chance to visit the spot. If I hereafter revisit this wall, it will
he mortifying to me to find that I have caused the destruction
of the habitat.
The roots are very long, fibrous, crooked, and intertwined, and
together with the rhizoma, which is very large and tufted, form
an amazing hulk ; a plant I procured at Llanrwst had upwards of
three hundred fronds, and the mass of roots and rhizoma, after
shaking off a good deal of earth, weighed several pounds. The
fronds make their appearance in March and April, arrive at
maturity in August, and remain green throughout the winter;
they grow in a horizontal position from a perpendicular surface ;
the fronds represented in the preceding page are in the natural
position, and of the natural size.
The form of the frond is elongate, lanceolate, and furnished
laterally with one or two short bifid teeth or serratures, and the
apex also terminates in a bifid point; it diminishes imperceptibly
towards the base, and there terminates in a smooth rachis, which
is black at the extreme base.
The veins are nearly simple,
and few in number, one running
into each serrature. The thecæ
are attached to each vein in a
continuous line, covered at first
by an indusium of similar shape, which opens towards the midvein
of the frond, and, as the thecæ swell, is thrown back, and
finally lost, and the lower surface of the frond presents a continuous
mass of thecæ.
mm
If
SEA SPL E ENW ORT .
A s p l e n iu m M a r in u m o f A u t h o r s .
l o c a l it ie s .
E n g la n d . . . . Durham, near Berwick-on-Tweed ; Sussex, near Hastings ; Dorsetsliire, near Lyme
Reg is; Cornwall, near the Loganstone. at Whitsand-bay, near Falmouth, Lizard
Point, Scilly Islands, and St. Ives; Devonshire, Barnstaple Bay and Ilfracombe ;
Somersetshire, near Cleardon, iu abundance on the rocks; Cheshire, entrance of
the Dee, and Red Noses, near Liverpool; Lancashire, on the Mersey, near
Warrington, and the Dingle near Liverpool; near Douglas, in the Isle of Man.
W a l e s Caernarvonshire, Orme’s Head; Anglesea, on the South Stack; Merionethshire,
near Towyn; Cardiganshire, at Aberystwith, on the Castle rock, and on the
Castle; Pembrokeshire, Fiskard Bay, St. David’s Head, Ramsey Island, and on
the coast exactly opposite; Glamorganshire, near Neath, Mumbles Lighthouse,
between the Mumbles and Penyard castle, near Swansea, near Dunraven castle,
Barry island.
Scotland . . . Dumfriesshire, near Annan ; Wigtownshire, near Portpatrick ; Ayrshire, near Ayr ;
Isles of Bute and Arran ; Argyleshire, near Oban ; Isle of Mull; on the basaltic
columns a t Staffa; at Iona, almost covering the old cathedral; Rossbire ; Inver-
nesshire, on the Murray F irfh ; Aberdeenshire; Fifeshire, abundant at Weem’s
Cove ; Inch Keith, in the Frith of Forth; Berwickshire, at Eymouth.
I r e l a n d ------County Dublin, Isle of Lambay, Hill of Ilowth, Black Rock, Killiney b a y ; counties
Wicklow, Wexford; County Cork, near Youghal; County Kerry, near Tralee,
and at the Lakes of Killarney; County Clare, abundant on the west coast,
between Louphead and Kilkee, and between Kilkee and Mohir Cliffs; County
Galway; South isles of Arran and Cunnemara; County Mayo, Clew b a y ; Counties
Donegal and Derry, on the coast; County Antrim, Giant’s Causeway, Plaiskins,
Carrick-a-Rede, Fairhead, Red Bay, Glenarm, Larne, Carriekfergus.
T h i s fern is, as the name implies, essentially a marine species,
rooting deeply in the fissures of clifis, or clothing the roofs of
sea-caves, in the darkest recesses of which it seems to luxuriate.
Mr. Pf. Doubleday informs me that he found it completely