Marshy places and damp woods are the situations in which
this Fern is met with ; and in such places it does not appear
to be uncommon. It is very easily cultivated on damp
banks or rock-work, and, when grown in pots, requires to be
plentifully supplied with water.
L a s t r e a T h e l y p t e r i s , Presl.— The Marsh Fern. (Plate
VI. fig. 1.) *
This is called the Marsh Fern from its growing in marshes
and boggy situations. It has a slender, extensively creeping
stem, which is usually smooth and of a dark colour, producing
matted fibrous roots. The annual fronds are produced
about May, and later, and perish in the autumn : they
usually grow about a foot high, the fertile ones taller ; sometimes,
when the plant is very vigorous, they reach the height
of three feet. Their texture is delicate, their colour pale
green, their outline lanceolate, their mode of division pinnate,
the pinnæ mostly opposite, a short distance apart, and
pinnatifidly divided into numerous crowded, entire, rounded
lobes ; the lobes in the fertile fronds appear narrower and
more pointed that those of the barren, on account of their
margin being revolutely bent under.
The venation of the lobes of this Fern consists of a
distinct, somewhat tortuous midvein, from which alternate
Llate VI.
W.Klcii.arl pfJitli- Seeve h Midiols. im.p