172 
BRITISH FERNS. 
The Scaly Spleenwort has short but densely matted 
roots; the caudex is brown and scaly, the stems are 
very short, and, like the cau- 
dex, densely scaly; the leaf- 
lets are thick and fleshy, of 
a dull glaucous-green above, 
and covered with a matting 
of brown scales below. The 
young fronds appear in May, 
the scales are then whitish, 
and the fronds being rolled 
inwards, the young curls ap- 
pear as if wrapped in white 
flannel. The seed ripens in 
August, but the sori are so im- 
bedded among the scales that it is difficult to examine 
them satisfactorily. The involucre is small, and being 
occasionally absent, and very generally confused with 
the substance of the scales, the claim of this species to 
a place in the Asplenium family has long been disputed. 
This is the only British species where the veins interlace, 
but the lateral adhesion of the sori to the vein-branch 
proves its affinity. 
This is a pretty and distinct little fern, impossible to 
confound with any other. As soon as its pale coils have 
begun to unfold the scales turn brown, and the fronds 
gradually assume a more or less horizontal position. 
Both the flat-growing young plants and the more up- 
right and luxuriant mature ones, form pleasing orna- 
ments to the rugged wall or rock where nature has 
fixed their home. Many a rough wall in Somersetshire 
and Devonshire is turned into a verdant garden by the 
plentiful growth of this and the sister species, the Wall 
Rue and Black Maiden-hair. 
