THE 8PLEENWOETS. 



1. 



THE FORKED SPLEENWORT. 



Asplenium septentrionale. 



PLATE 7, FIG. 1. 



JHE Forked Spleen wort is one of our 

 rarest Ferns. It grows to an average 

 height of two or three inches only, 

 seldom exceeding six. Frond and stem are almost 

 blended, the leafy part of the frond being merged 

 into the stem by means of a sort of narrow leafy 

 wing. The fronds, which are thrown up in little 

 tufts around the crown of the plant, are divided 

 into sometimes two and sometimes three forked 

 divisions, somewhat club-shaped, narrow at their 

 base, and broadening upwards, where, being widest, 

 they are each finely jagged or slightly forked, the 

 tips of the segments presenting sharp points. On 

 the backs of the short fronds grow the spore- 

 cases, which, when quite ripe, become confluent, 

 forming one mass. 



367 



