10 



STOVE FERNS. 



esting, dwarf, evergreen Fern, and worthy of general culti- 

 vation. 



AETHEOPTEEIS. 



A genus very nearly allied 

 to Lastrea. It was named by 

 Mr. J. Smith, of Kew, one of the 

 best authorities upon Ferns. The 

 name is derived from arthron, 

 a joint, and pteris a Fern ; and 

 refers to the articulation about 

 halfway up the stalks of the 

 fronds. 



AETHEOPTEEIS ALBO-PUNC- 

 TATA (White - dotted). The 

 fronds are about a foot high, 

 lanceolate in form, twice-divided, 

 deep green, and with the upper 

 surface dotted with small white 

 spots near the margin. It is 

 a native of West Africa. It 

 should be grown in a wire basket ; the creeping rhizomes 

 can then make their way out in every direction, and will 

 soon cause it to be a mass of fronds. 



Fig. 5. Ar.trophyum lanceolatum. 

 (Top of frond natural size. ) 



ASPIDIUM. 



From aspidion, a little shield, the spore-masses being 

 covered with a shield or protecting skin. The genus Aspidium 

 was formerly a very large one, but modern botanists have 

 reduced the number of species considerably ; the rest are 

 divided into at least ten genera. This genus is very subject 

 to the attacks of the brown scale ; indeed it is very difficult to 

 keep the Aspidiums clean. 



ASPIDIUM TEIFOLIATUM (Three-leaved), Fig. 6. A some- 





