CXXIII. 



ADIANTUM CAPILLUS-VENER1S. 

 True Maidenhair. 



Class XXIV. Cryptogamia. — Order I. Filices. 



Nat. Ord. Filices. 



Gen. Char. Sori inserted into the involucre, contiguous, 

 oblong, or roundish. Involucre membranous, arising 

 from distinct portions of the margin of the frond, turned 

 in, opening inwards. 



Spec. Char. Frond bipinnate ; pinnules stalked, obovate- 

 puneate, lobed, segments of the fertile pinnules termi- 

 nated by a linear-oblong sorus, sterile ones serrated. 



SYNONYMES. 



Greek .... afitxvTov. 



f Adiantum f'oliis coriandri. Bauh. Pin. 355. 



I Capillus Veneris verus. Ger. Em. 1143. Rail Syn. 123. 

 Latin ....{ Adiantum. Fuchs. 85. c. 28. Bod. Pempt. 466. 



Adiantum Capillus-Veneris. Lin. Sp. PI. 1558. Eng.Fl.iv. 



I p. 321. Eng. Bot. t. 320. 

 French. . . Capillaire ; Capillaire de Montpellier ; Capillaire vrai ; Cheveu 



de Venus. 

 Italian. . . Adianto ; Capillare ; Capelvenere ; Capelvenero. 

 Spanish . . Culantrulo de pozo. 

 Portuguese Adianto. 

 German . . Frauenhaar ; Venushaar. 

 Dutch.... Vrowen-hair ; Venus-hair. 

 Bohemian. Zensky wlas. 



Description. — The root (rhizoma) is perennial, oblique, three 

 or four inches in length, about the thickness of a quill, of a 

 brownish colour, clothed with shaggy hairs, sending out here and 

 there very slender fibres constituting the true root. The stem or 

 stipes is erect, filiform, smooth, of a purplish shining black 



