98 STOVE FEEN8. 



curious Fern is from the warmer parts of Australia, growing 

 there on stumps of trees and shady rocks. The barren fronds 

 are without stalks, round, or nearly so, spreading horizontally 

 close to the soil, tree, or rock where they grow, or, when the 

 plant is old, spreading over the decaying barren fronds of the 

 previous year. The fertile fronds rise up from the centre of 

 the creeping barren ones, growing sometimes 2 feet high, 

 gradually expanding as they advance in height. Such parts of 

 the fronds as have no spore-masses on them are thickly covered 

 with star-like clusters of short hairs, so fine as to require a mag- 

 nifying-glass to observe their beautiful arrangement. Spore- 

 masses in patches cover the upper part of the frond ; they are 

 of a brownish colour, contrasting beautifully with the white 

 colour on the under side of the rest of the frond. This Fern, 

 when old, produces young plants among the barren fronds. 

 These may be taken off, potted, kept in the shade for a week 

 or two, and then treated like the old-established plants. 



P.GRANDE (jSToble). This most singular of all Ferns is like- 

 wise from Australia, and has been detected, also, in the woods 

 of the Malay Islands. The barren fronds, unlike those of the 

 preceding species, are first spreading flat, and then rising 

 gradually upwards, and when the plants acquire age and 

 strength they will reach the height of 2 or 3 feet, spreading 

 out towards the upper part into several deeply-cut lobep, 

 forming then some resemblance to the spreading erect tail 

 of some bird. The fertile fronds are entire at the base, but 

 deeply divided upwards. "When of some size they droop down- 

 wards, assuming a pendulous form. The spore-masses are 

 placed near where the division of the frond begins, and are 

 thickly placed in a kind of three-cornered patch. 



The culture of this curiously-beautiful Fern is different to 

 any other Fern known. Some years ago we received one from 

 a friend ; it was no larger than a pennypiece, and was as flat as 

 a pancake, growing on a small piece of bark. Having heard 

 that it grew against the boles of trees, we nailed the piece 



