THE SPLEENWOETS. 
77 
The Black Maidenhair Spleenwort 
{Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum). 
This is the boldest grower amongst the British species. It is 
found very generally distributed, and grows in sloping hedge- 
banks, as well as in the crevices of walls, stone dykes, and 
rocks. The fronds, which grow sometimes to 1ft. and more in 
length, are narrowly triangular in shape, and twice divided, 
the pinnules being more or less deeply cut and saw-toothed. 
The stalk is about as long as the leafy portion of the frond, 
and is of a shining black colour — whence the name. The spore- 
heaps have been already described. The normal form varies con- 
siderably, ranging from blunt, rounded pinnae, to long, narrow, 
acutely pointed ones, so that it is quite impossible to draw 
a line between the extreme varieties — ohtusum and acutum — and 
the common. The best forms of acutum are decidedly the 
most beautiful. Cultivation is easy, all it requires being good 
drainage and a somewhat gritty compost. Besides the forms 
already mentioned, some very distinct ones have been found. 
