The plant is a maritime rook Fern scarcely ascending above the
sea level. The situations in which it oooms are described as sea
cliffs, within roach of the spray; sea caves ; the faces and vertical
crevices of coast rocks; the gulleys of the cliffs where little rills of
fresh water dribble down from above, depositing a travertine sediment.
Mr. Johnson describes this in a letter to Mr. Maw, thus:—
“The Adiantum at Dunraven grows luxuriantly, forming a green
tapestry on the face of the cliff. It grows in a sort of travertine formed
by the filtration of a calcareous spring through hypnum and other
mosses, and is so hard, that without tho assistance of my geological
hammer and chisel, I could not have detached any of it. Some of
the fronds in the cavities of the rook are eight or ten inches long or
longer, but I could not reach them. Those in the face of the cliff
are not above two or three inches in length. The rock faces due
west, and is fully exposed to the wind, and even spray. Over it
comes a stream of clear water, which spreading as it falls drips from
stone to stone, and keeps the surface constantly wet. The substance
formed by the petrifaction of the mosses and marchantías is in places
many inches thick, some of it harder than the has itself.” This
rare plant is found in CornwaU, Devon, and Somerset, in Glamorgan
and in some adjacent isles. The Isle of Man is its northern
certified limit. In Ireland, it has been found in Galway; in the
Arran Isles ; in Kerry ; and in Clare. There are, besides, reputed
habitats, which require verification—in England, in the counties
of Stafford, Salop, Derby, and York; and in Scotland, in those of
Bute and Kincardine. In the latter county, Mr. D. Hutcheson
informs us that he found it, in 1842, on rocks near the sea, northeast
of Stonehaven, which nearly accords with the originally published
station in this county, namely, the banks of the Carrón. It
is met with, but is apparently rare, in Jersey. The principal
recorded stations are distributed thus :—
P<?reúís«/a.—Cornwall: Carclew, Müs M. J. Fox; Penzance;
Carrick Gladden, Rev. J. H a rrü ; St. Ives, Rev. J. 8. Tozer; and
elsewhere, between St. Ives and Hayle, in low dripping .sea-caves
and on coast rooks. Devonshire : Ilfracombe, Rev. J. M. Chanter;
White Pebble Bay, N. B. Ward; Eillidge Point, N. B. W ';
Watermouth, near Ilfracombe, Miss A . Oriffiths; Mudstone Bay,
near Brixham; Berry Head ; Mewstone Bay, T. B. Flower. Somersetshire
: Clevedon, L. II. Grindon; stone quarry at Comhedown,
uear Bath, E. J. Lowe; Cheddar Cliffs, Rev. W. II. Hawker.
Severn.— f Staffordshire. Shropshire: Titterstone Clee Hill, Mr.
Westcott.
Trent.—? Derbyshire.
Himher.—? Yorkshire.
i a t e .—Isle of Man: Glen Meay, T. G. Rylands; between
Douglas and Peel.
S. Fiife'S.-Glamorganshire: Dunraven, Miss M. Waring; East
Aberthaw, F. Brent; Swansea, J. Riley; Port Kirig; Barry Island.
E. Highlands.—? Kincardineshire : banks of the Carrón ; rooks ^
near the sea, north-east of Stonehaven, 1842, L . Hutcheson.
W. Highlands.—? Arran.
Connaught.—Gahfiay: Lough Bulard, near Urrisheg, C. C.
BaUngton; Roundstone, Connemara. Arran Isles, G. Maw.
Munster.—K e v ry : Cahir Conree, near Tralee, W. Andrews.
Clare: from Ballyvaughan, round Black Head to Cremlm Point,
W. Bennett.
Channel Isfes.— Jersey, rare. Rev. W. Greemoell. Guernsey.
The Common Maidenhair Pern or Maidenhair Adiant, as Mr.
Bentham styles it, is found dispersed over the middle and south of
Europe. Besides Great Britain aud Ireland it occurs in Switzerland,
in the Tyrol, in Belgium, in France on the Jura range, in
Spain and Portugal, in. Italy, in Dalmatia, in Greece and Turkey.
In Asia, it occurs throughout India, chiefly in damp hiUy districts,
e.<7. Heilgherries, Malabar, Oude, Kashmir,' Affghanistan, Soinde,
Belooohistan, Thibet, Kumaon, Khasya, Sikkim-Himalaya, Nepal,
Simla, Assam,Bhotan, Ava, Moulmein, &o.; in Java; in China; in
Persia; in Arabia Petraea, and in Syria ; iu the Caucasus, and
according to Ledebour in the Ural provinces of Siberia. In Africa,
it is found in the north at Algiers, and in Abyssinia and Egypt;
again in Teneriffe, Madeira, the Canaries, the Azores, and the Cape
de Verd Islands; in Madagascar and the Mascaren Islands ; and in
South Africa, in Natal, and at Algoa Bay. It is met with in the
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