62 
BRITISH FERNS. 
WALL RUE, 
A SEL ENIUM RUT A MUR ARIA, 
Linnaeus, and generally adopted. 
(Plate IX. Fig. I.) 
SYNONYM. 
Amesiiu?i Ruta muraria , some Authors. 
THIS little fern, if once seen, will be easily recog¬ 
nised. It has densely-tufted, thick, dark green fronds, 
about two or three inches long. The stalk is more 
or less pinnately divided. The pinnae are alternate, 
having pinnules variable in form, sometimes long- 
stalked, wedge-shaped, toothed, or contracting into 
a roundish point above. The sori are linear, be¬ 
coming united into broad patches when old. The 
whole form of the plant resembles the Garden Rue. 
It occurs abundantly in old walls and rocks through¬ 
out England and Ireland. It seems to prefer the arti¬ 
ficial position of a wall rather than that of a rock or 
bank. It is found, however, on Arthur’s Seat in 
Edinburgh, and about the Peak in Derbyshire. It is 
not very abundant in Scotland. More or less it is 
met with in every country in the world, and is one 
of those plants which seems to have deserted its 
native wilds, and to have taken up its residence near 
the habitations of men. It may almost be called the 
Churchyard Fern, being so commonly found on old 
churches and churchyard walls. In a charming little 
book on the ferns of Devonshire it is mentioned espe- 
