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.