68 HOW TO KNOW THE FERNS 



soon disappear at the approach of winter. The 

 stipes is usually about one-third of the whole 

 leaf, and is sometimes of a brownish colour. The 

 stalk is remarkable for its brittle nature. The 

 outline of the fronds is lanceolate, and they taper 

 very decidedly towards the base as well as at 

 the tip. The leaves of the Lady Fern are bi- 

 pinnate. The pinnae are placed either in pairs, 

 or alternately, on opposite sides of the rachis, 

 and these in turn are divided into toothed 

 pinnules. In the case of both the pinnae and 

 the pinnules the distinctiveness is lost towards 

 the upper portion. 



The son are very abundant, but as these are 

 small they should be carefully examined. They 

 occur about midway between the central vein 

 of the pinnule and the margin of the leaf. The 

 indusium is not clearly linear, being more in the 

 shape of a horseshoe, but this character can only 

 be recognized before the delicate covering has 

 started to shrivel. There are a huge number 

 of variations of the Lady Fern, but many bear 

 a more or less striking resemblance to the type. 



Happily the Lady Fern is common in many 

 parts of the United Kingdom. Often it is to 

 be found growing surprisingly near to towns, 

 though its pretty green foliage makes a strong 

 appeal to the eye of those vandals who go about 

 uprooting every fern which they see. It is of 

 easy culture in the garden. The fronds of the 

 Lady Fern develop in the spring of the year. 



Asplenium septentrionale. The specific name 

 means " northern," and this has reference to the 

 fact that the species is more abundant in the 

 north than in the south. The Forked Spleen- 

 wort. 



The fronds of this Fern are of a thick leathery 

 nature, but they are rarely more than about two 



