FEENS OP GREAT BRITAIN. 81 



shaped at the base. This beautiful fern grows out from 

 the sides, or hangs its numerous sprays down from the 

 summits, of sea-caves, rocks, or cUffs. Its deep rich 

 tufts of evergreen fronds attain, when most luxuriant, 

 the length of, a foot and a half, but it varies greatly 

 in size. It is abundant on maritime rocks in the 

 south-west of England, and is plentiful in the Chan- 

 nel Islands, as well as on the coasts of France and 

 Spain. The specimen from which our illustration was 

 made was gathered from the rocks, on the sea-shore 

 under the Hoe at Plymouth. In Cornwall this fern 

 is often a beautiful object. It grows, though very rarely, 

 on inland situations, on walls and rocks. The frond 

 unfolds in July, bearing its fructification in Septem- 

 ber and October. Its form is linear, simply pinnate ; 

 its pinnae are stalked and serrated, and connected 

 at the base by a narrow wing, extending along the 

 rachis. The pinnae are not always alike in shape, some 

 being oblong, others egg-shaped; they are unequal at 

 the base, the side nearest the upper part of the frond 

 being much developed, while the lower portion looks as 

 if a piece had been cut off. The margins have either 

 rounded or pointed serratures. The general appearance 

 of this handsome fern is so unlike any other British 

 plant, that it is easily distinguished. Its upper surface 

 is of a deep glossy green, its under surface is paler. In 

 the hothouse it attains much greater luxuriance than in 

 its wild state. 



The Sea Spleenwort has long been used medicinally. 

 It is somewhat mucilaginous, and was formerly considered 

 a good application to bums. Like all the species des- 



M 



