ASPLENIUM MARINUM. SEA SIDE SPLEENWORT.
ASPLENIUM marinum ; frondibus pinnatis, pinnis ovatis obliquis inæqualiter crenatis, basi superiore
subauriculatis.
ASPLENIUM marinum. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1540. Huds. Angl, p. 453. With. Bot. Arr. ed. 4.
w l. 3. p. 753. Light f. Scot. p . 6(54. Boit. Fil. p. 26. 1. 15. Schkuhr Crypt, t. 68.
Engl. Bot. t. 392. Smith Fl. Brit. p, 1128. Swartz Syn. Fil. p. 79- Willd. Sp. P I.
vol. 5. p . 318. Lam. Diet. vol. 2. p . 305. Decand. Fl. Gall, cd, 3, vol. 2. p . 555.
Fl. Gall. Syn. p. 1 1 S.
CHAMÆFILIX marina anglica. Raii Syn. p . 119- Pluie. Phy t. t. 253.
R. pinnis lobatis seu laciniatis.
ADIANTUM trapeziforme. Huds. Angl. p. 460. nec Linn, (fide Sm.)
ADIANTUM majus Coriandri folio, et Adianto vero affinis minor Scotica. Raii Syn. p. 124.
Class an d Ord e r . CRYPTOGAMIA FILICES.
[N atural Ord e r . FILICES, Linn. Juss. Decand. Br. Div. I. GYRATAL]
Ge n . Ch a r. Sort lineares, sparsi, dorsales. Involucrum e vena lateraliter ortum ducens, margine superiore
Iibero. Br.
Radix dense fibrosa, fibris crassiusculis, flexuosis, ri-
gidis, tomentoso-squamdsis, fuscis.
St ipit e s bi-tripollicares, nuraerosi, læves, fusci, supra
canaliculati.
Rachis fusca, alata.
Frons spithamæa ad pedalem, lanceolata, pinnata.
PlNNiE alternæ, vix unciam longæ, ovatæ, obtusæ, supra
saturate virides, infra pallidiores, nervçsæ, mar-
ginibus inæqualiter crenatæ, basi superiore oblique
diktat®, subauriculatæ, superiores minores,
confluentes.
F ructification Sori suboppositi, lineares.
Capsulée nuinerosæ, subsphëricæ, pedicellatæ, annulo
, clastico incompleto instruct®, transversim irre-
gulariter rumpentes.
Semina parva, fusca, echinata.
Root thickly fibrous, the fibres thickish, flexuose, rigid,
between tomentose and scaly, brown.
St ipe s from two to three inches long, numerous, smooth,
brown, channelled above.
R aciiis brown, winged.
Frond from a span to a foot high, lanceolate, pinnate.
PlNNiE alternate, scarcely an inch long, ovate, obtuse,
above dark green, paler beneath, nerved, the
margins unequally crenate, the superior base obliquely
dilated and somewhat auriculate, the superior
pinnee smaller, confluent.
Fru ctification : Sori somewhat opposite, linear.
Capsules numerous, nearly spherical, pedicellate, furnished
with an incomplete elastic ring, transversely
but irregularly breaking.
Seeds small, brown, echinate.
Fig. 1 . Pinna with the lines of fructification, slightly magn. Fig. 2 . Single Sorus. Fig. 3 .3 . Three unopened Capsules.
Fig. 4. Capsule-brush open, having discharged its seeds. Fig. 5. Seeds.—-All more or less magn.
On the rocky coasts of Great Britain the present is not an uncommon species. The specimens from which our
description and figure were made, were kindly communicated by our friend the Rev. W. T . Bree, from the neighbourhood
of Penzance, Cornwall, In other countries it seems to be a scarce Fern, being found in France only in
one or two places on the shores of the Mediterranean, and not at all on the northern coasts o f the continent of
Europe. In Barbary, however, in Spain, and in the Canary Isles, it has been met with; and even in Jamaica,
according to some authors.
It loves shady situations, in the clefts o f rocks j and in caves that are entirely excluded from the rays of the sun
we have seen it lengthened out as if desirous of more light.
The fructification may be found, we believe, at all seasons of the year. In the summer months we have observed
the capsules perfected, and our own specimens were covered with the dark lines of seed-vessels in December.
We have followed the learned author of the Flora Britannica in making the Adiantum trapeziforme of Hudson
the var. 0 . o f this plant, having never seen it ourselves.