FEUNS A!Nl) MOSSES. 99 
BLACK SPLEENWOKT. 
Engravings may afford accurate sketches of this favourite 
fern, but they cannot supersede the necessity of minute 
descriptions, which are indispensable for young botanists, 
who will, otherwise, be deceived by accidental resemblances 
to other ferns. 
Take notice, therefore, that the root is strong and wiry, 
and the rhizoma tufted, black, and covered with bristly 
scales ; , that the rachis is extremely smooth and shining, 
having a few scattered scales at the base ; and that one- 
third of the entire length is naked, which portion is usually 
black, or of a dark purple. You may gather the fronds 
before the end of May, or in the beginning of Jime ; at first 
they are nearly erect, but they shortly begin to droop, and 
finally become quite pendent. September is the season of 
their, maturity, and it is pleasant to look upon them when 
green and vigorous beneath the leafless branches that often 
screen them in winter from the wind. Strange contrast are 
they to denuded oaks and hedgerows, with their dark and 
cheerless-looking fibres ; the rain may fall in torrents, and 
