34 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
the sides of houses. It is a very hardy little 
fern, and will thrive in the sunshine, but most 
loves moist and sheltered nooks. 
Growing by the side of the Wall-rue is the beau- 
tiful Maidenhair Spleenwort ( Asplenium tricho- 
manes). Its fibrous wiry roots insinuate themselves 
into the crevices between the stones, and its crown ' 
throws up a dense mass of beautiful little fronds, 
with stems like shining black hairs, and with little 
bright green, round, saw-edged leaflets alternately 
placed on each side of the stems, along the greater 
part of their length. Following the downward course 
of the lane we come, in the most cool, damp, and 
shady places, upon numbers of the Lady Fern 
(Athyrium filix-fcemina ), perhaps the most graceful 
of the larger British ferns. Its drooping feathery 
fronds are indeed, when finely grown, most exqui- 
sitely beautiful, and the entire plant forms the 
most conspicuous ornament of the places in which 
it delights to grow. It throws up its fronds 
oftentimes in dense tufts ; but it is to be found 
in perfection only in very moist and shady situa- 
tions. 
