164 ASPLENIUM TRICIIOMANES. ENGLISH MAIDEN-HAIR. 



Alleghanies and northward." Dr. Haskins, in the " Botanical 

 Gazette," reports having gathered it in Grayson County, Ky. ; 

 and collectors in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and especially in 

 Michigan, speak of it as abundant. Mr. Brandegee collected it 

 in Southern Colorado; and in short, as Mr. Redfield observes, it 

 may appear wherever the conditions are favorable. It was not 

 found by the early botanists in the District of Columbia, as 

 appears by Breretons catalogue, but is now included in the list 

 of the Potomac Naturalists' Club. 



Although so common, the Asplenium Trichomancs is, in our 

 estimation, one of the most delicately beautiful of all ferns. 

 The single leaflets are, indeed, rather formal in outline, but their 

 heaviness is relieved by the prominent veins on the upper sur- 

 face, which give to them somewhat the appearance of being 

 plaited. The contrast between the leaflets and the slender 

 stipes is also very attractive, and calls up the idea of weakness 

 and strength happily united. There is, moreover, a great deal 

 of intellectual pleasure to be derived from seeing this little 

 plant growing in its native locations. Many of our gay-flow- 

 ering plants will only deign to exhibit their charms in a 

 very limited circle of high society, where they are petted and 

 pampered. But this little fern, like a good angel, goes forth 

 over the wide world, seeking out the cold, cheerless spots which 

 are despised and left in utter loneliness by its gayly colored 

 companions, and decks them with an elegant and chaste beauty 

 which even the more aristocratic members of the floral kingdom 

 might envy. If any poet wishes to find an emblem of universal 

 love, and of charity to the poor and forsaken, he cannot certainly 

 choose anything better befitting the idea than our English 

 Maiden-Hair. 



Explanation of the Plate. — 1. Complete plant from a specimen gathered in Massachu- 

 setts. — 2. Leaflet enlarged, showing upper surface. — 3. Leaflet enlarged, showing 

 lower surface and sporangia. 



