42 HOW TO KNOW THE FERNS 



that it so often grows in inaccessible positions. 

 The True Maidenhair loves a position which is 

 shady and where moisture is abundant. From 

 a slender, creeping rhizome, which is black in 

 colour, the fronds arise. These vary greatly in 



Adiantwn capillus-veneris. The Maidenhair Fern. 



length, and may measure anything from six 

 inches up to a foot, or even more, according to 

 the conditions in which the plant is living. The 

 stipes, which is usually about the same length 

 as the leafy portion, is jet-black, and like the 

 rachis and all its branchings, is of a very wiry 

 nature. In a moderate-sized specimen the 



