270 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
Delighting as it does in an atmosphere of mois- 
ture, it should be planted where it can secure the 
conditions which it requires. It may be grown 
in the rockery or in pots in the house. But under 
a covering of glass it will thrive admirably, for 
there it can most easily secure the moisture which 
it loves. 
7. THE COMMON MAIDENHAIR SPLEENWORT. 
Asplenium trichomciiies. 
This fern and the Green Spleenwort are very nearly 
related indeed ; the great distinction being that 
Viridi , as its name seems to imply, has nearly the 
whole of its stipes and the whole of its rachis of a 
bright green, whilst Trichomanes , when mature, 
has both the stipes and rachis on its fronds of a 
dark, shining, purple colour, approaching to black. 
The Common Maidenhair Spleenwort is, too, as its 
name indicates, far more plentiful, and far more 
widely distributed throughout the United King- 
dom, than its half-sister Viridi. It is, too, hardier 
than the latter, and easier of cultivation. The 
