LOPHODIUM EIGrcUM. 181 



elongate-lanceolate form by the larger and more massive eau- 

 dex, whicli indicates age : all the ferns of tliis genus appear 

 long-lived ; and attributing, as I do, variation in the circum- 

 scription of their fronds to external conditions, as of shade, 

 age, luxuriance, &c., I will not presume to define, much less to 

 name, the various gradations of form. Whenever I have pro- 

 posed characters, either as those of varieties or of species, I 

 have not based them on the circumscription or cutting of the 

 frond. 



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This fern grows with vigour in the ordinary soil of gardens, 

 requiring no shade, but enjoying moisture. In pot-cultivation, 

 I find it thrive in a mixture of peat and loam, with pieces of 

 limestone or oolite intermixed : it seems to enjoy abundant 

 watering, and likes being watered with lime-water. The drain- 

 age should be good, as its roots will not bear constant contact 

 with water : in the hUl regions where it abounds, the fall of 

 rain is frequent and abundant, but the water passes off by per- 

 colation through the soil, or by other modes of escape, and 

 never stagnates about the caudices or radicles of the ferns. 



