264 THE FERN PARADISE. 



The Black Maidenhair Spleenwort is widely 

 distributed over the United Kingdom. It occurs 

 plentifully on walls, old ruins, and river bridges, 

 growing, like the Wall-rue, in the interstices 

 between the stones. It also grows on old stony 

 hedge-banks, and it is in such situations, when 

 favoured by a rich soil of leaf-mould which may 

 have collected in the crevices formed by the 

 loosely arranged stones, and when sheltered by 

 overhanging bushes, that it attains its most luxu- 

 riant growth. We have often found it growing on 

 the soft soil of the hedge-bank. But as it is an 

 essentially rock-loving fern, it loves best to grow 

 on such hedge-banks as are built up of stone. 

 When in these hedge-banks the stones become 

 loose from age, it is generally the case that the 

 falling leaves from bushes and trees annually store 

 up deposits of leaf-mould in the interstices ; and 

 | these are the chosen habitats of our Black Maiden- 

 hair Spleenwort. 



It is a beautiful fern for the rockery, but must 

 be planted in a shady, sheltered corner amongst 

 stones, in a soil composed of rich sandy loam and 



