IX. ASPLENIUM. 161 
and the margin. The veins are somewhat thickened 
at the end, and terminate just within the margin. 
The fructification is mature in September and Oc- 
tober. 
This plant, though chiefly an inhabitant near the 
coast, has been found in two or three inland situations. 
It must, however, be regarded as a marine species, the fis- 
sures of sea-cliffs and the roofs of sea-caves being its 
favourite haunts. It is not uncommon on the rocky coasts 
of Great Britain and Ireland, and on those of the neigh- 
bouring islands ; and occurs also on the coast of France 
and Spain, in North Africa, and in the Madeira and 
Canary Isles. 
It appears to have been once used medicinally, for Ray 
recommends it in cases of obstruction, and states that its 
mucilage, applied externally to burns, is efficacious 
when other remedies have failed. 
No one, as far as we are aware, has been successful in 
cultivating the Sea Spleenwort in the open air in the 
climate of London, exposed unsheltered to which it pe- 
rishes. Whether or not, this be in consequence of its 
tenderness requiring warmth, as indicated by its foreign 
habitats, or whether the peculiar saline influences of the 
sea are essential to it, as its almost universal position in 
a wild state might suggest, the probability seems to be 
that it is constitutionally tender, since it attains great 
luxuriance, when cultivated in the warm moist atmo- 
sphere of a shady stove. It, however, grows readily in a 
common frame kept closed. The plants are rather difficult 
to establish when newly removed from the rocks, their 
roots being of necessity much injured in the process of re- 
moval ; but when once established, and placed in a shel- 
tered position, they grow freely, and may be increased 
without difficulty by the ordinary process of division. Its 
evergreen habit renders it at all times ornamental. When 
cultivated in a common frame, it should have some pro- 
tection against cold in winter; in fact, it is best placed 
M 
