THE SPLEENWORfS. 55 



fronds have a spreading or horizontal mode of growth ; their 

 pinnules are oblong and bluntly toothed, the teeth being 

 almost always quite simple, not two or three-notched as is 

 usual in the other forms ; they are attached closely together, 

 at right angles with the continuously winged rachis of the 

 pinnae. The sori are very short, often curved in a horse-shoe 

 form, and crowded. It was found near Aberdeen. 



There are, besides, several curious monstrous varieties of 

 considerable horticultural interest. One called muUifidum, 

 of which several variations have now been discovered, has 

 the tips of all the pinnae, as well as of the frond itself, mul- 

 tifid or tasselled, which gives it a very elegant appearance. 

 Another, called depauperatum or ramosum, is smaller, with 

 the pinnae reduced and irregularly tasselled, and the apex ot 

 the frond more deeply split into ragged-looking tasselled 

 lobes. Another, called crispum, is a dwarf tufted plant, no 

 larger than a bunch of curled parsley, which it much resem- 

 bles, its fronds being curiously branched, crisped, and tas- 

 selled. These, which are, strictly speaking, monstrosities, 

 have retained their characteristics for many years in cultiva- 

 tion, and are very elegant. See Handbook of British Ferns. 



The common Lady Fern is abundant in warm moist woods 

 and hedgerows throughout Great Britain, and especially so 

 in Ireland ; it also occurs throughout Europe, and in Asia, 

 Africa, and North America. 



None of our native Ferns are more easily ciiltivated than 

 this. A rather boggy soil suits it best, and it loves shade 

 and moisture ; indeed, these latter conditions being fulfilled, 

 soil becomes a secondary consideration. The moisture, how- 

 ever, though abundant, should not be stagnant. The Lady 

 Fern is occasionally seen planted in the mouth of a cave or 

 recess, by water, among shady rockwork ; nothing is so lovely 

 as a finely-grown plant of it so situated. As a pot plant it 

 requires plenty of room, both for its roots and fronds, and 

 must be liberally watered. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE 8PLEENWORTS. 



THE Spleen-worts are called Asplenium by botanists. The 

 British Aspleniwm are small evergreen Ferns, with long 

 narrow single sori lying in the direction of the veins wliich 



