1 íi
BROAD FERN.
L a s t r æ a d i l a t a t a .—Presl.
Aspidium dilatatum, spinulosum, and dumetorum.—Smith.
Aspidium dilatatum and spinulosum.—Oalpine, Oray, Francis.
Aspidium spinulosum and dumetorum.—Hooker, Mackay.
Pohjpodium cristatum.— ExAson, Bolton, Lightfoot, Withering,
Berkenhout.
' I f f ' * '
fectly reasonable to
LOCALITIES.
E n g la n d .
Universally distributed.
I r e l a n d . J
A n error appears to have crept into
our works as regards this ubiquitous
species. Hooker and Mackay have assigned
to it the name spinulosa, and Smith,
Oalpine, and others, have restricted the
same name to one of its varieties. Now
I must express my conviction that the
spinulosa of the continent, as described
by Willdenow, Swartz, Sadler, Schkuhr,
&c., and as figured by the latter author,
> is not the normal dilatata of this country,
neither is it that linear, erect form of
dilatata figured in the margin, and to
which the name has usually been applied ;
b ut is a perfectly distinct species, and one
which may at once he distinguished from
any form of dilatata by the indusium,
which, in spinulosa, is covered with glan-
dulose spines or bristles, while in dilatata
it is perfectly smooth.
Lastræa spinulosa is so abundant on
the continent of Europe, that it is per-
expect to find it here ; hut we must not
M j , Íapply
its name to a plant, which, whether a species or variety,
does not possess its distinguishing character.
The figure above represents the normal or triangular form.
The root is black, fibrous, and very tenacious, and growing, as is
frequently the case, on decayed trees, or on the stumps in hedgerows,
it is extremely difficult to get out entire ; on rocks, and
among stones, it adheres with a similar tenacity ; but in woods
and forests, where it frequently abounds among the dead leaves,
it can find no substance to which to attach itself, and is consequently
removed with the greatest ease. The rhizoma is large,
tufted, black, and very scaly. The fronds appear in March, and,
although so early, are rarely injured by the frost ; new fronds
succeed throughout the summer: they all appear to attain
maturity in September, and continue perfectly green and
vigorous throughout the winter. All the fronds are fertile, or,
if otherwise, there is no perceptible difference in their characters.
The normal form of the frond is triangular, and, however it
may vary, we always find it has the lower pinnæ very ample,
sometimes, indeed, not larger than the second or third pair, hut
never abbreviated or diminished, as we see it in the other species of
this genus. Rather less than half the rachis is usually naked,
and this has invariably black chaffy scales scattered more or less
abundantly throughout its length : it is very large at the base,
a character preeminently distinguishing this species. The frond
is pinnate ; the pinnæ are also pinnate, and the pinnulæ are
either pinnatifid or pinnate, and the first lower pinnula of each
pinna is invariably larger, longer, and more divided than the
rest ; all the divisions or serratures of the frond end in a short
spine. The size is extremely various ; I have frequently seen
fronds three feet in length, and as frequently observed them less
than six inches.