THE COMMON SCALE FERN, or SCALY SPLEENWORT.
CETERACH OFFICINARUM.
C. fronds coriaceous, narrow lanceolate, sinuate-pinnatifid, somer
times pinnate below; segments oblong obtuse, entire or sinuately-
lobcd, densely scaly beneath. [Plato XCIII A.]
C e t e i o i c h o f f i c i n a r u m , w a id cm w , Enum. 1 0 6 8 ; U . , Sp. Plant, v. 1 3 6 .
Gray, Nat. A rr. Brit. PI. i i. 4. Hooker, Gen. Pit. t . 1 1 3 A. Hooker A
Arnott, Brit. FI. 7 e d . 6 8 0 . Bahington, Man. Brit. Bot. i e d . 4 2 7 . Dmkrn,
Florigr. Brit. I t . 8 1 , fig. 1 5 9 9 . Newman, Hist. Brit. Ferns, 2 e d , 2 9 3 , Aloore,
Handb. Brit. Ferns, 3 e d . 2 1 4 ; Id ., Ferns o f Gt. Brit. Nature Printed,
t. 43 A. Sowerhy, Fcms o f Gt. Brit. 62 , t . 3 6 . L in k , Fil. Sp. 1 4 4 . Fie,
Gen. Fil. 2 0 6 , t . 30 A, fig . 2. Bentham, Handb. BrU. FI. 6 3 4 . Hexifler,
Aspl. Europ. 11 0 . Nyma n , Syllog. FI. Europ. 4 3 3 . Mettenius, Fil. Hort. ■
Bot. Lips.'&O, t . 13, fig. 13. Lowe, Nat. Hist. Perns, v . t . 64.
A s p l e n i u m C e t e r a c h , Linnoeus, Sp. Plant. 1 5 3 8 . Bolton, Fil. Brit. 2 0 , t . 12
(b a d ), Lightfoot, FI. Scot. 6 6 1 . Sturm, Ft. (F a rm . ) t . 6.
A s p l e n iu m s in u a t u m , Salisbury, Prod. 4 0 3 .
S c o l o p e n d r iu m Ce t e r a c h , Symons, Syn. Plant. 1 9 3 . Smith, Eng. Bot. x v iii.
t . 1 2 4 4 ; Id ., Eng. PI. 2 e d . It . 3 0 2 . Moth, FI. Germ, iii, 48.
T i t t a e ia Ce t e r a c h , a, Bernhardi, Ueber Asplen. {Act. Erford. 1 8 0 2 ) 15.
G y j in o p t e r is Ce t e r a c h , Bernhardi, Schrad. neues lo u m . Bot. 18 0 6 i p a r t
2, 22.
G r a m m i t i s C e t e r a c h , Swartz, Syn. Fil. 23 . Schkuhr, Krypt. Gew. 1 8 6 , t . 7, h.
Mackay, PI. Hib. 3 3 7 . Hooker, BHt. PI. 1 e d . 4 4 1 . Koeh, Syn. 2 e d , 9 2 4 .
Loddiges, Bot. Cab. t . 15.
G y m n o g r am m a Ce t e r a c h , Sprengel, Syst. Veg. iv . 38 (e x c l. s y n . Grammüis
aurea, e t c .) . Presl, Tent. Pterid. 2 1 9 , t . 9 , fig . 10 ( y e u a t io u in c o r r e c t) .
Ledebour, FI. Boss. iv . 6 0 7 . Sadler, Fil. Hung. 15.
B l e c h n u m sq u a m o su m , Stokes, Bot. Mat. Med. iv . 6 1 7 .
N o t o l e p e u m C e t e r a c h , Newman, Hist. BrU. Ferns, 2 e d . 9 ; 3 ed . 2 7 7 • Id.
Phytol. 1 8 5 1 , Appi. V. ’ ’
C e t e r a c h C e t e r a c h , Newman, Phytol. 1 8 5 1 , App. v . , in o b s.
Caudex short, tufted, scaly. Scales ovate-lanoeolate, finely reticulate
venose, dark brown. Fibres branched, numerous.
Vernation oiroinate.
Stipes short, from half an inch to three inches long, terminal and
adherent to the caudex, dark-coloured at the base, furnished with
numerous ovate-lanceolate peltately attached scales, of a pale tawny
colour, beautifully venose with close black reticulations.
Fronds numerous, from an inch and a-half to six or eight inches
long, fleshy-coriaceous ; linear lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid, often
pinnate below; deep green and smooth above, densely clothed
beneath with ovate-acuminate, slightly ciliated, tawny retioulately
venose, closely-imbricated scales. Lohes oblong, obtuse, sessile and
adnate by their whole base when distinct, more usually dilated on
both sides and connected at tho base, margined with projecting
scales of the under surface.
Venation indistinct in consequence of the thick texture of the
frond, consisting of a sinuous costa or midvein, which enters the
lobe from near the lower angle ; from this is given off, close to the
base on its anterior side, a vein which is several times forked, while
the rest of the veins aro alternate and two or three times forked;
the branches or venules anastomose here and there beyond the
second furcation, near the margin, the ultimate marginal veinlets
being usually free, but sometimes united.
Fructification produced over the whole under surface. Sori linear
ohlong, borne on the anterior side of the anterior venules, above the
first fork, except in the case of the lowest anterior vein, which is
frequently hisoriferous, one sorus being as usual on the anterior side
of its anterior venule, the other on the posterior side of its posterior
venule towards the primary costa; they are at first hidden by the dense
covering of scales, which eventually they hurst through. Indusium
obsolete, sometimes represented by a narrow membranous line or
ridge. Spore-cases roundish obovate. Spores roundish or somewhat
ohlong, muricate.
Duration. The caudex is perennial. The fronds are persistent
and long enduring, and the new ones appear about May, long before
the older ones have perished.
Among the British Ferns, this plant may he recognised by its
dwarf tufted sinuate-pinnatifid thiok-textured fronds, of which the
upper surface is smooth and dark green, and the under surface invested
with a close covering of tawny scales. The sori of this plant,
as we have already remarked, are said to have a narrow indusium
behind them, and as the spore-cases grow laterally on the vein
which forms the receptacle, it has, no doubt correctly, been considered
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