( 5i ) 
THE BLACK SPLEENWORT. 
ASPLENIUM ADIANTUM NIGRVM, 
Linnaeus. 
(Plate VI. Fig. I.) 
The generic name of this family of ferns is derived 
from the Greek word Asplenon , a name given by old 
authors to a fern said to be a remedy in diseases of 
the spleen. 
This species, often called Black Maiden Hair, grows 
from six inches to a foot in height. The fronds are 
triangular or broadly lanceolate, the dark shining 
purple or black stalk being often as long as the leafy 
part. They are of a thick firm texture, with numerous 
veins, and of a dark green colour. They are bipinnate, 
or sometimes tripinnate, the pinnae gradually decreas¬ 
ing and less divided towards the point of the frond. 
The sori are at first distinct, placed near the mid-rib; 
but as the plant becomes older, they are generally 
confluent in a mass, often covering the whole under¬ 
surface of the pinnule. It is one of the latest of our 
ferns in unfolding its fronds, which are not often open 
until the middle of June. 
It is a conspicuous ornament of the situations where 
it occurs; chiefly on old walls, or hanging in graceful 
sprays over rocks, or on the hedgebank of the dry 
but shady lane. The fronds grow erect or stooping, 
according to the position of the plant; they have 
