FILICKS. 



1057 



pinnas numerous, linear - lanceolate, 

 deeply pinnatifid or pinnate, always 

 ending in an undivided, crenate, blunt 

 point. Segments ovate or oblong, ob- 

 tuse and entire, attached by their broad 

 base, of a firm consistence, glabrous 

 above, often hairy underneath. Sori 

 in continuous lines along the margins 

 of the upper segments and summits of 

 the secondary pinnas. 



In woods and thickets, on heaths and 

 waste places, dry or moist, but not 

 swampy, in almost every part of the 

 globe except the extreme north and 

 south. Yery abundant in Britain. Fr, 

 autumn. 



Fig. 1288, 



XIII. ADIANT. ADIANTUM. 



Fronds usually delicate and divided, the segments more or less 

 wedge-shaped, with diverging forked veins, usually without a midrib. 

 Sori oblong or linear, transverse at the ends of the lobes on the under 

 side, with an indusium formed from the edge of the frond and opening 

 outwards. 



A considerable and well-marked genus, chiefly tropical. 



1. Maidenhair Adiant. Adiantum Capillus- Veneris, Linn. 

 (Fig. 1289.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1564. Maidenhair.) 



A very delicate tufted Fern. Fronds 6 inches to near a foot long, 

 twice or thrice pinnate, usually broadly ovate in general outline, their 

 slender stalk of a shining brownish-black. Segments obovate or fan- 

 shaped, 4 to 8 lines broad, all narrowed at the base into a short, 

 slender stalk, more or less divided into wedge-shaped, obtuse lobes, 

 thin, and of a bright-green, without any midrib, but numerous forked 

 veins converging at the base. Sori conspicuous, occupying the 



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