FERN FAMILY. 23 
2. Asplenium ebenoides R. R. Scott. Scott's Spleenwort. (Fig. 47.) 
Asplenium ebenoides R. R. Scott, Journ. Roy. Hort. SS 
Soc. 87. 1866. \ 
Rootstock short, chaffy. Stipes blackish through- 
out, tufted, 1's’-4’ long; leaves lanceolate in out- 
line, variable in size and length, 3’-9’ long, 1/-2 
wide at the base, firm, tapering into a very long 
narrow acuminate apex, pinnatifid, or commonly 
pinnate below, the segments or pinnae lanceolate 
from a broad base, acute or acuminate, irregular in 
length, the lower sometimes shorter than those 
just above; sori several on each segment, straight 
orslightly curved ; indusium narrow, reflexed when 
the sporanges are mature. 
On limestone, Connecticut to Indiana, south to Ala- 
bama. Rare and local except in the last named local- 
ity. Ascendsto r4goo ft. in Virginia. The plant usually 
occurs with Camptosorus rhizophyllus and Asplenium 
Eaaueon and is suspected of being a hybrid between 
em. 
3. Asplenium parvulum Mart. & Gal. Smal 
Spleenwort. (Fig. 48.) 
Asplenium parvulum Mart. & Gal. Mem. Acad. Brux. 15: 
reprint 60,] 1842. 
Rootstock short, creeping, chaffy with black stiff scales. 
Stipes tufted, blackish and shining, 1/-2’ long; leaves 
rather firm, linear-oblong or linear-oblanceolate, 3/—10’ 
long, 5’’-12’’ wide, once pinnate; pinnae 2’/-6’’ long, 
mostly opposite, oblong, obtuse, entire or crenulate, 
auricled on the upper side and nearly sessile, the middle 
ones the longest, the lower gradually shorter and re- 
flexed ; rachis dark brown or black; sori oblong, short, 
borne about midway between the midrib and the margin 
of the pinnae, nearly or quite straight. 
On limestone, Virginia to Florida, west to Missouri, Texas 
and New Mexico. Ascends to 2400 ft. in Virginia. Also in 
Mexico. June-Oct. 
4. Asplenium platynetron (L,.) Oakes. Ebony Spleenwort. (Fig. 49.) 
Acrostichum platyneuros Y,. Sp: Pl. 1069. 1753. 
Ndsplentum ebeneum Ait. Hort. Kew. 3: 462. 1789. 
Asplenium platyneuron Oakes ; D. C. Eaton, Ferns N. 
A. I: 24, 1879. 
Rootstock short. Stipes densely tufted, pur- 
plish-brown and shining, 1/-4’ long; leaves lin- 
ear, 8’-15’ long, 14’-114’ wide, firm, once pinnate, 
the rachis chestnut-brown; pinnae 20-40 pairs, 
lanceolate, subfalcate, alternate or partly so, ses- 
sile, crenate, serrate or incised, auricled on the up- 
per side at the base and occasionally also on the 
lower ; lower pinnae gradually smaller and oblong 
‘or triangular ; sori 8-12 on each side of the midrib 
of the pinnae, becoming crowded at maturity. 
On rocks and banks, preferring limestone soil, 
Maine and Ontario to Florida, west to Colorado, the In- 
dian Territory, Louisiana and Texas. Ascends to 4200 
ft. in North Carolina. July-Sept. 
