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has employed it. The genera, for whicli no autliority is given, have, not been
employed by any previous writer on the British Ferns. Tlie works in which tiie
genera will be found are these:—■
Bolton.—Filices Britanniae, by James Bolton, 1 Vol.
Don.—Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, 18 Vols. Remarks on
some British Ferns. By David Don. Vol. xvii. p. 435.
Gray.—A Natural Arrangement of British Plants. By Samuel Frederick
Gray. 2 Vols.
Hooker.—The British Flora, by William Jackson Hooker. 1 Vol.
London.—Hortus Britannicus, by J. C. Loudon. I Vol.
Smith.—The English Flora, by Sir James Edward Smith. 4 Vols.
SPECIES OF B R IT ISH FERNS.
I n accordance with the foregoing Table, the species which
follow are arranged. In a few instances, where the species of
other authors are treated as varieties, the descriptions have been
copied verbatim, lest I should be charged with ignorance of the
identical plant intended. With these exceptions the definitions
are exclusively from nature. The illustrations, without any
exception, are from nature, and are drawn by myself on the
wood ; the manifest discrepancy between previous figures and my
own will abundantly prove that mine are original : nothing can
be more striking and I allude to the subject with regret, since
It is one likely to cause confusion—than the difference between
my figures, and some recently published by another writer : the
illustrations in each work, professing to represent the same Fern,
are in many instances more dissimilar than any two species of
Ferns which Great Britam produces ; the figures of fine varieties
of Polypodium vulgare, described by Linneus and Mackay, offer
an abundant proof of this assertion.
The list of localities will, I fear, be considered rather meagre,
hut I have foimd it needful to exercise the greatest caution in
this respect. In the numerous specimens kindly sent me for
examination, I have sometimes found the seedling form of
Lastræa Filix-mas named Woodsia Ilvensis, and Lastræa Oreopteris
in numberless instances named Thelypteris : these and
similai- errors have thrown a doubt over many lists, which I
could not verify by examination.
MAIDENHAIR.
A d i a n t u m C a p i l l u s - V e n e r i s of Authors.
Adiantum fontanum.—Gray.
l o c a l i t i e s .
E n g l a n d . . . In Cornwall, on dripping rocks near St. Ives; in a small cave on the east side of
Carrack Gladden, a cove between St. Ives and Hayle; and at the Lizard. In
Devonshire, near Ilfracombe.
W a l e s . . . . In Glamorganshire, on rocks near Dunraven ; a t Port K in g ; and on Barry Islan d ; it
occurs in many places along the coast between these localities.
S cotland . . Unknown.
I r e l a n d . . . South Isles of Arran; Cahir Couree Mountains, near Tralee; at the foot of a rock.
facing south-west on the banks of Lough Bulard, near Urrisbeg, Cunnemara.
A d i a n t u m Capillus-Veneris, the true Maidenhair, the only
species of the genus that has been found in Britain, is one of the
rarest and most beautiful of our ferns. I t is always found in
moist caves, or on rocks near the sea-coast, where it roots firmly
in the crevices of the stones, preferring a perpendicular surface,
whence its delicate fronds grow in a nearly horizontal direction,
inclining upwards at the extremity : its pinnulæ vary in size,
from that of those on the specimen sketched in the above figure
to that of the detached pinnula on the left.
The roots are wiry, black, and fibrous, the rhizoma black and
scaly, and creeping though very slowly : the young fronds make
their appearance in May, are fully developed in July, and
remain green till the winter : the future divisions of the frond are
not apparent on its first expanding ; three or five pinnæ only
appear, and these in a few days become divided into pinnulæ.
Although the form of the frond has been repeatedly described
by botanists in precise terms, it must be considered irregular :
B