THE LADY FERN AND ITS KIN. 189 
spore-bearing and diminished leaf ‘surface in this spe- 
cies. 
The narrow-leaved spleenwort is found from Quebec 
to Wisconsin, Missouri and Tennessee. It is likeliest to 
be found in woods that are free from undergrowth. Its 
liking for wet places obtains for it the name of swamp 
spleenwort in some places and it is also called Kidney-fern. 
It is easily cultivated and makes a very pretty addition 
to the fern garden where tall species with simply pin- 
nate fronds are not common. 
There are probably less than a dozen species in the 
genus Athyrium as it is at present defined. The generic 
name is from a word meaning opened and refers to the 
appearance of the sori. The origin of the name Asple- 
nium is given in the chapter on the Rock Spleenworts. 
