86 HISTORY OP BRITISH FERNS. 



herbarium specimens in wlu'ch the fructification is quite 

 mature ; for this, without doubt, was the cause of the Lady 

 Fern having been referred to the family of Aspidium } with 

 which it has no real affinity. The affinity of the Lady Fern 

 is properly with the Aspleniums, and there is less reason to 

 dispute the conclusions of those who actually place it as a 

 species of Asplenium ; although, as there is a difference be- 

 tween them, and the genus Asplenium is rather a crowded 

 one, it is a convenience to have them separated. The mark 

 by which the Aspleniums and their allies are known, in 

 addition to the elongated form of the sorus, is its position 

 on the side, not the back, of the veins ; the receptacle being 

 lateral, as it is said. From Asplenium itself, the Athynum 

 is known by having its indusium fringed on the free margin 

 with capillary segments, while in Asplenium proper the 

 margin of the indusium is without this membranous fringe. 

 There is, as already mentioned, only one indigenous species 

 of AtJiyrium. The Asplenium fontanum is sometimes ad- 

 mitted, but we think it does not properly belong to this 

 genus. 



The name is derived from the Greek, and comes from 

 atliyros, opened ; the allusion being to the position assumed 

 by the indusium, which stands out from the surface of the 



