SPEAR-SHAPED SPLEEN WORT. 41 



long, the wedge-shaped base of each with an ear on its upper 

 margin. The pinnae near the apex of the frond are not 

 distinct but run together, so that the upper part of the frond is 

 only pinnately cut. As in most thick-fronded ferns, the midrib 

 of the pinna is not conspicuous. The sori are large, rust- 

 coloured, and placed obliquely along each half of the pinnae ; 

 they are covered with thick indusia, which are at first white. 



In a few instances the Sea Spleenwort has been recorded as 

 growing naturally at some distance inland ; but these exceptions 

 only go to emphasize the maritime character of the species, for 

 instead of the long, graceful characteristic form of the frond, we 

 have in these examples very dwarfed and less divided fronds. 

 It is found in these islands as far north as Shetland, and 

 extends down the east coast only as far south as Yorkshire ; on 

 the west coast it is distributed generally all the way to Land's 

 End, and thence along the south coast as far east as Hampshire 

 and Sussex. It is found all round the coast of Ireland ; and 

 especially fine examples have been recorded from the Channel 

 Islands. Its broader distribution is mainly in the south and 

 west of Europe and North Africa ; but it is not confined to the 

 Old World, for it appears in the North American flora, and 

 also on some of the islands between Africa and America. 



Spear-shaped Spleenwort (Aspleniwn lanceolatum). 



Like the Sea Fern, the Spear-shaped Spleenwort exhibits a 

 strong partiality for the neighbourhood of the sea, and especi- 

 ally for the sea that laps our western shores. Its English name 

 which after all is only a book-name though it might be made 

 to apply to several other of our native ferns, is at least a suitable 

 one. Like its congeners it is a rock fern, and it prefers rocks 

 that are always more or less wet with water running from greater 

 elevations, though in a few localities it has been found in dry 

 situations. From the crevices of the rocks there issues a crowd 



