ASPLENIUM SEPTENTRIONALE. FORKED SPLEEN-
WORT.
ASPLENIUM septentrionale ; frondibus subbipartitis, laciniis linearibus, apice acute subtridentatis,
longissime stipitatis.
ASPLENIUM septentrionale. Hull. p. 241. Smith Engl. Bot. t. 1017. Fl. B r it. p. 1129.
Willd. Sp. PI. vol. 5. p. SO7. Hoffm. Germ. ed. 2. vol. 2. p. . Swartz Syn. Fil.
p. 75. Schkuhr Fil. p. 62. t. 65. Decand. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. vol. 2. p. 553. Fl. Gall.
Syn. p. 113. Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. vol. 5. p. 515. Wahl. Fl. Lapp. p. 284. Hook.
Fl. Scot. P . II. p. 155.
ACROSTICHUM septentrionale. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1524. Huds. Angl. p . 450. Light/. Scot. p. 657.
With. Bot. A r r . ed. 4. vol. 3. p. 74i7. Fl. D an. t. 60.
ACROSTICHUM caule bifurcate. Hall. Helv. n. 1714.
F IL IX saxatilis Tragi. Horned or Forked Maiden-hair. Raii Syn. p. 120.
Bohem. Netjk. Dan. Jumfruehaar. Dut. Wederhood. Fr. Doradille politric. Germ. Der
Widerthon. It. & Span. Politrico. Pol. Rzesa Skalna druga. Port. Avencao. Swed. Sten-
bryt. Welsh. Dweg-redynen Gwallt y forwyn.
Class a n d Or d e r . CRYPTOGAMIA FILICES.
[N a tu r a l Or d e r . FILICES, Juss., Decand., B r ., Hook. D iv . I. GYRATA£, -Br.]
Ge n . Ch a r . Sori lineares, transversales, sparsi. Indusia e venis lateralibus orta, costam versus dehiscentia.
Ge n . Ch a r . Sori linear, transverse, scattered. Involucres arising from the lateral veins, and opening towards
the central nerve or rib.
Ra d ix densissime cæspitosa, nigra, fibrosa.
Ca u d e x repens, ramosus, radicibus fibrosis fere omnino
tectus.
Fr o n d e s numerosissimæ, palmares, erectæ, flexuosæ,
inferne longissime stipitatoe ; stipite filiformi, canaliculate,
viridi, basi solummodo nigro, superne
paululum dilatatæ, bifidæ raro trifidæ; 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, raem-
branaceum, intus dehiscens, primo involutum,
demum reflexum.
Capsulæ numerosæ, sphæricæ, reticulatæ, pedicellatæ,
annulatæ, annulo incomplete.
Sem in a numerosa, minuta, subsphærica, fusca, punctis
. elevatis notata.
Root thickly matted with black fibres.
Ca u d e x creeping, branched, almost entirely covered
with the fibrous roots.
Fron d s 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
at the points, bi- or tri-dentate, blackish-green,
three-nerved ; two o f the nerves lateral, the other
central.
Clusters oe Fr u c t if ic a t io n 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.
Se ed s numerous, minute, nearly spherical, brown,
marked with raised dots.
Fig. 1. Small tuft of Asplénium septentrionale, nat.size. Fig. 2. Back view of the upper portion of a frond.
Fig. 3. Front view of the same, with some of the involucres open. Fig. 4. Section of the fructified frond, to
show the nerves, and the insertion of the involucres. Fig. 5. Portion of a frond, whose entire disk is covered
with the advanced fructification. Fig. 6. Capsule. Fig. 7. Single capsule, burst. Fig. 8. Seeds :—all, except
Jig. 1, more or less magnified.
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, Somersetshire,
where it was detected by Mr. Brown. I t 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-
ville, and F. Boott, Esqrs. ; and the second station is the rock of 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 fructifications,
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.