564 ,THE FERN FAMILY. 
districts of northern England. Fr. summer and autumn. Some 
botanists regard this and the two preceding species as varieties of 
A. Filix-mas, into which they appear (when seen growing in profusion) 
to pass, through numerous intermediate forms. 
VIII. ASPLENIUM. SPLEENWORT. 
Fronds (in the British species) once, twice, or thrice pinnate or forked, 
usually rather stiff, though slender, and often small. Sori oblong or 
linear, on the under surface, usually diverging from near the centre 
of the segments, covered when young by a membrane or indusium, which 
opens outwards, being attached lengthwise along the outer side. 
Widely dispersed over the globe, and one of the most natural among 
the large genera of Filices, for although a few of the larger species are 
scarcely to be distinguished from some species of Aspidium and Poly- 
podium, except by the sori, the great majority have a peculiar, dark 
green, smooth appearance, which makes them easy to recognise, 
Fronds twice or thrice pinnate, with numerous primary pinnas, 
the lowest or several lower pairs decreasing in size. 
Frond 2 or 3 feet high, the longer pinnas 8 to 6 inches or 
more 1. A. Filix-feemina. 
Frond not a foot high, the longer pinnas seldom iB 
inches. 
Broadest part of the frond above the middle. Ulti- 
mate segments 1tol}lineslong . 2. A. fontanum. 
Broadest part below the middle, Ultimate segments 
broad, 2to3lineslong . 3. A. lanceolatum. 
Fronds once pinnate, with numerous segments, the lower pair 8 
decreasing in size. 
Segments thick, ovate, or lanceolate, } to 1 inch long or 
more . 4. A. marinum. 
Segments thin, ovate or orbicular, under 5 lines long. 
Stalk black 2 . ; ; ; 3 . 5. A. Trichomanes. 
Stalk green ; 6. A. viride. 
Fronds more or less divided, “the lowest pinnas lar ger, on 
longer stalks, or more divided than the others. 
Frond 6 inches toa foot, shining green, with numerous 
lanceolate pinnas and sessile segments. 7. A. Adiantum-nigrum. 
Frond 3 or 4 inches, with a few small, stalked segments. 
Segments obovate . : : : : . 8 A. Ruta-muraria. 
Segments narrow- ablone) : : é . A. germanicum. 
Segments linear ; : 4 “a. 2 septentrionale. 
1. A, Filix-foemina, Bernh (fig. 195). Lady Fern.—A vost elegant 
Fern, with the short woody rootstock and circular tuft of fronds of 
Aspidiwm Filix-mas, but more divided, the stalk less scaly, and the sori 
different. Fronds usually 2 to 3 feet high, broadly lanceolate, twice 
pinnate, the lower pairs of pinnas decreasing in size, the segments 
oblong-lanceolate and pinnatifid, with pointed teeth. Sori shortly 
oblong, diverging from the centre of the segments, with the indusium 
attached along one side as in other Aspleniums, but shorter, and the 
lower ones of the segment. often slightly kidney-shaped, showing some 
approach to those of Aspidium. Athyrium Filix-femina, Bernh. : 
In moist, sheltered woods, hedge-banks, and ravines, throughout 
Europe and central and northern Asia, from the Mediterranean to the 
Arctic regions, and in North America. Abundant in Britain. Fr. . 
j 
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