European Ferns. 
i 14 
edition of the “Herbal,” substitutes another for it, which he thought better; an opinion in 
which we hardly concur. 
The geographical range of the Forked Spleenwort is somewhat remarkable ; it is mainly 
confined to the Old World, but has been found in New Mexico, 
its only American locality. It occurs throughout Europe in moun- 
tainous regions, extending from Sweden, Norway, and Russia to 
Italy, Sicily, and the Spanish Peninsula ; it is found also in Asia, 
in the Caucasian, Ural, and Altai regions; also in Kashmir, at an 
elevation of nine thousand feet, and lately in the Kuram Valley, 
Afghanistan, at a height of from seven to eleven thousand feet. 
In Great Britain it is, for the most part, a fern of local distribution ; 
it is found in Devonshire, though, we believe, in only one locality 
(near Lynton), and also in Somersetshire in some abundance ; in 
North Wales it is on record as having been found in several places 
in Denbighshire and Carnarvonshire, chiefly near Llanrwst and Llan- 
beris ; in the Lake District it is found in both Cumberland (Honister 
Crag, Scawfell, Helvellyn, etc.) and Westmoreland (Ambleside). In 
the East Lowlands and East Highlands of Scotland several localities 
are on record for the species in Roxburghshire and Perthshire, in 
the neighbourhood of Edinburgh and elsewhere. 
The two woodcuts which we give of this species will afford a 
good idea of the variation in size which the plant presents. Its long 
narrow grass-like fronds at once distinguish it from any other European 
Fern. The tufted rhizome forms a dense entangled mass, from which 
spring a large number of fronds — sometimes some two or three 
hundred — which are usually upright, but sometimes spread, or even 
droop. They are often quite simple, with a few narrow teeth at 
distant intervals, or forked, in which case each division is toothed in 
the same manner as the simple fronds ; in height they vary, in 
extreme cases, from an inch to six inches, the usual 
altitude being about three or four inches. The sori are 
linear and oblong, covered with a pale thin membranous 
indusium ; they are separate, but become confluent, so that 
when fully developed they usually form a thick mass which 
covers the entire back of the frond. Mr. Newman says that 
the superficial resemblance of the fern to the Buck’s-horn 
Plantain ( Plantago Coronopus) is so great that it might be 
mistaken for the latter by a casual observer. 
Except in size, A. septentrionale is one of the least 
variable of ferns ; indeed, we do not find allusion to any 
form of it in any work upon the subject. A. germanicum, 
indeed, has sometimes been considered a form of it, but 
without sufficient reason, the simple or forked fronds at once astlenium septentrionale. 
distinguishing it. It is not easily cultivated, but may be grown 
successfully among masses of porous sandstone, in the crevices of which should be placed a little 
sandy soil ; the plant should be shaded from too much sun, and does not require much moisture. 
