COMMON SPLEENWORT. 
285 
b 
a 
COMMON SPLEENWORT, [half the natural size). 
Asplenium Trtchomanes, Linneus. 
This plant occurs so generally throughout England, Wales, 
Scotland and Ireland, that I do not feel myself justified in print- 
ing a list of localities ; it grows on rocks, walls, churches, ruins, 
bridges, and sometimes, but less frequently, on banks and in 
hedge-rows. In the eastern counties it is much less common 
than in the western : in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk it may be 
considered rare, but it occurs in all these counties. I am in- 
debted to Mr. G. S. Gibson for a specimen from Hadstock 
church, and to Mr. R. Jacob for another from Stortford, both in 
Essex. In the west of England, and especially in Wales, it is 
a common fern. I once saw it in the valley of the Wye, grow- 
ing in such profusion on a little bridge near the town of Bualt, 
that it formed a continuous covering of green, and presented a 
very beautiful appearance. There is scarcely anything in the 
vegetable world more beautiful than such a scene as this ; and 
it is only known by those who have tried the experiment, how 
readily such a scene may be transferred to a garden. 
This beautiful little fern is found in every country of Europe, 
