CHAPTER II. 
. THE MAIDENHAIR FERN 
{Adiantum Cajaillus-Veneris). 
S the allied form of Maidenhair Fern (A. cune- 
atum, wedge-shaped), a native of Southern 
Europe, forms so well-known a type of the 
species generally, we may fairly refer to it 
in describing the British species, which differs 
mainly in its bolder growth, the pinnse being 
somewhat semicircular in shape instead of 
triangular, and considerably larger and fewer 
than in A. cuneatum. The spore-heaps appear 
in semicircular patches on the edges of the fronds, which are 
turned back so as to form a cover {indusium). 
This lovely Fern is only found on the warmest coasts of the 
British Isles, and being rather tender, is not adapted to stand 
more than a few degrees of frost. In its natural haunts it 
is found growing in the crevices, sometimes very deep ones, 
of sea cliffs, and on some parts of the Irish coast grows very 
luxuriantly. It requires a well-drained, gritty soil, and, as its 
habitats indicate, needs a little warmth to induce free growth. 
It has afforded several varieties of great beauty. 
A. C.-V. cornubieiise (so-called because found wild in 
Cornwall) represents the plumose form of the species, and is 
a very close imitation of the well-known A. Farley ense (regarded, 
by Baker, as a variety of A. tenerum), the pinnse being very 
large, and deeply divided or fringed on the edges, precisely 
