The Scaly Spleenwort is to be looked for in limestone districts, where it occurs on old walls or amongst rocks, often in great abundance. It is said to be less common in Scotland than in other parts of the United Kingdom. Under cultivation the Scaly Spleenwort often comes to grief through excessive moisture; it is most happy in a crevice on a rockery. The Scaly Spleenwort is an evergreen plant. _Asplenium trichomanes._ The specific name is probably formed of two Greek words—_thrix_, “a hair,” and _manos_, “soft.” This is doubtless a reference to the hair-like nature of the leaf-stalks. The Maidenhair Spleenwort. This is a very familiar Spleenwort, not infrequently sold as the English Maidenhair. The plant has a stoutish root-stock, from which grow a quantity of fine roots; these often penetrate for a long way into the crevices of the rocks, or between the building materials of an old wall. The length of the fronds varies from a few inches to nearly a foot. The stipes is very short and is extremely brittle. On either side of the rachis, which is of a deep purple colour, the pinnæ are produced. These are borne on a very short stalk and are of an oval shape, being about half an inch in length. The margins of the pinnæ are occasionally slightly toothed. As a rule, the pinnæ are set in opposite pairs on either side of the rachis. A curious feature of the leaf-stalks of the Maidenhair Spleenwort is that they do not decay at once when the pinnæ fall off. Thus it is often possible to find thick bunches of them on the root-stock looking like so much dark hair. [Illustration: Asplenium trichomanes. The Maidenhair Spleenwort.] The sori are placed in the form of lines on veins which branch from the mid-vein of the pinnæ. In the early days the clusters of spore capsules are covered with indusia; as the capsules mature these are thrown off, and finally the sori may spread over the back of the pinnæ. The Maidenhair Spleenwort is an exceedingly common Fern in many parts of the United Kingdom. It is often found on old walls in great abundance. Happily it is not an easy plant to exterminate; for, owing to the long roots already mentioned, it is a difficult matter to dislodge a plant from its crevice. In the garden the Maidenhair Spleenwort is perfectly happy on a rock ledge; it should not be given a large amount of moisture. The Maidenhair Spleenwort is an evergreen species. _Asplenium viride._ Here the specific name is formed of the Latin word _viride_, “green,” obviously a reference to the bright colour of the fronds. The Green Spleenwort.