THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS. 



169 



Asplenium Ebenoides. 



Still rarer than the pinnat- 

 ifid spleenwort is Asplenium 

 ebenoides. It can hardly be 

 said to have a definite range. 

 Here and there plants have 

 been found over a wide terri- 

 tory, and new stations be- 

 yond its known distribution 

 are occasionally reported, 

 but in nearly every case the 

 surroundings are such as to 

 indicate the possibility of its 

 being a hybrid between two 

 more common ferns, Asple- 

 nium ebeneum and Camptoso- 

 rus rhizophyllus. Much ink 

 has been wasted in arguing 

 for and against this theory of 

 hybridity and botanists are 

 still divided in opinion 

 regarding it. Those 

 who favour the theory 

 point as evidence to 

 the facts that the spores 

 are generally abortive, that its 

 fronds are exceedingly variable in 

 shape, and that it occurs only here 

 and there as a chance hybrid might 

 do and always in the vicinity of 

 its supposed parents. Those who 

 believe it to be a distinct species 



um ebenoides. 



