Part 28

29. MAIDENHAIR SPLEENWORT

Asplenium Trichomanes

Almost throughout North America. A small rock fern, four to twelve inches long, with purplish-brown and shining, thread-like stalks.

Fronds.--Linear in outline, somewhat rigid, once-pinnate; pinnæ roundish or oval, unequal-sided, attached to rachis by a narrow point, entire or toothed; fruit-dots short, oblong, narrowed at the ends, three to six on each side of the midrib; sporangia dark-brown when ripe; indusium delicate.

In childhood the delicate little fronds and dark, glistening, thread-like stalks of the Maidenhair Spleenwort seemed to me a token of the mysterious, ecstatic presence of the deeper woods, of woods where dark hemlocks arched across the rock-broken stream, where the spongy ground was carpeted with low, nameless plants with white-veined or shining leaves and coral-like berries, where precious red-cupped mosses covered the fallen tree-trunks and strange birds sang unknown songs.

Perhaps because in those days it was a rare plant to be met with on rare occasions, in a spirit of breathless exultation, I almost begrudge finding it now on shaded cliffs close to the highway.

Certainly it seems lovelier when it holds itself somewhat aloof from the beaten paths. One of its favorite haunts is a mossy cliff which forms part of a ravine of singular beauty. Along the base of this cliff foams a rushing stream on its way to the valley. Overhead stretch branches of hemlock, cedar, and basswood. On the broader shelves the mountain maple, the silver birch, and the hobble-bush secure a precarious foothold. Below rare sunbeams bring out rich patches of color on the smooth, muscular trunks of the beeches. Close to the water, perhaps, wheel a pair of spotted sand-pipers, now lighting on the rocks in order to secure some insect, now tilting backward and forward with the comical motion peculiar to them, now gliding swiftly along the pebbly shore till their brown and gray and white coats are lost in the brown and gray and white of shore, rock, and water.

In such a retreat as this ravine the Maidenhair Spleenwort seems peculiarly at home. Its tufted fronds have a fresh greenness that is a delight to the eye as they spring from little pockets or crannies too shallow, we would suppose, for the necessary moisture and nourishment. Its near companions are the Walking Fern, whose tapering, leaf-like, blue-green fronds leap along the shelving ledge above, and the Bulblet Bladder Fern, which seems to gush from every crevice of the cliff.

30. GREEN SPLEENWORT

Asplenium viride

Northern New England, west and northward, on shaded rocks. A few inches to nearly a foot long, with tufted stalks, brownish below, green above.

Fronds.--Linear-lanceolate, once-pinnate, pale green; pinnæ ovate, toothed, midvein indistinct and forking; fruit-dots oblong; indusium straight or curved.

GREEN SPLEENWORT]

The Green Spleenwort in general appearance resembles the Maidenhair Spleenwort. Perhaps its most distinguishing feature is its stalk, which, though brown below, becomes green above, while that of its little relative is dark and shining throughout. Its discovery on Mt. Mansfield, Vt., by Mr. Pringle gave it a place in the flora of the United States, as is shown in the following passage from Mr. Pringle's address before the Vermont Botanical Club:

"On this first visit to Mt. Mansfield my work was restricted to the crest of the great mountain. About the cool and shaded cliffs in front of the Summit House were then first brought to my view Aspidium fragrans ... and Asplenium viride, ... for I was still on my fern hunt. The finding of the former added a species to the Vermont catalogue; the latter was an addition to the flora of the United States. Such little discoveries gave joy to the young collector."

31. SCOTT'S SPLEENWORT

Asplenium ebenoides

Connecticut to the Mississippi and southward to Alabama, on limestone. Four to twelve inches long, with blackish and shining stalks.

Fronds.--Lanceolate, tapering to a long, narrow apex, generally pinnate below, pinnatifid above; fruit-dots straight or slightly curved; indusium narrow.

SCOTT'S SPLEENWORT]

The known stations of this curious little plant are usually in the immediate neighborhood of the Walking Leaf and the Ebony Spleenwort, of which ferns it is supposed to be a hybrid. The long, narrow apex occasionally forming a new plant, and the irregular fruit-dots remind one of the Walking Leaf, while the lustrous black stalk, the free veins, and the pinnate portions of the fronds suggest the Ebony Spleenwort.

Scott's Spleenwort matures in August. It is rare and local, except in Alabama. The fact, however, that it has been discovered in widely distant localities east of the Mississippi should lend excitement to fern expeditions in any of our limestone neighborhoods where we see its chosen associates, the Walking Leaf and the Ebony Spleenwort. To find a new station for this interesting little fern, even if it consisted of one or two plants only, as is said to have been the case at Canaan, Conn., would well repay the fatigue of the longest tramp.

32. PINNATIFID SPLEENWORT

Asplenium pinnatifidum

New Jersey and Pennsylvania to Illinois, and southward to Alabama and Arkansas, on rocks. Four to fourteen inches long, with polished stalks, blackish below, green above, when young somewhat chaffy below.

Fronds.--Broadly lance-shaped, tapering to a long, slender point, pinnatifid or pinnate below; pinnæ rounded or the lowest tapering to a point, fruit-dots straight or somewhat curved; indusium straight or curved.

PINNATIFID SPLEENWORT]

This plant resembles the Walking Leaf to such an extent that formerly it was not considered a separate species. The long, slender apex of its frond, which, it is said, sometimes takes root, as in the Walking Leaf, gave ground for its confusion with that fern. But the tapering apex of the frond of the Pinnatifid Spleenwort is not so long and the veins of the frond are free.