334 TERNS. 



out of the vertical fissures, and reaches the almost 

 incredible length of three feet in the frond, in which 

 condition it is actually indistinguishable from that 

 West Indian form, Asplenium Icetum, which has been 

 considered a distinct species. The scaly Ceterach, too, 

 makes great tufts, with the curious sinuous leaves 

 fifteen and eighteen inches long. But above all, it is 

 the region of the most charming of ferns, the lovely 

 Maidenhair. " I cannot describe my delight," says 

 the enthusiastic explorer, " when my friend brought 

 me to this spot [limestone cliffs near Ballynalackan.] 

 The inland cliffs are formed of horizontal beds of 

 limestone ; and on the vertical face of these cliffs, in 

 the clefts or interstices between the beds, this most ex- 

 quisite of all the ferns grows in its glory. In fact, for 

 a distance of fully half a mile, if not more, the stratifi- 

 cation of the rock is distinctly marked by the peculiar 

 green hue of Adiantum capillus Veneris. Between 

 this and the sea, almost every vertical fissure in the 

 flat bed of rock over which we walked was filled with 

 this fern ; and on the sea-side of the road it is asso- 

 ciated with the gigantic Asplenium marinum above 

 described. All the Wardian cases in Great Britain 

 might be well supplied with Adiantum capillus Ven- 

 eris from Ballynalackan ; and what was taken would 

 hardly be missed." * 



The localities of this augmented luxuriance in our 

 native Ferns, the extreme south-west corners of the 

 two islands, are indications of a characteristic pro- 



* Proc. Dub. Nat. Hist. Soc. December 1859. 



