THE SCALY SPLEENWORT. 131 



sori, which are ordinarily quite hidden by the clothing 

 of the scales, and which have imperfect and partially- 

 developed indusia. 



HABITATS. Rocks, old walls, and all kinds of old and 

 crumbling masonry; bridge-arches, house and garden 

 walls, and stony embankments. It grows from the moist, 

 shady seams of its stony habitats, being more or less 

 luxuriant according to the more or less congenial con- 

 dition of the habitats leaf-mould in the crevices of rock 

 or wall, caused by the fall and decay of leaves from over- 

 arching trees, and a certain amount of moisture, being 

 conducive to vigour and luxuriance. The proof that it 

 is chiefly leaf-mould and not " old mortar " as is so 

 frequently alleged that promotes the luxuriant growth 

 of this fern is found in the circumstance that when the 

 walls or rocks on which it is growing are under trees the 

 finest specimens are those amongst loose stones on the 

 tops of such walls or rocks, these being precisely the 

 positions in which there are naturally the largest accu- 

 mulations of leaf-mould from falling leaves. 



WHERE FOUND. In England, in the counties of 

 Bucks, Chester, Cornwall, Cumberland, Derby, Devon, 

 Dorset, Essex, Gloucester, Hants (the mainland and the 

 Isle of Wight), Hereford, Hertford, Kent, Lancaster, 

 Middlesex, Monmouth, Norfolk, Northampton, North- 

 umberland, Nottingham, Oxford, Salop, Somerset, 

 Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, Westmore- 

 land, Wilts, Worcester, and York. In Wales, in the 

 counties of Anglesea, Brecknock, Caermarthen, Caer- 

 narvon, Cardigan, Denbigh, Glamorgan, Merioneth, 

 Montgomery, and Pembroke. In Scotland, in the 

 counties of Argyle, Ayr, Berwick, Dumfries, Kirkcud- 

 bright, Lanark, Perth, and Renfrew. In Ireland, in the 

 counties of Antrim, Clare, Cork, Down, Dublin, Galway, 

 Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick, Louth, Sligo, Tipperary 

 Waterford, and Wicklow. In Jersey. 



