35 . 
THE ALTERNATE SPLEENWORT. 
Applenium germanicum. 
Plate 0 , Fig. 16 , Page 235 . 
The arrangement of the pinnae of the fronds of this little 
Fern suggests its specific common name. It is an extremely 
rare species in Britain, having been found only in two or 
three localities. It is indeed rarer, as a wild plant, than 
Septentrionale, and grows in similar positions, sometimes 
being found in its company. Essentially a rock-loving Fern, 
it is fond of positions in moist rocky clefts, generally at 
altitudes ranging from about three hundred to one thousand 
feet above the sea level. It has, from a sort of general re- 
semblance to some specimens of the Wall Rue — As-plenium 
ruta-muraria — been considered by some botanists to be 
merely a variety of that species. It is, however, sufficiently 
distinct from it to deserve to rank as an individual species. 
The name germanicum, in reference to its being an inhabitant 
of Germany, has no particular significance — except that it is 
very much prized in that country — and must merely be 
regarded as a somewhat accidental distinguishing appellation. 
Description. — From a small tufted rootstock provided 
with numerous fibrous wiry rootlets, the fronds of this little 
Fern— growing to a maximum height of six inches, and 
often much less than that in length — are thrown up in 
clusters. The stipes, pale green in colour, is about the same 
length as the leafy portion of the frond. On each side of 
