48 BRITISH FERNS.— SUB-ORDER II. TRIBE 8. 
There is a form known as Halleri, yet it is doubtful whether this 
is not the result of cultivation. 
It is just possible that Asplenium fontanum is a variety of the 
North American Asplenium ebeneum. Both Mr. Moore and Mr. 
Clapham held this view; and this notion is streng- 
thened on examination of the variety refractum. 
A native of France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, 
Spain, Belgium, Greece, Hungary, Siberia, and 
Kashmir. 
There are several marked varieties : — 
1. depauperatum, Stansjield. Length, 2 inches. 
A remarkable variety, the leafy portion entirely 
absent, a brief connected footstalk alone being pre- 
sent, surrounded by spore cases. 
2. laciniatum, Stansjield. Frond, 6 inches ; width 
in centre, 1 inch. 
This is a very much incised variety. 
3. laxum, Stansjield. Lax, with alternate pinnae. 
Length, 5 inches. 
4. multifidum, Stansjield. Length, 5 inches, the 
main difference being, that the frond divides and 
sub-divides into branches from 2 inches below the 
tip. 
5. refractum, Moore. Length, 7 inches ; much 
narrower and more equal in width than A.fonta- 
num, and has refracted pinnae. Rachis bulb-bearing. 
Found in Scotland by Mr. Filden ; but his death 
cast obscurity over this interesting plant. 
Fig. 19.— Frond It was first seen at Peper Harrow Park, Surrey, 
of Asplenium anc i was afterwards introduced by Mr. Parker of 
fontanum. Var. ' 
depauperatum. Hornsey. 
THE LANCEOLATE SPLEENWORT. 
Asplenium lanceolatum.— Hudson. 
A SEASIDE fern, and only locally abundant ; not much unlike 
Asplenium adiantum-nigrum ; but the stalks are not as black as in 
that species, and the frond is more lanceolate in form. Very variable 
in size, sometimes only four inches, and sometimes as much as 18 
inches ; growing on walls and rocks in sheltered situations. It 
requires the protection of a greenhouse, and cannot flourish in 
excessive moisture. 
A native of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Sussex, Kent, Glou- 
cester, Pembroke, Glamorgan, Merioneth, Carnarvon, Denbigh, 
and Cork ; also of Jersey, Guernsey, Scilly, and Ramsay. Abroad 
it has been found in Greece, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, 
Switzerland, Belgium, Madeira, Azores, Algiers, Tangier, and St. 
Helena. 
There are a dozen varieties. 
