ADIANTUM (aStavrov), a genus of Ferns, so called by the Greeks because the leaves are of such a nature that water will not readily moisten them. The plant described by Hippocrates and his successors under this name appears to have been the A. Capillus Veneris, or the Maiden-Hair Fern—a rare European species, occasionally met with on moist rocks, and old damp walls, even in this country. From other genera of the same tribe it is known by its size, or masses of reproductive particles, being situated upon the margin of the leaves, and covered over by a thin curved scale which separates from the leaf by its inner edge.
The number of species is very considerable, probably not far from 80 or 90, and, as is the case in all extensive genera of Ferns, comprehends every degree of division of the leaves, from perfect simplicity to the most compound conditions. All those in which the leaves are much divided are remarkable for the very delicate elastio stalks on which the broad leaflets are attached ; it is to this circum stance that the name of Maiden's Hair has been given to the European species. The genus is scattered over all the world, from Europe to New Zealand, but is not found in any high latitudes in either hemisphere. By far the greater part of the species inhabit damp
tropical woods.
A. Capillus Veneris is a dark-green stemless plant, found in damp, rough rocky places, by the side of water-courses, and on the edge of wells, where the air is keen and dry. Its leaves, which are from six to fifteen inches high, have a blackish-purple highly-polished stalk, divided into a great number of very slender ramifications, from the extremities of which proceed the thin, delicate, wedge-shaped leaflets, which are notched irregularly upon their upper edge, and have the most graceful appearance imaginable when growing a little above the eye, and gently agitated by the wind. Wonderful medicinal properties were once ascribed to this species, but they have long since been discovered to have no existence except in the exaggeration of fanciful practitioners. All that can be discovered in it is a slight but pleasant aromatic flavour ; the French occasionally use it in slight coughs. Capillaire is prepared by pouring boiling syrup upon the leaves of this species, or of A. pedatunt, an American plant of larger growth and far less divided leaves; a little flavour is afterwards given with orange-flowers.