2 22 
THE FERN WORLD 
covering of the sori. The part thus turned back is bleached, 
and bears on its under surface the spore cases, which are 
connected with the venation of the lobes. When the spores 
are ripe, the bleached turned-back cuticle of the lobes 
turns to a dark brown colour. Like the Ferns already 
enumerated the True Maidenhair is the only British species 
of the genus Adiaiituin, which includes Ferns whose sporangia 
are distributed in patches on and under the bent-back 
margins of the lubes of the frond pinnules, which margins 
constitute the indusia. 
Distribution. — In Europe the True Maidenhair is found 
in Belgium, Dalmatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, 
Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey. It is especially abundant, 
on account of the warmth of the climate, on the shores of 
the Mediterranean. It is found in China, India, Java, 
Persia, and Syria. In Africa, it inhabits Algiers and Abys- 
sinia, and is found in Madeira, the Canary and Cape de 
Verd Islands, the Azores, and Madagascar; also on the 
south and south-east coasts of Africa, at Natal and Algoa 
Bay. It is also found in California, Texas, Mexico, and 
Guatemala ; in South America, Dominica, Jamaica, St. 
Vincent, and Trinidad, as well as in the Sandwich Islands. 
In no part of the world, however, is it more abundant than 
in the islands of the Atlantic. In England it is very 
sparingly distributed. In Cornwall it has been found at 
Carclew ; in a sea cave, called Garrick Gladden, between 
Hayle and St. Ives, and at Penzance. In Devon we have 
ourselves taken specimens from the cliffs at Ilfracombe and 
at Mewstone Bay, near Brixham. In Somersetshire it has 
been found on the Cheddar cliffs, and at Combe Down ; and 
in Shropshire at Titherstone Clee Hill. In Wales it has 
been discovered on rocks at Dunraven, at Port Ivirig, and at 
Barry Island, Glamorganshire. In Scotland it has been 
found on the banks of the river Carron in Kincardineshire. 
