62 
deserted its native wilds, and to have taken its residence 
among the habitations of men.” * Though growing in the 
moist clefts of rocks and even on their perpendicular faces, 
it is much more frequently found on decayed walls. The 
frond is bipinnate (doubly divided) at the base and pinnate, 
(simply divided) at the tip. The leaflets are diamond- 
shaped, oblong, or egg-shaped, with the upper part toothed. 
The root is dark brown, whence many fronds arise thickly 
crowded together. The plant is dark green, rather of a 
blueish cast, and the leaflets are stalked. There is no 
distinct mid-vein to the upper leaflets, but a series of veins 
arise, which are sometimes branched. As many teeth or 
notches as there are on the tips of the leaves, so many, for 
the most part, are the veins or their branches. The clusters 
of fruit are from two to five. The covers are jagged or 
uneven at their margins, the leafy part is triangular, and 
the branches often consist of three leaflets. The stalks are 
wiry, and, at the base only, dark brown or black. The roots 
are dark and fibrous, penetrating deep into the mortar, and 
difficult to be extracted. It is especially fond of brick walls. 
The favourite part of the wall, whether stone or brick, on 
which it perches, is just under the coping. There we find 
the diamond leaves and spider’s cobwebs fondly embracing 
each other. The young botanist, if he wishes to discover 
the genus to which this fern and some others belong, must 
be careful not to wait until the fructification is too far 
advanced. If he does so, he will find to his cost nothing 
but a dark mass of fruit behind the leaflet, and the cover, 
which is linear (a straight line t) th,e characteristic of a 
Spleenwort, vanished out of sight. Herein this plant is 
difierent from the preceding, in which one line of fruit 
never crowds upon its neighbour. 
This is not only a common plant in England, but is widely 
distributed throughout all Europe, and temperate Asia. It 
has also been found in certain parts of North America, in 
North and South Africa, and Northern India. In the West 
of England it grows far more abundantly than in the East. 
* Newman. 
t This is true in all but the Lady Ferns, where it is a curved lino. 
