34 THE FERN PARADISE. 



the sides of houses. It is a very hardy little 

 fern, and will thrive in the sunshine, but most 

 loves moist and sheltered nooks. 



Growing by the side of the Wall-rue is the beau- 

 tiful Maidenhair Spleenwort (Asplenium tricJw- 

 manes). Its fibrous wiry roots insinuate themselves 

 into the crevices between the stones, and its crown 

 throws up a dense mass of beautiful little fronds, 

 with stems like shining black hairs, and with little 

 bright green, round, saw-edged leaflets alternately 

 placed on each side of the stems, along the greater 

 part of their length. Following the downward course 

 of the lane we come, in the most cool, damp, and 

 shady places, upon numbers of the Lady Fern 

 (Athyrium filix-fcemina), perhaps the most graceful 

 of the larger British ferns. Its drooping feathery 

 fronds are indeed, when finely grown, most exqui- 

 sitely beautiful, and the entire plant forms the 

 most conspicuous ornament of the places in which 

 it delights to grow. It throws up its fronds 

 oftentimes in dense tufts; but it is to be found 

 in perfection only in very moist and shady situa- 

 tions. 



