ASPLENIUM. 71 



quite distinct, but it is not uncommon for them to become 

 confluent so as to cover nearly all the under-surface of the 

 whole of the little pinnules. 



There are some who doubt this species being really a 

 native of Britain, on the ground that it is not now to be 

 found in the places where it is said to have been originally 

 met with. We have been favoured by Mr. Shepherd, of 

 Liverpool, for many years a cultivator of Ferns, with a frond 

 gathered at Matlock, in Derbyshire. It has, moreover, been 

 met with on a very old wall at Tooting, and also on rocks 

 near Stonehaven ; and considering that it is a very small 

 plant, and that the places where it would be most likely 

 to occur are generally the most inaccessible, and, therefore, 

 the least likely to be searched considering, moreover, 

 the many probable localities which exist, and have not 

 been carefully explored by any keen botanical eye, we 

 think the probability is that it is really indigenous, though 

 from these causes it is overlooked. While so many pro- 

 babilities exist in favour of its being native, we are not 

 justified in rejecting the statements which the older bota- 

 nists have left us. 



This species is too rare to be often trusted on rock-work, 

 unless where every provision, such as shade, shelter, and 



