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