THE SPLEENWORTS. 
40 ? 
1 . 
THE FORKED SPLEENWORT. 
Asplenium septentrionale. 
Plate 7 , Fig. 1 . 
HE Forked Spleenwort is one of our 
rarest Ferns. It grows to an average 
height of two or three inches only, 
seldom exceeding six. Frond and stem are almost 
blended, the leafy part of the frond being merged 
into the stem by means of a sort of narrow leafy 
wing. The fronds, which are thrown up in little 
tufts around the crown of the plant, are divided 
into sometimes two and sometimes three forked 
divisions, somewhat club-shaped, narrow at their 
base, and broadening upwards, where, being widest, 
they are each finely jagged or slightly forked, the 
tips of the segments presenting sharp points. On 
the backs of the short fronds grow the spore- 
cases, which, when quite ripe, become confluent, 
forming one mass. 
b b 2 
