FORKED SPLEENWORT. 
69 
wort; and old Gerarde, of whom we have before 
spoken, mentions an “old wife’s fable,” about the 
efficacy of this plant, when boiled, in curing diseases 
of the liver, and “hardness and swelling of the spleen.” 
It is almost in vain to look for this fern on a chalk 
soil, as it is rarely met with there. Mr. Newman does 
not recollect having seen a specimen from the chalk 
hills of Kent, Sussex, or Surrey. 
In rock-work, or in any out-door collection of ferns, 
this Blechnum does well, and requires no special 
attention beyond a sufficient supply of moisture. In 
transplanting, it is well to bring away a good portion 
of its native soil around the roots. In cases it does 
not flourish so well, as it seems to require open air to 
thrive. 
FORKED SPLEENWORT. 
ASPLENIUM SEPTENTRIONALE , 
Babington, Hooker, Moore, and Bentham. 
(Plate X. Fig. 1.) 
SYNONYMS. 
Acrostichum septentrionale, Lin- I Amesium septentrionale, some 
nseus. I Botanists. 
This species, again, is like the Wall Rue, and has 
similar tufted fronds, but the whole frond is a grass¬ 
like spike, forked towards the top, and divided into 
two or three thickish sharp-pointed segments, about 
half an inch long, containing on the back two or 
