39 8 MY GARDEN. 



handsome fern from the Malay Archipelago. A. macilentum, a variety 

 of A. auritnm, is prettily veined. A. attcmiatum is a fine stiff fern from 

 Queensland, and forms a handsome plant ; whilst A. fonnosum is a 

 very graceful one. So is also A. flabcllatum, a variety of A. rhizo- 

 phorum, from tropical America. 



The fronds of A. macrophyllum are very dissimilar from those of any 

 species hitherto described ; the plant hardly -looks like a fern, and is 

 valuable on account of that dissimilarity, for the sake of contrast. 

 A. falcatum is a graceful fern from Japan, which does better out of 

 doors than in the house. A. dispersum is a very desirable basket fern, 

 from tropical America, with fronds not exceeding nine inches in 

 length. 



A. Serra is a firm, erect, and fine species from tropical America. A. 

 nidus, var. australasicum, or Bird's-nest Fern (fig. 910), is a fine species, 

 with large fleshy fronds arranged round a centre ; it may be placed out 

 in summer. A. bulbiferum is a common fern, from New Zealand, which 

 likes outdoor treatment in summer. 



FIG. 9 10. -Bird's-nest Fern. FIG. 911. Ac inioptcris radiata. 



The Scale Fern, A. Ceterach or, as it is commonly called, Ceterach 

 officinarum (fig. 868) does not grow well in the house, but does per- 

 fectly well in the open ferneries, as has been already described. 



There is a remarkable species, and the only one of a genus called 

 Actiniopteris, which exactly resembles a miniature palm-tree ; this is 

 the Actiniopteris radiata (fig. 91 1), a native of India. I have a single 

 plant, and have been told that it likes plenty of light, and drought 

 at certain seasons of the year, when it is at rest. 



