182 SWISS FUENS. 



12. Pteris.— Brake. 



Sori in Hues along the edge of the leaflets. 



P. aquilina, Brake. A tall fern, from one to ten feet high 

 according to situation, with fronds twice or thrice pinnate^ 

 the lower pinnas larger, giving the fern a triangular outline. 

 It is the fern most generally met with in England, growing 

 on commons and waste places. The stem^ if cut across 

 a little above the ground, has the appearance of an oak. 



P. Cretica. Fronds of two kinds : the barren, with linear- 

 lanceolate segments with pointed teeth ; the fertile, with very 

 narrow entire linear segments. Rocks : Tessin. Not found 

 in England. 



13. Adiantum Capillus-Veneris. 



True Maiden- Hair. This fern, so well known, is found 

 in Switzerland not much more often than in England. It 

 is mentioned as being on old walls and rocks at Neuchatel 

 and in Tessin. Everyone knows it. Its much-divided 

 shining dark stems, and the bright green delicate leaflets, 

 which hang tremblingly on their hair- like stalks, make it 



