92 
E u rope an Ferns. 
ENGLISH MAIDENHAIR: ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES, L. 
This very pretty and graceful fern is a plant of wide distribution, and one which occurs 
with considerable frequency throughout Great Britain and Ireland. It varies a good deal in 
the selection of a habitat ; sometimes found upon hedgebanks, it is more frequent upon rocks, 
and is perhaps most usually found upon old walls. In this last-named situation it is not 
unfrequently associated with the Wall Rue (A. Ruta-muraria ) and Scaly Spleenwort ( CeteracJi 
officinarum). In the County Waterford, the old walls in the neighbourhood of the Comeragh 
Mountains produce large quantities of these three ferns, growing together with the greatest 
luxuriance, sometimes mingled with small plants of the Hart’s-tongue ( Scolopendrium vulgare ), 
or, more often, with some flowering plants such as the Herb Robert ( Geranium Robertianurn ) — 
the contrast in this case between the free-spreading foliage and bright pink flowers of the 
Cranesbill and the darker hue and more formal growth of the ferns is very striking. The 
flora of an old wall is often very extensive, affording representatives of some of the principal 
groups of flowering plants and grasses, as well as numerous ferns, mosses, and lichens ; 
beginning in the early spring with the Whitlow-grass ( Draba verna ) and Rue-leaved Saxifrage 
(Saxifraga tridactylites ), and going on through a succession of flowering plants until winter 
sets in, and the ferns, which have been almost eclipsed by their flower-bearing neighbours, 
become again the prominent and the only ornament of the wall. In the County Waterford 
many old walls are covered from top to bottom with a thick growth of the ferns above-named, 
and very striking they look in their green robe. Fern-collecting has become such a mania in 
England that every fern which is in the least interesting is removed as soon as found to some 
garden or rockery ; this, of course, is especially the case near large towns. But in Ireland, 
notably in the south of that country, there is but little demand for ferns, and the supply is 
considerably more than enough to satisfy the few who wish to grow them. It may be doubted 
whether it would not “ pay” an enterprising fern-merchant to make an excursion to the south 
of Ireland ; he would certainly find plenty of material to set him up in business, and English 
people with ferneries would be glad of the opportunity of procuring some of the fine specimens 
which abound on the walls, seemingly throughout the County Waterford, and in many other 
places in Ireland. 
As we have already remarked, the English Maidenhair is generally distributed throughout 
England and Scotland from Cornwall to the Orkney Islands, although in some districts it is 
by no means common, especially of late years, since the days of ferneries ; in Ireland also it 
is frequent, though rather local. If we go beyond the British Isles we shall find it widely 
distributed over the globe in both the temperate and tropical regions. It is found throughout 
the length and breadth of Europe, from Iceland and Lapland to the Rock of Gibraltar, and 
throughout the Mediterranean region, and from the extreme west of Ireland to the extreme 
east of Europe. If we pass to the African continent, we shall find it in the north 
(Algeria, and throughout Morocco, ascending to two thousand two hundred feet) and 
south (Cape of Good Hope) ; but it does not appear to enter the tropics. It is more 
frequent in the African islands, occurring in Madeira (at an elevation of three thousand feet), 
the Canaries, the Azores, and also, though very rarely, in the Cape Verde Islands. In Asia 
wc find it in the Caucasian region, in Persia, in Afghanistan, and in various parts of northern 
India, ascending in Kumaon to an elevation of from six to twelve thousand feet; in southern 
India it occurs in the Neilghcrries ; it is also found in Siberia and Japan. It is met with in 
