VS'
and on shady banks and rocks. It is of an elegant drooping
aspect, and is cultivated •without difficulty. It is the more
valuable as a pot plant from its moderate size and its evergreen
character.
This species is the Lastrea recurva of some writers, and
the Nephrodium foenisecii of others.
L a st e ea O r eo pt e r is , Presl. — The Mountain Fern;
sometimes called Heath Fern. (Plate V II.)
This is a very elegant species, growing shuttle-cock fashion
around the central crown of the stem, to the height of from
two to three feet; and it is, moreover, so fragrant when
drawn through the hand as to be recognized from its kindred
by this circumstance alone. The fragrance is due to the
presence of numerous minute glandular bodies on the lower
surface, which, being bruised when the plant is handled,
give out strongly that peculiar odour which many Ferns
possess—a sort of earthy, starchy smell, by no means disagreeable.
The fronds are annual, springing up about May,
and enduring through the summer ; they are erect, lanceshaped
in their outline, pinnately divided ; and there is this
about them remarkable, that the stipes is unusually short,
the leafy part being continued nearly down to the ground,
and the lower pinnæ are so short that the frond tapers
W. S’itc h . i d . e t Httu