here it seems necessai'y to add that this, or something closely approaching
UM
it, is the Polypodium rhæticum of Dickson, Withering,
and Bolton, the Polypodium rhæticum of Linneus being nothing
more than a frond of Polypodium Filix-femina of the same author.
Cystea angustata, Smith. Rhizoma tufted, or somewhat creeping
(!), black, with long fibres and rusty scales. Fronds several,
erect, twelve or fifteen inches high, of which the slender
^ blackish, smooth, and naked rachis occupies
more than a third, sometimes nearly half ;
à 1 the uiidrih is still more slender, and, like
every other part, quite smooth, without any
membrcmous border. Pinnæ bright green,
from twelve to fifteen pair, of a moderate
length, nearly opposite, and taper-pointed;
the lowermost rather shorter and more remote
from the next than those about the
middle of each frond ; all pinnate, with a
scarcely bordered midrib. Pinnulæ about
ten ou each side, alternate, lanceolate, decurrent,
rather bluntly pointed, sometimes
tapering to the extremity ; all either deeply
pinnatifid, with acute, oblong, wavy segments
; or, in less luxuriant plants, slightly
pinnatifid, or only wavy at the margin ; the
ribs of all more or less wavy. The ultimate
divisions, in every instance, are oblong or
^ linear, never dilated, rounded, or ovate ; they
m i
' 4 / are sometimes, though seldom, notched or
cloven at the end. By this linear or oblong
mode of division, and its thinner more pliant
texture, the present may readily be known
from the preceding, with which it has generally
been confounded. The masses, much
smaller and less prominent than in those
species, always continue distinct, standing
either solitary or in pairs, towards the bottom of each lobe dr
tooth, and are round, at first pale, and subsequently brown.—■
Eng. Flora, iv. 502.
The frond to which Sir J. E. Smith refers as having been
found at Gordale, in Craven, still remains in his Herbarium, and
is figured above.
The fourth and last variety noticed by Smith, and one which
Professor Don considers distinct as a species, is called Cystea
regia by Smith, who supposes it to he the Polypodium regium
of Linneus. (I have carefully examined the specimens preserved
under this name in the Linnean Herbarium ; these are three in
number:—the first appears to be the normal form of fragilis,
although the specimen is injured ; the second is the species
known by our cultivators as Asplénium fontanum, and the third
is the Polypodium dentatum of Dickson.) The only habitat of
this plant is a wall at Low Layton in Essex ; the plant received
by Smith from Snowdon being very dilFerent in appearance,
although by that author labelled and even described as identical.
Whether this plant emanates from seeds of fragilis or regia is
of little moment ; it must have escaped from a cultivated specimen,
and therefore cannot he considered as in a native habitat.
Cystea regia, Smith. Rhizoma tufted, scaly. Fronds several,
from three to ten or twelve inches high, bright green, lanceolate,
twice pinnate, pinnatifid, and finely cut, of a most elegant
appearance, quite smooth in every part except a
few membranous, torn, pointed, brown scales
at the very bottom of the stalk, which is less
brittle and juicy than that of C. fragilis. Pinnæ
and pinnulæ more generally alternate than opposite
; the former with a narrowly-winged or
bordered midrib ; the latter ovate, obtuse,
deeply pinnatifid, with elliptic, oblong, obtuse,
partly cloven, or notched segments, hut n o t .
elongated, linear, or wavy at the margin like
C. angustata ; neither are the ribs zigzag as in
that species. Masses of thecæ very copious,
hut small, pale, and scattered, not crowded, nor
do they even appear to become confluent. In
a young state each is wrapped up in a white ^
membranous concave cover, terminating in a
tapering, more or less jagged, point, nearly!
agreeing with C. fragilis ; hut the masses . are
much smaller, and the thecæ of a pale brown,
never black.—^Eng. Flora, iv. 303.
A sketch of a frond gathered from the wall at Low Layton
accompanies the description.
Having now pointed out the characters by which these four