28 THE BLACK SPLEENWORT. 



THE BLACK SPLEENWORT. 



ASPLENIUM ADIANTUM N1GRUM. 



[Linnceus.] 



(Fig. 11.) 



THIS fern grows from six inches to a foot in 

 height. The fronds are triangular or broadly lan- 

 ceolate, the dark shining purple or black stalk 

 being often as long as the leafy part. They are of a 

 thick firm texture, with numerous veins, and ot a 

 dark green colour. They are bipinnate, or sometimes 

 tripinnate, the pinnae gradually decreasing and less 

 divided towards the point of the frond. The sori are 

 at first distinct, placed near the mid-rib ; but as the 

 plant becomes older, they are generally confluent in a 

 mass, often covering the whole under-surface of the 

 pinnule. It is one of the latest of our ferns in un- 

 folding its fronds, which are not often open until the 

 middle of June. 



It is a conspicuous ornament of the situations where 

 it occurs ; chiefly on old walls, or hanging in graceful 

 sprays over rocks, or on the hedgebank of the dry but 

 shady lane. The fronds grow erect or stooping, 

 according to the position of the plant; they have 

 generally a triangular outline. They are not crisp, 

 like the fronds of most of our ferns, but have a 



