42 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND FERNS. 



of bright evergreen fronds which are not arranged in any 

 definite order. These fronds arise in May from a short, thick 

 rootstock that is covered with long awl-shaped scales, and they 

 vary from eight to eighteen inches in length. They are very 

 different from those of the Sea Fern in consistence, lacking the 

 leathery thickness of that species. 



The stipes of the Spear-shaped Spleenwort is comparatively 

 short (2 to 4 inches), of a rich ruddy-brown tint, with a polished 

 surface. The frond proper is long and slender, and lance- 

 shaped. It is twice pinnate, the numerous pinnae almost 

 opposite. The lowest pair is much smaller than those imme- 

 diately above, which are the largest of all. From this second 

 pair of pinnae upwards the others gradually diminish in size, 

 so that the frond is finished in an acute point. The pinnae 

 are attached to the rachis by short stalks, and are cut up into 

 egg-shaped pinnules, which in turn have their margins deeply 

 cut into sharp teeth. The sori, which are produced from June 

 to September, are at first short and oblong, but at length run 

 together. It is important to note as a distinctive feature that 

 the sorus is produced above the forking of the veins, and extends 

 nearly to the margin of the pinnules. In the Black Spleen- 

 wort, which is frequently mistaken for this and vice versd, the 

 sorus is situated below the fork. To the botanist these two 

 species are very distinct, but they do not appear to be so to the 

 unscientific fern-lover. Up to little more than a hundred years 

 ago even botanists regarded A. lanceolatum as merely a variety 

 of A, adiantum-nigrum. We may have more to say respecting 

 the differences between them when we deal with the next 

 species, but we would here note that a comparison of the 

 relative breadth of the fronds at the base of the leafy portion 

 should be sufficient evidence on which to separate them at 

 sight. In the present species the second pair of pinnae from 

 the base gives the greatest breadth to the frond ; in the Black 

 Spleenwort the lowest pair greatly exceeds all the others, so 



