5. ohtusa ((M.). Tliis form does not well associate witli any of tlie
others that wo have seen. I t is of medium size ; the fronds narrow
ovato ill outline, with oblong obtuse shallow-lobed piiiiiules, sot on
nearly nt a right angle, and having few coarse acuminate teeth. We
havo found this form woll marked at Hampstead, Middlesex ; others
collected at Hastings, Sussex, resemble it.
G. distans (M.). This is a marked variety, somewhat resembling
Chanteriæ (7), hut it is smoother, moro lax in habit, and apparently
growing to a larger size. The outline of tho frond, which grows
throo feet high or more, is ovato. The pinnæ are distant, and
scarcely enlarged on the posterior side in the upper parts of the frond,
the lowest pair only hoing very oblique, and the next pair slightly
so. The pinnules aro sot wide apart on tho raohis, and are ovate-
ohlong, obtuse, tho narrowed stalk-liko base somewhat docurrent,
except in the very lowest piimnlos ; the basal pinnules are deeply,
the rest shallowly divided into short oblong obtuse lobes, which
are coarsely toothed, the teeth acuminatoly-aristate. The sori aro
numerous, forming two linos near the midrib ; tho indusium is slightly
glandular. I t was found at Coomhe Wood, Surrey, by Mr. S. F.
Gray.
7. Chanteriæ (M.). This is an elegant and a remarkably distinct
form of the species, differing obviously in tho narrowed form and
attenuated apex of its fronds, its distant pinnæ, and its distinct
blunt pinnules. The stipites, rachides, and under surface of the fronds
are clothed with sessile or very shortly-stalked glands. Tho stipes
bears numerous lanceolate and ovato-lanoeolate entire scales, which
are of various sizes, brown, with a dark central streak, and tipped
by a longish, weak, bristle point. The fronds grow about a couple
of feet in height, and are nearly erect in habit, and lanceolate or
oblong-lanceolate in form, the base narrowing yot terminating
abruptly, and the apex attenuated and caudate ; those of the cultivated
plant, hoing more lax, aro often ovate with an elongated
point ; they are always hipinnate, sometimes almost tripinnate. The
pinnæ are distant, somewhat spreading, and more or le.ss twisted,
so that the upper surface is directed towards the zenith ; the lowermost
pair, about three and a half inches long, and an inch and a half
broad, are very unequally deltoid, their posterior basal pinnules hoing
more than tmce the length of the anterior ones, and these posterior
pinnules aro themselves almost pinnate ; the next pair is unequally
deltoid, hut the posterior pinnulo is only about one-third longer than
tho anterior ; and the inequality is nearly lost in the next and the
suocceding pinnæ, which narrow gradually to the apox, the longest
about the centre of the frond being about five inches long and an
inch broad. The basal pinnules of tho upper pinnæ are noarly
oblong, their base hoing hut little broader than their apex, which
is very blunt ; and they havo a narrow stalk-like attachment, which
becomes hroador and moro decurrent in the pinnules higher up the
pinnro. The pinnules of the lower pinnæ are more or less deeply
pinnatifid aooording to their position, and tho lobes, which are bluntly
oblong, have a few coarse distinct teeth, each of which is terminated
by a bristle-like point. Tbe sori aro small, numerous, forming a
line along each side near tho midrib of the smaller pinnules, and
along tho lobes of the larger ones ; they are covered by roniform
indusia, which are fringed with small stalked glands at the margin.
This very marked variety, which we have found to be quite constant,
and renewable from the spores, was discovered in 1854, by the Eev.
J. M. Chanter and Mrs. Chanter, after whom it has been named, at
Hartland, on the north coast of Devon, whore it was met with
growing in moderate quantity within a limited area, and accompanied
and surrounded by other common forms of the species. A
similar plant, which may perhaps prove the same, has been gathered
at Challacombe, Exmoor, by Mr. H. E. Dempster.
8. angusta (M.). This variety has the outline and general features
of the e r e c t t y p i c a l form of (A. cristata, var.), bnt i t possesses
also the particular oharaotoristics of dilatata. The fronds are narrow
linear-lanceolate, about two feet high, hipinnato ; the stipes
being as long as the lamina, and furnishod rather scantily with
large lanoe-shaped pale-hrovm dark-oentrcd scales. The piunæ are
shortly deltoid, and the lower two or three pairs very nnequaUy so,
the posterior pinnules being much the largest. The pinnules are
narrow, oblong, obtuse, deeply pinnatifid with ovate or oblong lobes,
having aristate teeth. The sori are small, abundant, ocourring from
the base to the apex of the frond, and covered hy small indistinctly
glandular convex indusia. The variety was established in our
■ J - '
so
I E-:- J
!■ Hi