Rhizome creeping. Fronds 2- to 4-pinnate, pinnules usually cuneate or unequal-sided; stipes and petioles usually slender; veins forked. Sori marginal, interrupted or continuous. In-dusium formed of the reflexed margin of the frond. There are upwards of 60 species, found in the temperate and tropical regions. is the Greek name for the common species.

1. A. Capillus-Veneris. Maiden-hair Fern. - Frond 6 to 12 inches high, irregularly 3- or 4-pinnate; pinnules alternate, wedge-shaped, crenate, thin. Sori oblong. Stipes and rachis slender, nearly black, shining and brittle. Eare on damp rocks near the sea in South-western England and Western Ireland, and extending to temperate and tropical Asia, Africa and America.

A. pedatum, a species occurring both in North America and

Asia, is nearly or quite hardy in suitable situations. It has dichotomous fronds, the main divisions of which are flabellately branched, and small dimidiate pinnules broadest on the side nearest the stem.