198 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



A. macropliyllum. — A handsome and distinct species, which may 

 at first sight be mistaken for a Pteris. The pinna) are large ; those 

 which produce sori are acutely oblong, and wedse-shaped at the 

 base; the sterile pinnae are irregularly hastate. AYhen young, the 

 fronds are of a rich rosy hue ; when mature, yellowish-green. This 

 is fond of warmth, and rarely survives the winter in a cool house. 



A, reniforme. — A beautiful species, with kidnej'-shaped fronds, 

 figured and described at page 241 of the eighth volume of the Floral 

 World. The plant there noticed as thriving in a closed case with- 

 out the aid of heat, is now a fine specimen with large fronds in 

 perfect health. It will grow in any greenhouse if kept warm and 

 shaded, and may always be covered with a bell-glass to advantage. 



A. asarifolium. — A large edition of A. reniforme, with fronds 

 quite circular and three inches across. This is the best of the two 

 for exhibition. 



A. tenerum. — This may be regarded as a greatly-enlarged form of 

 A. cuneatum. It is light, elegant, yet grand in character, and one 

 of the best for exhibition. Cool treatment does not suit it, but 

 otherwise it is easy enough to manage. 



A. sulpliureum. — An exquisite golden-colour maidenhair fern of 

 rather small growth. The fronds are regularly divided, tripinnate, 

 the pinnules cuneate at the base, reniform on the upper edge, where 

 they are densely crowded with sori. The upper side of the frond is 

 a shining green, the under side is covered with farina of a gold 

 yellow colour. Messrs. Veitch and Son honoured me with a plant 

 of this rare species very shortly after its introduction, and I have 

 therefore been enabled to give some attention to its habits and require- 

 ments. It must have stove temperature, must be sheltered from 

 sun and draughts of air, requires less water than the generality of 

 Adiantums, and, like the powdered Nothochla^nas, quickly suffers if 

 either too dry or too wet. It is very scarce and dear, but, as it 

 produces abundance of spores, will, no doubt, soon become plentiful. 



A. trapeziforme. — A beautiful species, and a general favourite. 

 The fronds are pedate, forming a nearly perfect semicircle of pinnae ; 

 the pinnules very large, irregularly four-sided or trapeziform ; their 

 colour a beautiful bright light green. When well grown, the fronds 

 attain a length of three to four feet. A very desirable fern, quite 

 essential in a collection, however small, which embraces species 

 requiring the stove. 



A. Wilsoni. — A curious and most beautiful species. The fronds 

 are divided into three to five pinnae, which are reniform or cordate, 

 sometimes elegantly ovate, and always of a hard leathery texture. 

 The colour is a fresh, delicate shade of grass-green, rendered more 

 beautiful by the distinctly-forked veins. This fern will not thrive 

 out of the stove, and under the best treatment is, in common with 

 most other Adiantums, shabby in the winter. The splendid characters 

 of these ferns during summer amply compensates for their poverty 

 of appearance during the dull months of the year, and the cultivator 

 fhould not seek, by any forcing treatment, to compel them to grow 

 m the winter season. They all require a definite season of rest. 



S. H. 



