ALSOPHILA. 



more so than in any other division of the family. In no two 

 gardens can you find a plant called by the same name. This 

 may, perhaps, be accounted for by the fact that they are 

 seldom seen in this country of a size 

 sufficient to develope their true cha- 

 racters. 



ALSOPHILA AETICULATA (Jointed), Fig. 

 3. A noble evergreen Fern from Jamaica, 

 growing 5 feet high, with fronds 6 or 8 feet 

 long. They are bipinnate, jointed or arti- 

 culated with a rachis or stalk, which is 

 covered with spines and scales. 



A. FEROX (Rough or Prickly). A 

 West-Indian Fern. This may be known 

 at once by the thorny prickles on the main 

 stalk, as well as on those of the pinnae. It 

 is a large-growing species. The fronds 

 are terminal on a stout stem, 5 feet high 

 in this country, though it, of course, 

 grows much higher in its shady native 

 localities. 



A. PEUINATA (Frosted-leaved). From 

 Brazil and West India Islands. This 

 is a singular-looking species ; the fronds 

 and stalks are covered with soft woolly- 

 looking hairs, giving the plant an ap- 

 pearance like hoar frost : h^ence its specific 

 name. It is thrice and sometimes four 

 times pinnated, with the fronds from 4 to 

 6 feet long. This plant is often called 

 Lophosoria pruinata. 



A. VILLOSA (Shaggy). An evergreen 

 Fern from Columbia. Distinguished from 

 the preceding species by the stalks and fronds being covered 

 all over with long, shaggy, hair-like processes. The fronds 



Fig. 3. Alsophila articu- 

 lata; leaflet full size, 

 with sorus rather magni- 

 fied, and divided verti- 

 cally to show the ele- 

 vated receptacle. 



