54 WHERE TO FIND FERNS. 



under sides of the rachis. Apex of leafy part more or 

 less pointed ; base, heart-shaped with ear-shaped pro- 

 jections. Fructification produced in parallel lines, which 

 run obliquely from near the rachis towards the leafy 

 margins on either side of the rachis. Each apparent 

 line of spore-cases consists in reality of twin, elongated 

 sori placed side by side and confluent, the scaly 

 indusium, which covers the whole, splitting along the 

 centre when the spores are ripe, and disclosing the 

 densely-clustered, rich-brown spore-cases underneath. 



HABITATS. Shady parts of woods ; the bases, sides, 

 and tops of hedgebanks. This species is oftentimes 

 very luxuriant under the shelter of the vegetation of the 

 hedgetop, where it grows frequently in semi-darkness. 

 It grows upon banks overhanging streams ; upon rocks 

 and stonework, including walls of buildings and en- 

 closures, bridge-arches, ruins, and the sides of old wells ; 

 also upon cliffs overhanging the sea, always, when on 

 stony habitats or elsewhere, most luxuriant where water 

 is oozing or trickling over the rocks, or ground, on 

 which it grows. 



WHERE FOUND. In England, in all the counties. In 

 Wales, in the counties of Anglesea, Brecknock, Caer- 

 marthen, Caernarvon, Denbigh, Flint, Glamorgan, and 

 Pembroke. In the Isle of Man. In Scotland, in the 

 following counties : Aberdeen, Argyle, Ayr, Berwick, 

 Caithness, Dumfries, Inverness, Edinburgh, Elgin, Fife, 

 Forfar, Kincardine, Kirkcudbright, Lanark, Orkney (in- 

 cluding the Shetland Isles), Perth, Renfrew, Roxburgh, 

 Selkirk, Stirling, and Sutherland. Also in Cantyre 

 and the Clyde Isles. In Ireland, in the Isle of 

 Wight, and in the Channel Islands throughout, the 

 moisture of the climates of those countries inducing a 

 luxuriant growth of this species, which is found at all 

 elevations up to six hundred feet above the sea-level. 



