leaf, their fliape oblong, rather broader at the bafe, blunt at the extremity,
and more or lefs ferrated or crenated on the edge, particularly at the upper
extremity.
Seed veflels in two rows placed on the back of the lobes on the plane of
the diik, one row on each fide the nerve, in number from three to fix,
kidney-ihaped, covered with a pellicle ; they are at firft white, then
change to a bluifh or aih colour ; when the feeds are ripe the pellicle burfts,
and, after the difcharge o f the feeds, the veflels become brown, and appear
as i f covered with duft, but do not run together as in the Polipodium thelypteris.
The certain charafters of diftimftion between Polipodium Filix-mas, and
Polipodium thelypteris, are thefe : in the firft, the lobes arc broad at the
extremity, and ferrated ; the feed-veffels are kidney-ihaped, and placed
on the plane diik o f the lobes ; in the laft the lobes are obtufely pointed,
and entire on the edges; and the feed veffels placed in rows of fmall round
dots clofe to the margin of the lobes.
Male Fern grows about the borders of woods near rivulets, and in ftony
and rocky places about Halifax abundantly.
POLIPODIUM