88 
FERNY COMBES. 
of Dartmoor. Yar. ramosmi grows abundantly in 
one spot about six miles from Ilfracombe. 
In Germany there is a legend attached to a well 
near which this fern grows most luxuriantly. A 
lady keeping tryst with her lover, he was suddenly, 
after the fashion of Germany in those days, trans¬ 
formed into a wolf. The lady fled before him, and 
in her haste fell over a precipice, her black hair 
tangling in the bushes as she descended. On the 
spot where she fell a clear spring welled up, and 
round about her hair took root. The well is called 
“ The "Wolf’s Spring and the little custodian of 
the glen, after telling you the story, hands you a 
bunch of the “ Maiden’s Hair.” 
Asplenium Etita-muraria. Wall Rue. 
Frond triangular or oblong, twice or thrice di¬ 
vided; pinnules diamond-shaped. A dwarf fern, 
rarely exceeding two inches in height, growing in 
tufts in the chinks of walls. 
This may be called the Churchyard Fern, being 
most commonly found on church and churchyard 
walls, probably because they are left undisturbed 
longer than others. The most luxuriant speci¬ 
men we ever saw was growing inside the tower 
of Morwinstowe church. The ancient church stands 
on the edge of a lofty cliff*, round the base of which 
