ASPLENIUM SEPTENTRIONALE. FORKED SPLEEN-
WORT.
ASPLENIUM septentrionale ; frondibus subbiparti lis, laciniis linearibus, apice acute subtridentatis,
longissimc stipitatis.
ASPLENIUM septentrionale. Hull. p . 241. Smith Engl. Bot. t. 1017. Fl. B rit. p. 1 12 9 .
JVilld. Sp. PI. vol. 5. p . 307. Hoffm. Germ, ed, 2. vol. 2. p. . Swartz Sun. Fil.
p . 75. Scltlmhr Fil. p. 62. t. 65. Decand. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. vol. 2 . p. 553. Fl. Gall.
Syn. p. l i s . Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2 . vol. 5. p .5 \5 . Wahl. Fl. Lapp. p .284. Hook.
Fl. Scot. P . II. p . 155.
ACROSTICHUM septentrionale. Linn. Sp. P l.p . 1524. Huds. Angl.p.450. Light/. Scot. p. 657.
. With..Bot. Arr. ed. 4. vol. 3. p. 747. Fl. Dan. t. 60.
ACROSTICHUM caule bifurcato. Hall. Helv. n. 1714.
FILIX saxatilis Tragi. Horned or Forked Maiden-hair. Raii Syn. p . 120.
Bohem. Netjk. Dan. Jumfruéhaar. Dut. Wederhood. Fr. Doradille politric. Germ. Der
Widerthon. It. & Span. Politrico. Pol. Rzesa Skalna druga. Port. Avencao. Swed. Sten-
bryt. Welsh. Dweg-redynen Gtoallt y fortoyn. .
Class a n d Order. CRYPTOGAMIA FILICES.
[Natural Ord er. FILICES, Juts., Decand., Br., Hook. D iv . I. GYRATiB, Br.]
Gen. Chad. Sori lineares, transversales, sparsi. Indusia e venis lateralibus orta, costain versus dehiscentia.
Gen . Char. Sori linear, transverse, scattered. Involucres arising from the lateral veins, and opening towards
the central nerve o r rib.
Radix densissime cæspitosa, nigra, fibrosa.
Caüdex repens, ramosus, radicibus fibrosis fere omnino
tectus.
Frondes numerosissim», palmares, erectæ, flexuosæ,
inferne longissime stipitatæ ; stipite filiformi, ca-
naliculato, viridi, basi solummodo nigro, superne
paululum d iktat», bifidæ raro trifid»; laciniis
lineari-lanceolatis, apice acutissimis, bi- vel tri-
dentatis, atro-viridibus, trinerviis ; nervis duobus
lateralibus, uno centrali.
Sori e pagina aversa frondis, lineari-oblongi, approxi-
mati, paralleli, demum confluentes, et totum discum
tegentes.
I nvolucrum lineare, e venis lateralibus ortum, mem-
branaceum, intus dehiscens, primo involutum,
demum reflexum.
CapsüLÆ numéros», sphæricæ, reticulatæ, pedicellatoe,
annulât», annulo incompleto.
Semina numerosa, minuta, subsphærica, fusca, punctis
elevatis notata.
Fig. I. Small tuft of Asplénium septentrionale, nat.siz
Fig. 3. Front view of the same, with some of the inv<
show the nerves, and the insertion of the involucres,
with the advanced fructification. Fig. 6. Capsule. .
ctptfig- 1, more or less magnified.
Root thickly matted with black fibres.
Caudex creeping, branched, almost entirely covered
with the fibrous roots.
Fronds very numerous, three inches long, erect, flex-
uose, beneath forming long footstalks ; each footstalk'
filiform, channelled, green, black at the
base only, above slightly dilated, bifid or rarely
trifid, the segments linear-lanceolate, very acute
a t the points, bi- or tri-dentate, blackish-green,
three-nerved ; two o f the nerves lateral, the other
central.
Clusters of F ru ctification situated on the back
o f the frond, between linear and oblong, set
close together and parallel, finally running into
one another, and covering the whole surface.
I nvolucre linear, arising from the lateral veins, membranaceous,
opening internally, first involuted,
subsequently reflexed.
Capsules numerous, spherical, reticulated, borne on
footstalks, annulated, the ring incomplete.
Seeds numerous, minute, nearly spherical, brown
marked with raised dots.
'• Fig. 2. Back view o f the upper portion o f a frond.
lucres open. Fig. 4. Section of the fructified frond, to
Fig. 5. Portion of a frond, whose entire disk is covered
7ig. 7. Single capsule, burst. Fig. 8. Seeds :—all, ex-
A rare inhabitant of the British isles, although not appearing to be uncommon on the continent of Europe • as
it extends from the Pyrenees in the.South, to the frigid regions of Lapland in the North.
With us the Asplénium septentrionale is mostly confined to the alpine parts of Great Britain ; the only spot where
it is found in the southern district of the island being upon rocks on the southern side of Blackford Hill, Somer-
setshire, where it was detected by Mr. Brown. It grows on Carnedd Llewelyn, Caernarvonshire ; at Patterdale
and Keswick; and in the ravine of the Serces, near Wastwater, Cumberland; upon hills above Ambleside,
Westmoreland ; near Llanwest, Denbighshire ; and on the mountain of Ingleborough, Yorkshire. In the latter
situation, Mr. Turner observes that it has been vainly sought, since the time of Tofield, by several botanists. In
Scotland there are at present but two stations known for the Forked Spleenwort : the first is that near Edinburgh,
where it was seen by T. Willesil, in the time of Ray, growing in clefts of rocks on Arthur’s Seat, at the
Hermitage, and among the basaltic pillars in the King’s Park—from which place beautiful specimens, in a fine
state of fructification, have been sent to me this year (1822), in the month of August, by my friends, R. K. Gre-
vule, and F. Boott, Esqrs. ; and the second station is the rock o f Stenton, near Dunkeld, where it has been
lately found by Mr. Arnott.
As a species, the Asplénium septentrionale is readily distinguished from all other British individuals of the same
genus, by its simply bi- or rarely tri-fid (by no means pinnated) linear fronds ; as well as by the crowded fructifi-
cations, which, in an old state, have so much the appearance of those of an Acrostichum, that the plant was by
the older botanists invariably arranged under that genus.
Its nearest affinity is Asplénium Ruta-muraria.