6o 
BRITISH FERNS. 
shaking it down until the pot is full Stand the pot 
in a feeder, constantly full of water, but supply no 
water on the fronds or the surface soil.” 
SEA SPLEEN WORT. 
A SELENIUM MARINUM,\ 
Linnaeus, Smith, Newman, Bentham, and Babington. 
(Plate VIII. Fig. 2 .) 
THIS is a very handsome evergreen tern, and, 
like the former, is a maritime species. It has pinnate 
tufted fronds from six inches to a foot in height. 
It is narrow, lanceolate in outline; the pinnae are 
stalked and serrated, connected at the base by a nar¬ 
row wing extending along the rachis. The pinnae 
are unequal at the base, the upper side or edge being 
much developed, while the lower portion looks as if 
a piece had been cut off. The sori are borne on the 
mid-rib ; they are linear and large. 
It is abundant on all our coasts excepting the eastern 
side of England. In the south-west of England and 
in Wales it is most profuse: it abounds about Ilfra¬ 
combe and Lee in Devonshire. It grows out from the 
sides of caves near the sea-rocks or cliffs. It is found 
at Hastings, and as far north as Scarborough, in York¬ 
shire. In every county in Ireland which borders the 
sea it is abundant. The visitor to the lakes of Kil- 
larney cannot fail to observe this beautiful fern in its 
