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WILLDENOW S FERN. 



nothing can be more beautiful than their appearance. They 

 even defy the impurities of the London suburban atmosphere, 

 and exist for many years without any other care than an occa- 

 sional watering. In the greenhouse they thrive still better, 

 and it is almost impossible to conceive anything more elegant 

 and delicate than the tracery of some of the more divided forms 

 of angulare. The more divided the frond, the less durable : 

 for whilst the leathery, rigid, and scarcely bipinnate form com- 

 monly known as "lobatum" shows no symptoms of decay until 

 the end of the second year, the delicate and feathery plant 

 called " angulare," decays at its base during the first winter, 

 and, falling to the ground, soon becomes entirely destroyed. 

 All the forms delight in soil chiefly composed of yellow loam. 



