizontal position, and are attached to the caudex by a
very short scaly stipes. The fertile ones, -which are situated
in the centre of the tufts, are erect, from one to two feet
high, the stipes, which is sparingly furnished with long
pointed scales, being nearly half the length, and of a dark
brown colour.
The veins are not very evident in the fertile fronds, on
account of the contraction of the parts, but they resemble
those of the barren ones, except in having a longitudinal
venule on each side the midvein, forming the receptacle
to which the spore-cases are attached. The midvein is
prominent, and produces a series of venules on each side,
these becoming forked, and extending almost to the
margin, terminating in a club-shaped head. In the fertile
fronds the veinlets are necessarily shorter, and connected, as
already mentioned, by the longitudinal'venules which bear
the fructification. The spore-cases are thus arranged in