GENERA AND SPECIES. 39 
PLATE VI. 
ADIANTUM. Linneus. 
GEN. CHAR.—Fruit-dots oblong or roundish, marginal ; indusium 
formed by the reflexed margin of the lobes of the pinnules; stipes 
black and polished, bearing delicate, veil-like fronds. 
This is a large and beautiful genus, characterized by its 
having the spore-cases situated on the reflexed margin of 
the leaflets. This reflexed margin serves the purpose of 
an indusium, or covering, the spore-cases being attached 
to the underside, and hence turned upside down upon the 
surface of the frond. All the plants have black, shining, 
wiry stems, variously branched, with the leaflets somewhat 
wedge-shaped, often fan-shaped, crenate, or fringed. The 
Adiatum is a favorite genus with the gardeners on account 
of its great beauty, its easy cultivation, and its convenience 
in giving variety to bouquets. A very handsome species, 
Adiantum Farleyense, has been lately introduced in our 
greenhouses. The common name of the fern is Maiden- 
hair, and is applied indiscriminately to all the species, as 
well to the A. Capillus-Veneris, found in the South of Eng- 
land, as to our own A. pedatum. The general appearance 
of the plants, however, is quite different, although the char- 
acteristic features of the genus are common to both. They 
have the same black, wiry stems and branches, with leaflets 
spreading like an embroidered veil. 
There are two species of Maiden-hair indigenous to this 
country—A. Chilense, KIf., a native of California, and be- 
longing to the Mexican flora, and A. pedatum (Linnzus), 
very common in this region, belonging to the Appalachian 
group. 
