102 MAIDENHAIR. 



colour, and rises to the height of five to twelve inches. The 

 leaflets are alternate, petiolate, of a delicate green colour, the 

 lowermost pinnate, wedge or fan-shaped, smooth, thin, veiny, 

 unequally lobed ; the sterile ones serrated. The fructification 

 is composed of small linear masses, called sori, consisting of a 

 congeries of capsules, arising from distinct portions of the mar- 

 gin of the frond turned in, opening inwards, and which serve as 

 an involucre. Each capsule contains several minute sporules. 

 Plate 31, fig. 8, (a) leaflet, magnified ; (6) summit of the leaflet 

 turned back to show the capsules, magnified ; (c) capsule mag- 

 nified. 



This delicate and graceful fern is very common in the south 

 of Europe, in stony, moist, and shady places, especially by the 

 sides of springs and the inside of wells. It is rare in this 

 country, being only found in a few localities, such as the South 

 Isles of Arran, Galloway, Ireland; Barry Island and Port 

 Kirig, Glamorgan ; and by the Carron, Kincardineshire. The 

 fructification is produced from May to September. 



The generic name is derived from a&airroc, dry ; because it is 

 not affected by the water which trickles upon its leaves. In 

 vain, says Pliny, you plunge the Adiantum in water, it always 

 remains dry. The specific name, Capillus Veneris, Venus hair, 

 according to Pliny, refers to the property attributed to this plant, 

 of strengthening and embellishing the hair : others suppose that 

 it alludes to the elegant and shining stems. The English term, 

 Maidenhair, has a similar meaning. 



Nearly eighty species of Adiantum have been described. 

 The Canadian Maidenhair* {A. pedatmn) is sometimes used in 

 medicine, and has similar properties to the A. Capillus- Veneris. 

 The plant sometimes called Common Maidenhair, more cor- 

 rectly termed Wall Spleenwort (Asplenium Trichomancs), is 

 occasionally substituted for the true Maidenhair. 



* This plant is said to be so abundant in some parts of Canada, that it is 

 used for packing merchandize instead of hay. It has a more pleasant and 

 powerful aroma than the European kind. Dr. Ainslie says that a strong 

 decoction of it is a certain emetic, and that the A. melunococcnm, an Indian 

 species, is reputed to be tonic. Thunberg (Diss, de mediciua Afric. p. 4.) 

 states that the A. cethiopicum is used medicinally at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



