82 
THE PEEN FAMILIES OF BRITAIN. 
a green stalk instead of black, and the pinnae are not jointed, 
but firmly set on. It is a difficult Fern to cultivate, thriving 
for a year or two, and then, as a rule, mysteriously dis- 
appearing. Woodlice are its greatest foes. It has only sported 
a little in irregular ways; or, if good forms have been found, 
they have not survived removal long, so far as we are aware. 
A very beautiful dwarf and densely-imbricated form was found, 
some years since, by Mr. McLean, near Aberfeldy, but perished 
under cultivation the second year. 
As will be seen by Fig. 21, this is a very pretty Fern. It is 
of dwarf habit, and can be grown well under rock Fern 
treatment. The woodcut gives too good an idea of its habit 
and general character to need further description. As the 
most recent British find of this species dates thirty-five years 
back, a new discoverer of a really wild plant will be fortunate. 
It was always extremely rare. Yarieties none, unless we 
accept as such — which we may do with good authority, though 
its origin is obscure — 
A. f, refr actum (bent back). This has much longer and. 
The Fountain Spleenwort 
{Asplenium fontanum). 
Fig. 21.— Asplenium fontanum. 
