40 
(Cbristison.) The trunk or stock often rises above the 
earth. This Tern will easily be discovered by a person not 
a botanist, if he carefully notice how extremely fragile it is, 
and how it withers almost immediately upon being gathered. 
Its height varies from one to three feet and upwards, and 
its favorite resort is in moist and warm woods, though we 
find it in open moors, and under web hedge-banks. 
The Brake (Pteris) was called by the ancients the Te- 
male Tern. They do not seem to have noticed this plant. 
Parkinson perhaps alludes to our species, when he describes 
two varieties of what was then designated the Temale Tern, 
which he says had not formerly been observed. These he 
calls “ The dented, and sharp pointed Temale Terns.”* He 
adds “ They grow rather on moist rocks, and the shaded hills.” 
The name Lady Tern, was not given because the plant was 
tender, elegant, and beautiful, but because in certain cases 
it was thought to be most deleterious and injurious, when 
taken by the female sex. Linnaeus, the great Swiss botan- 
ist, first assigned the distinctive name of Lady Tern to this 
plant. He assuredly showed great taste in giving the 
appellation to so lovely and charming a child of nature. 
Hooker and Trancis call it Asplenium Filix Femina^ and 
Smith, Aspidium Fil. Fern. 
This may be easily cultivated in a loose and light soil. 
A shady situation should be selected, where there is an 
abundant supply of moisture. In wet woods, or under a 
sheltered hedge, with a little stream purling by, we have the 
finest specimens. Let us only imitate nature, and we, too, 
shall have luxuriant plants. 
Genus 2. 
Spleen-worts. Asplenia. The cover is linear, in a straight 
line. It is attached, not at a point, but for its whole length. 
It opens towards the mid-vein, and is not parallel to the 
sides of the leaflets. These covers are best observed when 
the plant is young; otherwise their peculiar character is 
lost, and they then form round spots on the back of the frond. 
The mid-vein is generally distinct. 
Filix femina pinnulis dentatis et aculeatis pinnulis. 
