256 THE FERN PARADISE. 



and stem are almost blended, the leafy part of 

 the frond being merged into the stem by means 

 of a sort of narrow leafy wing. The fronds, which 

 are thrown up in little tufts around the crown 

 of the plant, are divided into sometimes two and 

 sometimes three forked divisions, somewhat club- 

 shaped, narrow at their base, and broadening 

 upwards, where, being widest, they are each jagged 

 or slightly forked, the tips of the segments pre- 

 senting sharp points. On the backs of the short 

 fronds grow the spore-cases, which, when quite 

 ripe, run together and form one mass. 



When growing wild on rocks the Forked 

 Spleenwort becomes densely tufted, and spreads 

 into a mass of crowns, which throw up a little 

 forest of fronds. In cultivating this fern, sandy 

 peat and old fragments of mortar should constitute 

 the soil. With this should be interspersed pieces 

 of freestone or sandstone, and the roots should 

 be planted between fragments of stone so as to 

 imitate, as nearly as possible, the conditions under 

 which it is found growing on its native rocks. 



