

COMMON SPLEENWORT. 



AsPLENiuM Trichomanes of Authors. 

 Asplenium Saxatile, — Gray. 



LOCALITIES. 



ND. ^ 

 4.ND. I 



England. 



Scotland. \ ^fenerally distributed. 



Ireland j 



This plant occurs so commonly in all parts of England, Wales, 

 Scotland, and Ireland, that I did not consider myself justified 

 in printing the alarming list of localities which I had prepared : 

 it grows on rocks, walls, churches, bridges, ruins, and sometimes, 

 but less frequently, on banks and in hedgerows. I once found 

 it in the valley of the Wye, near the little town of Bualt, grow- 

 ing in such profusion on a bridge that it formed a continuous 

 covering of green : there is scarcely anything in the vegetable 

 world more beautiful than such a sight as this, and those only 

 who have tried the experiment can say how readily such a sight 

 may be realized by cultivation. 



The roots are black, tough, and very insinuating, forcing their 

 way into crevices of rock, that would have otherwise remained 

 invisible ; and certainly, in old buildings, promoting decay, by 

 disintegrating the mortar, which, however enfeebled by time, 



