if a botanist were to commence with the seedling form at the top
of the cut, and go regularly downwards, he would find it difficult
to divide the plants represented into two distinct species. Still,
as botanists of eminence have considered this plant as specifically
distinct, I have much pleasure in being able to quote the
opinion of Linneus as corroborative of my own. The passage
I quote is from the pen of M. Jacquin, and stands in his “ Miscellanea
Austríaca,” appended as a note to a paper by Wulfen,
entitled, “ Plant® rariores Carinthiacse.” Jacquin, in alluding to
A. altemifolium, there described by Wulfen, writes th u s:—
“ Plantulani hanc jam olim crescentem in Austria, circa Glock-
nitz in rupibus calcareis etiam mixtim cum Acrosticho septentrio-
nali. Cum beatus Linneus quocum communicaverim, mordicus
sustineret mecum esse Rutee muraricE varietatem, non ausus fui pro
nova specie proponere et omiseram in stirpium agri Viennensis
enumeratione.”—Jacquin Mis. Aus. Vol. ii. p. 52, anno 1781.
Sir J. E. Smith remarks, that this plant is “ an intermediate
species between septentrionale and ruta-muraria, though perfectly
distinct from both.”
FORKED S PLEENWORT.
A s p l e n iu m S e p t e n t r io n a l e .—Smith, Hooker, Galpine, Gray,
Francis.
Acrostichum septentrionale.—Linneus, Bolton, Hudson, Lightfoot,
Berkenhout.
l o c a l it ie s .
En g la n d . . . . Northumberland, Kyloe craigs ; Cumberland, Honiston craigs, and on rocks in the
vicinityof Scaw Fell.
W a l e s Caernarvonshire, Pwll Du in the Pass of Lianberris, and on Glyder Vawr, above
Llyn-y-Coon very sparingly ; a mile from Llanrwst, on the road to Conway, on
a wall to the left, luxuriant.
S cotland . . . Arthur’s Seat and Braid hills, near Edinburgh, formerly abundant, now ra re ;
Perthshire, near Dunkeld.
I r e l a n d . . . . Unknown.
T h i s is one of our rarest fems ; for a number of years
Arthur’s Seat was the only locality where it could be obtained with
anything like certainty. Mr. Wilson and Mr. C. C. Babington
have recently gathered it in Caernarvonshire, although very
sparingly, and in August, 1838, I had the good fortune to find it
in luxuriant profusion on a wall by the road side going out of
Llanrwst, towards Conway; the station is on the left hand,
exactly opposite a farm-yard, and about a mile from Llanrwst.
The plant is very obvious, and may be procured without difficulty
; the stones in the wall are loose, so as to admit of their
being readily removed and returned to their places. Although
I have no hesitation in thus minutely recording this habitat of
one of our very rarest ferns, I must accompany the record with
a hope that botanists will exercise moderation should they
K
i'.';