Small, evergreen ferns. Fruit-dots oblong or linear, oblique, separate when
young. Indusium straight or rarely curved, fixed lengthwise on the upper
side of a fertile veinlet, opening toward the midrib. Veins free. Scales of
rhizome and stipes narrow, of firm texture and with thick-walled cells.
(1) PINNÁTIFID SPLEENWORT. _Asplenium pinnatífídum_
Fronds four to six inches long, lanceolate, pinnátifid or pinnate near the
base, tapering above into a slender prolongation. Lobes roundish-ovate, or
the lower pair acuminate. Fruit-dots irregular, numerous. Stipes tufted,
two to four inches long, brownish beneath, green above.
Although this fern, like all the small spleenworts, is heavily fruited,
it is extremely rare. It is found as far north as Sharon, Conn., thence
southward to Georgia, to Arkansas and Missouri. On cliffs and rocks.
Resembles the walking fern, and its tip sometimes takes root.
(2) SCOTT'S SPLEENWORT. _Asplenium ebenòides_
Fronds four to ten inches long, broadly lanceolate, pinnátifid or pinnate
below, tapering to a prolonged and slender apex. Divisions lanceolate from
a broad base. Fruit-dots straight or slightly curved. Stipe and rachis
brown.
[Illustration: Pinnatifid Spleenwort. _Asplenium pinnatifidum_ a, Small
Plants from Harper's Ferry; b, Sori on Young Fronds (From Waters's "Ferns,"
Henry Holt & Co.)]
[Illustration: Scott's Spleenwort. _Asplenium ebenoides_ a, from Virginia;
b, from Alabama; c, from Maryland (From Waters's "Ferns," Henry Holt &
Co.)]
Resembles the last, and like that has been known to root at the tip. It is
a hybrid between the walking fern and the ebony spleenwort, as proved by
Miss Margaret Slosson, and may be looked for in the immediate vicinity of
its parents. It was discovered by R.R. Scott, in 1862, at Manayunk, Pa., a
suburb of Philadelphia, and described by him in the Gardener's Monthly of
September, 1865. Vermont to Alabama, Missouri, and southward. Rare, but
said to be plentiful in a deep ravine near Havana, Ala.
[Illustration: Green Spleenwort. _Asplenium víride_]
(3) GREEN SPLEENWORT. _Asplenium víride_
Fronds two to ten inches long, linear, pinnate, pale green. Pinnæ
roundish-ovate, crenate, with indistinct and forking midveins. Stalks
tufted, short, brownish below, green above. Rachis green.
Discovered at Smuggler's Notch, Mt. Mansfield, Vt., by C.G. Pringle in
1876. Found sparingly at Willoughby Lake, high on the cliffs of Mt. Horr.
This rare and delicate little plant bears a rather close resemblance to the
maidenhair spleenwort, which, however, has dark stipes instead of green.
Northern New England, west and northwest on shaded limestone rocks.
[Illustration: Maidenhair Spleenwort. _Asplenium Trichomanes_]
(4) MAIDENHAIR SPLEENWORT. _Asplenium Trichómanes_
Stipes densely tufted, purple-brown, shining. Fronds three to eight inches
long, linear, dark green, rather rigid. Pinnæ roundish-oblong or oval,
entire or finely crenate, attached at the base by a narrow point. Midveins
forking and evanescent.
Not very common, but distributed almost throughout North America. May be
looked for wherever there are ledges, as it does not require limestone.
July.
[Illustration: Maidenhair Spleenwort. _Asplenium Trichomanes_ (From
Woolson's "Ferns," Doubleday, Page & Co.)]
(5) SMALL SPLEENWORT
_Asplenium párvulum. A. resíliens_
Fronds four to ten inches tall, narrowly linear, rather firm, erect. Pinnæ
opposite, oblong, entire or finely crenate, and auricled at the base.
Stipes and rachis black and shining. Midveins continuous.
This small fern is a southern species half way between the maidenhair and
ebony spleenworts, but rather more like the latter from which it differs in
being smaller and thicker, and in having the fertile and sterile fronds of
the same size. Mountains of Virginia to Kansas and southward.
(6) EBONY SPLEENWORT
_Asplenium platynèuron. A. ebèneum_
Fronds upright, eight to eighteen inches high, linear-lanceolate, the
fertile ones much taller, and pinnate. Pinnæ scarcely an inch long, the
lower ones very much shorter, alternate, spreading, finely serrate or
incised, the base auricled. Sori numerous, rather near the midvein, stipe
and rachis lustrous brown. ("Ebony.")
This rigidly upright but graceful fern flourishes in rocky, open woods, and
on rich, moist banks, often in the neighborhood of red cedars. Having come
upon it many times in our rambles, we should say it was not uncommon.
A lightly incised form of the pinnæ has been described as var. _serratum_.
A handsome form discovered in Vermont in 1900 by Mrs. Horton and named
_Hortonæ_ (also called _incisum_) has plume-like fronds with the pinnæ cut
into oblique lobes, which are coarsely serrate.
[Illustration: Ebony Spleenwort. _Asplenium platyneuron_ (Melrose, Mass.,
G.E. Davenport)]
[Illustration: Bradley's Spleenwort. _Asplenium Bradleyi_ a, from Maryland;
b, from Kentucky (From Waters's "Ferns," Henry Holt & Co.)]
(7) BRADLEY'S SPLEENWORT. _Asplenium Brádleyi_
Fronds oblong-lanceolate, pinnate, three to ten inches long. Pinnæ
oblong-ovate, obtuse, incised or pinnátifid into oblong, toothed lobes.
The basal pinnæ have broad bases, and blunt tips and are slightly stalked.
Stipes and rachis dark brown and the sori short, near the midrib.
A rare and beautiful fern growing on rocks preferring limestone and
confined mostly to the southern states. Newburg, N.Y., to Kentucky and
Alabama, westward to Arkansas.
(8) MOUNTAIN SPLEENWORT. _Asplenium montanum_
Fronds ovate-lanceolate from a broad base, two to eight inches long,
somewhat leathery, pinnate. Pinnæ ovate-oblong, the lowest pinnately cleft
into oblong or ovate cut-toothed lobes, the upper ones less and less
divided. Rachis green, broad, and flat.
[Illustration: Mountain Spleenwort (From the "Fern Bulletin")]
Small evergreen ferns of a bluish-green color, growing in the crevices of
rocks and cliffs. Connecticut to Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas and southwest.
July. Rare. Williams, in his "Ferns of Kentucky," says of this species,
"Common on all sandstone cliffs and specimens are large on sheltered rocks
by the banks of streams."
(9) RUE SPLEENWORT. _Asplenium Ruta-murària_
Fronds evergreen, small, two to seven inches long, deltoid-ovate, two to
three pinnate below, simply pinnate above, rather leathery in texture.
Divisions few, stalked, from cuneate to roundish-ovate, toothed or incised
at the apex. Veins forking. Rachis and stipe green. Sori few, soon
confluent.
[Illustration: The Rue Spleenwort. _A. Ruta-muraria_ (Top, Lake
Huron--Lower Left, Mt. Toby, Mass.--Lower Right, Vermont) (From Herbarium
of Geo. E. Davenport)]
This tiny fern grows from small fissures in the limestone cliffs, and
is rather rare in this country; but in Great Britain it is very common,
growing everywhere on walls and ruins. From Mt. Toby, Mass., and Willoughby
Mountain, Vt., to Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky and southward.