of Great Britain; by no means so frequently as Cyslea
fragilis, yet perhaps more so than C. denlata. I have observed
it wild in the beautiful grounds of Thomas Andrew Knight,
Esq., P.H.S., at Downton, in Herefordshire. We owe the
knowledge of it to the discriminating eye of Dickson, 'who
gathered it in Scotland, and communicated it to Curtis, from
whose garden it was introduced into others. Having cultivated
it for more than thirty years, I do not hesitate to
concur with Smith in bearing testimony to the accurate
judgement of that eminent Cryptogamist in considering it
specifically distinct. He was, however, mistaken in referring
it to Polypodium rhmticum of Linnaeus, a plant now
supposed to have no existence, while that of Hudson is
Aspidium dumetorum of Smith. Aspidium rhceticum of
Willdenow is not known as a British plant.
Theample description in the English Flora renders it only
necessary here to point out the characters by which this
species may be known from its allies, C.fragilis and C. den-
tata. From the former it differs in beingof a larger size, yet
more tender texture, the leaflets more lanceolate or lato-
lanceolate, more finely cut, and scarcely convex ; from the
latter also in size and tender texture, but principally by the
ultimate divisions of the leaflets not being dilated, rounded,
or ovate, but oblong, deeply cut and toothed to the very
extremity of the frond. The name, taken from Hoffman,
does not appear very characteristic.—E. F.