Cryi-togramme.] FILICES. 511 



Loose stony places in mt. districts, from Harris and Caithness to N. Devon ; 

 absent in E. England; ascends to 3,500 ft. in the Highlands ; Ireland, very 

 rare ; frt. June- July. — Rootstock scaly, clothed with broken bases of fronds. 

 Stipes of barren fronds 1-2 in., of fertile 2-5 in. slender, naked, pale brown. 

 Fronds deltoid-ovate, submembranous ; barren 2-pinnate, pinnules 2-3- 

 pinnatiBd, cuneate or oblong, 2-3-toothed ; fertile 2-3-pinnate ; pinnules 

 fusiform or oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, entire, subpetioled. 



6. LOMA'RIA, Willd. Hard-Fern. 



Rootstock usually short or creeping. Fronds tufted, of 2 kinds ; outer 

 barren or fertile below only ; inner fertile ; veins free, simple or forked. 

 Sori linear, close to the margin, continuous round the pinnule, often 

 covering its lower surface ; involucre linear, close to and parallel with the 

 margin, opening inwards, scarious. — Distrib. Trop. and temp, chiefly 

 south regions ; species 40. — Etym. Ado/xa, from the marginal sori. 



Ii. Spi'cant, Desv. ; barren fronds narrow-lanceolate pinnatifid above, 



pinnate below. Bleeh'num borea'le, Sw. 



Heaths, woods, banks, &c., N. to Shetland ; ascends to 2,000 ft. in the High- 

 lands ; Ireland; Channel Islands; frt. July-Aug. — Rootstock stout, creeping, 

 scaly. Stipes of barren fronds 2-3 in., of fertile 6-9 in., polished, red- 

 brown. Fronds erect or spreading ; barren 6-9 in., narrowed to the base, 

 coriaceous, green, glabrous ; pinnules §-f in., linear-oblong, sessile by a 

 broad base, obtuse, quite entire, sinus narrow, veins inconspicuous; fertile 

 pinnate, pinnse distant, falcate, narrow, obtuse, dilated at the base, lower 

 minute very distant. Involucre marginal in a young state. — Distrib. 

 Europe (Arctic), Canaries, N.E. Asia, N.W. America. 



7. ASPLE'NIUM, L. Spleenwort. 



Rootstock usually short, tufted. Fronds various. Sori dorsal on the 

 veins, linear or oblong, oblique, distant from the midrib, except when the 

 frond is much divided ; involucre oblong or linear, membranous, laterally 

 attached to the vein, opening towards the midrib. — Distrib. All climates 

 but very cold ; species 280. — Etym. o and a-irK^v, having been a reputed 

 spleen medicine. 



Sub-gen. 1. Asple'nium proper. Invohccre straight, narrow, margin 

 entire or erose. Frond not scaly beneath. Veins free. 



* Ultimate pinnules without a distinct midrib. 



1. A. Ru'ta-mura'ria, L. ; frond oblong or ovate rigid irregularly 2- 

 pinnate, pinnse 3-7 obovate-cuneate, tip rounded or truncate toothed. 

 Walls and rocks, N. to Orkney ; ascends to 2,000 ft. in the Highlands ; 

 Ireland ; Channel Islands ; frt. June-Oct. — Rootstock stout, shortly 

 creeping, without scales. Stipes tufted, 2-4 in., wiry, black below. Frond 

 1-2 in., recurved, often deltoid; pinnae stalked, upper entire, lower again 

 pinnate ; pinnules J-§ in., often rhomboid ; midrib obsolete ; veins flabel- 

 late, forked. Sori many, linear-oblong, 2-5 on each pinnule; involucre 

 entire or margins erose. — Distrib. Europe (Arctic), N. and S. Africa, N. 

 Asia, N.W. Himalaya, N. America. 



