ASPLENIUM. 23 
among stones in shady places. It is spread over all 
Europe, and was known as a native plant to our earliest 
herbalists. Gerarde says it grows " upon trees in 
shadowie woods, and now and then in sbadowie banks, 
and under hedges." We never found it upon trees, nor 
have we spoken of it to any one who has. Ray is 
more correct in stating that it is found " in shadowy 
places at the roots of trees and shrubs ; in shaded 
fields, and on old walls generally." The same author 
is the first of our native botanists who gave an accurate 
description of this Fern ; a description which he pub- 
lished in the first volume of his " Historia Plantarum." 
This Fern is one of the best among our native Ferns 
to examine as an illustration of the peculiar packing, 
or rolling up of the fronds previously to their expansion 
to the light and air. The point of the frond is turned 
inwards, so that as the frond unrolls the upper surface 
is always outwards, and the lower, or seed-bearing 
surface is always within and protected 
In Bay's time, the latter half of the 17th century, 
this Fern was believed to be a beneficial medicine in 
coughs, asthma, and some other diseases, and even 
Hoffmann recommended its use as an anti-scorbutic, but 
it is no longer employed even by herbalists. 
It is a Fern very useful to the cultivator of this 
Natural Order of plants, for it is evergreen, and will 
thrive in pots under glass even better than upon rock- 
work in the open air. Hence it is a good tenant for a 
Wardian case. It will endure continued exposure to 
bright sunshine, and is then of a dwarf stature, but 
