THE RUE-LEAVED SPLEENWORT. 117 



Somersetshire, at Culbone. In Wales, in Caernarvon 

 and Merioneth ; in the former, rocks between Capel 

 Curig and Llanrwst, and rocks at the Pass of Llanberis ; 

 in Merioneth, on Cader Idris (F. T. Richards). In 

 Scotland, Edinburgh, Fife, Perth, and Roxburgh, and in 

 the following localities : in Edinburgh, rocks within 

 two miles of the capital ; in the county of Fife, rocks in 

 the neighbourhood of Dunfermline ; in Perthshire, the 

 Stenton Rocks in the neighbourhood of Dunkeld ; in 

 the county of Roxburgh, Minto Crags in the vicinity of 

 Hassendean and rocks on the Tweed near Kelso. It 

 has never been reported from Ireland. Asplenium 

 gcrmanicum grows at elevations above the sea-level 

 extending from some three hundred to three thousand 

 feet. 



XL. THE RUE-LEAVED SPLEENWORT. 



Asplenium ruta-muraria. 

 (Plate XIII., Figs. 8 and 9, page 73.) 



LENGTH OF FROND. One inch to six inches. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. Roots fine, wiry, fibrous, and 

 very abundant, growing oftentimes in a dense mass. 

 Rootstock short, thick, compact, tufted. Fronds ever- 

 green, leathery, dark-green, shining, numerous, produced 

 sometimes in thick tufts from the crown, which is always 

 elevated a little above the surface of the rock or earthy 

 seam of soil upon which it is growing ; stipes smooth, 

 green, purplish-black at the base, equal in length to, 

 or double the length of, the leafy part, or intermediate 

 between these lengths ; leafy part more or less triangular, 

 bipinnate ; pinnae stalked, alternate upon the rachis and 

 divided, usually, into three wedge-shaped, egg-shaped, or 



