near Liverpool. Dr. Bostock. In Moreton Moors, three miles from Blymhill, Shropshire. Rev. S. Dickenson. Near Wareham, by Sandford Bridge; near New Bridge, between Wimborne and Ringwood. Pulteney. By Llyn Traffwll, in the turbary at Trewilmot, Holyhead. Welsh Bot. By Loch Tay, Loch Fyne, and Derwentwater Lake. Mr. Winch. Bog near Coleshill pool. Bree, in Purt. Near Parker's mill, between Stonebridge and Bradnock's Marsh, Warwickshire. Smith, in Perry. Leith Hill Common, Surry; and covering half an acre, near Danbury, Essex. Mr. W. Christy. Goonhilly Downs, Cornwall. Rev. J. Pike Jones. About the cliffs near Dawlish, and other parts of Devon. Abounds on the rocks and in the woods near the Falls of Clyde, Lanarkshire. Moist hedges, New Forest, Hants. This plant, though before not to be found for many miles around Birmingham, in the year 1802, appeared on an archery butt on Moseley Common, artificially raised with mud from a deep pit, in which the seeds had probably lain for a length of time. It continued to flourish so long as the butt was permitted to remain, but has probably now again disappeared. By such accidental circumstances may we often account for many apparent errors in the stations of plants. See also Datura Stramonium. vol. ii. p. 315. E.) July-Aug.*

PTE RIS+ Capsules disposed in a line under the reflexed edge of the leaf.

P. CRISPA. Leaves more than doubly compound: leafits alternate, roundish, cut.

Bolt. 7—(E. Bot. 1160. E.)-Fl. Dan. 496—H. Ox. xiv. 4. 4 and 27— Pluk. 3. 2 and 3—J. B. iii. 743—H. Ox. xiv. 5. 25.

Leaf-stalks waved, green. Fructifications in lines along the under margin of the leafits, which is rolled back upon them, as in P. aqualina; after the discharge of the seeds increasing in breadth so as to cover the whole disk, except the mid-rib. Bolt. Leaf-stalks from two to seven inches long. Leaf from one inch and a half to three inches long. Leafits of the barren leaves wedge-shaped and snipt at the edge; those of the fertile leaves much narrower, strap or strap-spear-shaped, and entire. Capsules surrounded with an elastic ring; of which Osmunda and Ophioglossum are destitute.

(This "flower-crowned Prince of English Ferns" is available for rock-work, especially if removed with a portion of bog-earth; and can scarcely fail to appear ornamental in any suitable situation. The preservation of the vital principle in seeds, (which in some species would appear to increase with continued preservation, as in those of melon,) is one of those natural phenomena which are little regarded, because familiar to the most casual observer. But that some should lose their vegetative power by being kept out of the ground even for a short time after ripening, while others may be sent round the world, and exposed to every vicissitude of climate, or even be buried for ages in the earth, and yet regetate with the first favourable opportunity, is truly surprising, and the cause past man's finding out. E.)

Impressions of the leaves are frequent in the nodules of iron stone found in Coalbrook Dale, Salop. It is the only species of an indigenous vegetable which I have ever discovered in a fossil state. But it is a native of Virginia also. St. All the other impressions of Filices, which I have seen on iron stone seem to be those of American plants. The root boiled in water becomes mucilaginous, and is used in the north of Europe to stiffen linen instead of starch.

+(The lepis of the ancient Greeks appears to have been some kind of Fern, so denominated on account of its wing-like figures; but further we know not. E.)

CRISPED OF CURLED FERN. PARSLEY FERN. STONE BRAKES. (P. crispa. With. Sm. Hull. Hook. and Linn. MS. fid. Sm. Osmunda crispa. Linn. Sp. Pl. Huds. Lightf. Bolt. Rocks, heaths, old walls, in the northern counties frequent. Rutland. Mr. Jackson. Shap, very common; also Tenterfell, near Kendal. Mr. Gough. Cader Idris: fructifications ripe in September. Mr. Griffith. (Styehead, Wastdale; Borrowdale; Teesdale; Highlands of Scotland, frequent. Mr. Winch. É.)

Var. 2. Leaves curled.

Mr. Jackson has observed two varieties with curled leaves, the one curled like Parsley, the other like the flowering part of Osmunda regalis.

(P. July. E.) P. AQUILI'NA. Leaves more than doubly compound: leafits winged: wings spear-shaped; the lowermost wing-cleft; the upper ones smaller.

(E. Bot. 1679. E.)-Ger. 969. 2-Bull. 207-Bolt. 10-Pluk. 182. 1Blackw. 325-Fuchs. 596, misprinted 569-Dod. 462. 2-Trag. 542— Matth. 1291-Gars. 272-Lob. Obs. 473. 2; Ic. i. 812. 2-Ger. Em. 1128. 2-Park. 1037, misprinted 1039—H. Ox. xiv. 4. 3-Cam. Epit. 992. The root cut obliquely presents a kind of representation of the Imperial Eagle. Linn. Whence Linnæus has named it P. aquilina, or Eagle

Brakes.*

FEMALE FERN. COMMON BRAKES. (Scotch: Brackens, Welsh: Adain-redynen eriraidd. Gaelic: Raineach. E.) woods.

or Brechen. Heaths and P. Aug.t

BLECH'NUM. Capsules forming two parallel lines near the rib of the leaf.

(Thomas Smith, Esq. of the Temple, London, has observed an inner or real involucre, besides the one formed by the convolute margin of the frond, to which it is opposite, and, curling inward, covers the young capsules, and is only to be observed when the plant is in fructification; the whole being protected by the outer one, or margin of the frond. Hook. Scot. A similar membrane to this inner involucre has been detected in some few other species usually included in the present genus; hence it has been suggested that this difference might afford a character which would justify a new genus. The principle, perhaps, abstractedly, it were difficult to deny, but not less so, practically, the inconvenience of establishing a primary distiction on parts absolutely imperceptible to the naked eye. Dr. Greville informs us that the ferruginous filaments which are produced by the root of this plant, and some of its congeners, have been described by Agardh and other authors, as a Conferva! E.)

+ A tolerably pure alkali may be obtained from this plaat. In many parts of England the ashes, mixed with water, are formed into balls; which are afterwards heated in the fire, and used to make lye for scouring linen. It makes a very durable thatch; and is an excellent litter for horses and cows. Where coal is scarce, it is used to heat ovens and to burn limestone; for it yields a very violent heat. In the more inhospitable climates, bread is prepared from the roots. The Fern-moth feeds upon it. (In Japan the very young shoots of the leaves are often sold in bunches as edible. The woody root is bruised, and the water being expressed in which it had been steeped, the pulp is eaten by the poorest people. Kempfer. Fern is so astringent as, in many places abroad, to be employed for dressing kid and chamois leather. The powder of it is given by country people to remove worms. Its medicinal qualities appear to be much like those of Polypodium Filix-mas. This elegant plant is not unknown in Scottish pastorals, and had more charms for the patriotic bard of Ayr than the boasted products of foreign lands:

"Far dearer to me yon lone glen o' green Breckan,
Wi' the burn stealing under the lang yellow broom," E.)

B. SPICANT. Barren leaves wing-cleft: fruitful leaves winged, narrower: segments very entire.

(E. Bot. 1159. E.)-Hedw. Theor. 5, the fertile and barren leaf, with the parts of fruct. dissect. and magnified—Curt. 127—Fl. Dan. 99—Trag. 550 -Lon. i. 225. 1-Clus. ii. 213. 1-Dod. 469. 1-Lob. Obs. 475. 2 ; Ic. i. 815. 2-Ger. Em. 1140. 2-Park. 1042. 2-H. Ox. xiv. 2. 23-Ger. 978. 2—Bolt. 6—J. B. iii. 745. 2—Cam. Epit. 665-Gis. 49. Flowering-leaves much narrower than the barren ones. Linn. Fructifications covered at first with a thin membrane. Capsule of one cell and two valves, connected by an annular elastic cord, containing many minute seeds. Hedw. Barren leaves, segments widest at the base, strap-spearshaped, the lateral ribs forked, sometimes, though rarely, terminating in minute scollops. Fertile leaves, segments not half so broad, separate, though the confluence may almost almost always be traced, and towards the end of the leaf gives a waved appearence to the mid-rib. Woodw. Fertile leaves, twelve to eighteen inches high, and near two inches broad, the lower part naked or with short imperfect leafits. Barren leaves from the same root, but only about half as tall, clothed with leafits nearly to the bottom. From the narrowness of the leafits it is not easy to determine whether the rows of capsules may more properly be considered as contiguous and parallel to the mid-rib, which is the character of Blechnum, or disposed along the edge of the leaf which would refer it to Pteris. It appears, however, from Hedwig's microscopical dissections, that the anthers are found upon the mid-rib, and that circumstance is, I think, sufficient to determine that the rows of capsules more properly belong to that than to the edge of the leaf, notwithstanding Hedwig himself has referred it to the genus Acrostichum. See. Pl. XIII. fig. 9, 10, 11.

ROUGH SPLEENWORT. (Welsh: Rhedyn Gwib. Osmunda spicant. Linn. Acrostichum spicant. With. Ed. ii. (Blechnum boreale. Sw. Willd. Sm. Hook. E.) Groves and moist heaths. St. Faith's Newton woods, near Norwich; common in Herts, and frequent in the North. Mr. Woodward. At Hainsford, Norfolk. Mr. Crowe. In lanes about Aston Park, near Birmingham. (At the bottom of the thicket in the Vale of Dudcombe, near Painswick. Mr. Oade Roberts. Abundant on Hampstead Heath, Middlesex. Gerard. In lanes about Bromsgrove Lickey, Worcestershire. Mr. Purton. Trossacks; Loch Katrine. Dr. Bostock. In Anglesey. Welsh Bot. E.) P. July-Sept. ASPLENIUM.* Capsules disposed in straight and nearly parallel lines on the under surface of the leaf.

(1) Leaf simple.

A. SCOLOPEN DRIUM. Leaves heart-tongue-shaped, very entire: stalks hairy.

Curt.-(E. Bot. 1150. E.)-Tourn. 319—Blackw. 138—Bull. 167-Bolt. 11 -Gars. 346-Trag. 549-Fuchs. 294-J. B. iii. 756-Clus. ii. 213. 2— Dod. 467. 1-Cam. Epit. 579-Walc.-Lob. Obs. 468. 3—Ger. Em. 1138. 1-Park. 1046. 1, f. 2—H. Ox. xiv. 1. 1—Lon. i. 224. 3—Matth. 831.

(From σ#kǹv, splenium, belonging to the spleen; from its once supposed efficacy in curing disorders of that viscus. E.)

Leaf-stalks rising from the root, about two inches long. Leaf strap-shaped but rounded and hollowed at the base, from eight to twelve inches long, or more; one inch and a half to two inches and a half broad, the shortest leaves the broadest. Fructifications in lines, slanting upwards from the mid-rib, but not in contact with it.

COMMON SPLEENWORT, or HART'S-TONGUE.

(Scolopendrium vulgare.

Sym. Sm. Hook. (Welsh: Tafod yr hûdd cyffredin. Moist shady rocks, mouths of wells, and old walls. P. Aug. Sept.

Var. 2. Leaves curled and jagged at the edge.

J. B. iii. 757.3.

Near a petrifying spring, by the side of a rivulet at the bottom of Garn dingle, three miles from Denbigh. Mr. Griffith.

Var. 3. Leaves with many clefts at the end.

Clus. ii. 213. 3-Dod. 467. 2-Lob. Obs. 469. 1; Ic. ii. 805. 2-Ger. Em. 1138. 2-Park. 1047. 1—J. B. iii. 757. 2—H. Ox. xiv. 1, row 1. 2—Ger.

976. 2.

Phyllitis multifida. R. Syn. 117. In a lane near Swaneling, not many miles from Southampton. Gerard Em. Near Bromham, growing in the mouth of a well very much shaded. Mr. Norris. Cawsey Wood, Durham. Mr. Winch. E.)

Var. 4. Leaves with clefts at the edges.

Tourn. 451.

Phyllitis polyschides, &c. R. Syn. 117. In woods. Bobart in R. Syn. 117. Var. 5. Stalk branched, with three or more leaves.

H. Ox. xiv. 8.

Mr. Gough sent me a specimen of this variety in which the stalk divides into five branches, but is entire at the base for about two inches and a half, and furnished with its usual leafy border.

This was gathered on Warton Cragg, near Lancaster.

All the above varieties are much smaller than the plant in its more common

state.

(Var. 6. Leaves much plaited and crenate at each edge, spear-shaped, (sometimes heart-tongue-shaped,) nearly as large as the common variety.

Found in woods at Stouts-hill, Gloucestershire, by the Rev. Mr. Baker. E.)

(2) Leaf wing-cleft.

A. CE'TERACH. Leaves wing-cleft: lobes alternate, confluent, blunt. Bull. 383-(E. Bot. 1244. E.)-Walc.-Gars. 212-Barr. 1051. 1052. 1043. 1044-Tourn. 318-Trag. 551-Dod. 468-Lob. 470. 1; Ic. i. 807. 1Ger. Em. 1140. 1-Park. 1046, f. 1-Ger. 978. 1-Matth. a. C. B. 646. 1 -H. Ox. xiv. 2, row 3, f. 4-Blackw. 216-J. B. iii. 749-Bolt. 12Matth. 899-Cam. Epit. 640.

*(When bruised, the whole plant emits a nauseous scent. To the taste it is mucilaginous and acrid; and though not possessed of the powers ascribed to it by the older writers, not only for relieving the spleen and liver, but "all other griefes proceeding of oppila tions or stoppings whatsoever;" perhaps Ray's recommendation of it, from his own experience, as a good medicine in convulsive disorders, may deserve attention. E.).

Leaves so covered underneath with scales as to conceal the fructifications. Linn. Leaves many from a root, three to six inches long, the hollows between the lobes of the same size and shape as the lobes, edges somewhat bent back when the fructifications ripen. Woodw. SCALY SPLEENWORT. (Welsh: Rhedyn y gogofau; Dueg-redynen feddy gaul. Scolopendrium Ceterach. Sym. Sm. Roth. E.) Old walls and clefts of moist rocks. About Bristol plentiful. At Bury, at Asheridge, Hertfordshire. Northern counties frequent. Mr. Woodward. Heydon, Norfolk. Mr. Bryant. On old walls cemented with mortar mixed with clay; and in a similar soil in limestone fissures on the highest part of Kendai Fell. Mr. Gough. (Garden wall at Tocknels, near Painswick. Mr. Oade Roberts. Hill of Kinnoul, Scotland. Mr. Winch. At Badsey, Worcestershire; Rufford; Walcot, in Haslar parish, Warwickshire; in Dovedale; Bree in Purt. Walls of an old castle near the village of Llanfihangel y Pennant, Merionethshire. Mr. Griffith. In caves in Holyhead mountain. Welsh Bot. E.) P. May-Oct.

(3) Leaves winged.

A. TRICHO'MANES. Leafits nearly circular, scolloped.

Dicks. H. S.-(Hook. Fl. Lond. 156-E. Bot. 576. E.)-Woodv. 204Kniph. 6-Walc.-Bolt. 13 and 2. 2-Bull. 185-Tourn. 315. A.D.E.Fl. Dan. 119-Blackw. 370-Gars. 128. B.-Trag. 530. 1—Lonic. i. 212. 1-Cam. Epit. 925-Park. 1051—Matth. 1202—Dod. 471. 1—Lob. Obs. 471. 2; Ic. i. 809. 2—Ger. Em. 1046—H. Ox. xiv, row 1. 10-Fuchs. 796 -Ger. 985-Hedw. Th. 7. 37, a leafit magnified.

Plant from three to seven inches high, consisting of a leaf, several of which rise singly from a black fibrous root; from one quarter to three quarters of an inch broad. Leafits either circular or oblong; sometimes rather cut into lobes; capsules when ripe covering the whole under surface. (Its fructification is most abundant during summer, but may be found the whole year. It much resembles A. viride, but, besides the different colour, the latter has the pinna rather ovate than oblong, serrated and cuneate at the base-nearly rhomboid. Fl. Lond. E.)

COMMON MAIDENHAIR. (Welsh: Dueg-redynen Gwallt y forwyn. E.)
Old walls, rocks, and shady stony places.
P. May-Oct.†
A. VIRIDE. Leaves spear-shaped: leafits circular, but with three or
four angles.

Dicks. H. S.-(E. Bot. 2257—Fl. Dan. 1289. E.)-Bolt. 14. Leaf-stalks pale green, sometimes brownish towards the root, and in some specimens brown and glossy as in A. Trichomanes. Wings rhomboidal, fixed on the leaf-stalk by one of the corners, the upper and lower sides of the base very entire, the other two scolloped. Bolt. Wings more lopped at the base than in A. Trichomanes. Leaf-stalk green, which seems to be the only certain character by which it is distinguishable from that

(The Rev. Hugh Davies informs us that the Scaly Spleenwort is becoming very scarce, from being gathered for bait in rock-cod fishing. E.)

+(This Fern has no pretensions to medicinal virtues, but is generally substituted instead of the more rare True Maidenhair for making capillaire, a syrup which, when perfumed with orange flowers, is considered an agreeable beverage. The Common Maidenhair is less sensible to cold than the other kind, and with several of its tribe may be introduced to advantage upon ornamental rock-work. E.)