This is one of the most beautiful of our native ferns, and it would probably have been exterminated long ago in this country were it not that it so often grows in inaccessible positions. The True Maidenhair loves a position which is shady and where moisture is abundant. From a slender, creeping rhizome, which is black in colour, the fronds arise. These vary greatly in length, and may measure anything from six inches up to a foot, or even more, according to the conditions in which the plant is living. The stipes, which is usually about the same length as the leafy portion, is jet-black, and like the rachis and all its branchings, is of a very wiry nature. In a moderate-sized specimen the arrangement of the frond would be on the following lines. On either side of the rachis the pinnæ are produced; these usually branch alternately from the central stalk. The pinnæ bear fan-shaped pinnules, which are attached to the stalk of the leaf-division by very fine stalks. The margin of the pinnules is much notched and veined. Where the frond is of a very large size they may be divided three times. [Illustration: Adiantum capillus-veneris. Enlarged view of back of frond.] In the case of a fertile frond the edges of the pinnules are turned back in a very striking way. If we turn up the fold, it is possible to see the sporangia arranged on the underside. Before the fertile leaf has reached maturity the upper part of the fold has a whitish appearance; finally it turns black. The True Maidenhair Fern is more widely distributed than is generally supposed in the South of England and in Ireland. It is a delicate species, and, generally speaking, is restricted to those parts of the kingdom where the winter is mild. It may be seen growing abundantly on old quarries in Cornwall, as a rule quite out of reach. The Maidenhair Fern is a fairly easy plant to grow in pots, though it likes a moist atmosphere. Curiously enough, it is not so simple a plant to cultivate as some of the exotic species. The True Maidenhair is an evergreen plant. _Cryptogramme crispus._ The generic name of this fern is derived from two Greek words, _kruptos_, “hidden,” and _gramme_, “a line,” having reference to the fact that when mature the sori are arranged in lines round the margins of the fronds. The specific name, _crispus_, is an apt one, when the crisped or curled appearance of the barren fronds is considered. In some books this species is called _Allosorus crispus_. The Parsley Fern.