74 THE FERN PARADISE. 



taken possession of the ground, and have given 

 an indescribably graceful aspect to the strewn 

 boulders. Reaching the top of the Cleave, after 

 a toilsome ascent, we made for the Logan, or 

 Nutcracker Rock. Near this rock, peering into 

 the stony crevices, we made a pleasing discovery. 

 We found in one of the interstices, between the 

 gigantic masses of granite which cover the hill- 

 top, several specimens of the rare Lanceolate 

 Spleenwort. They were, growing in one little 

 cluster, and in the dark shadow of their retreat 

 we could not at first be sure that they were 

 not the beautiful but common Black Maidenhair 

 Spleenwort. We knew, however, that from the 

 position in which they were growing, it was quite 

 possible that they might be Asplenium lanceo- 

 latum. With the aid of a long stick, we succeeded 

 in digging them out ; and a close examination 

 at once gave proof that the plants we had dis- 

 covered were what we had hoped they would 

 prove to be. The fronds of the Black Maidenhair 

 Spleenwort are always broadest at their base, nar- 

 rowing gradually towards their apex, the spores 



