264 WEISS' SPLEENWOET. 



narrow, linear and pinnate : the pinnse are alternate, amorphous, 

 distant, ascending, somewhat curved, the convexity of the cur- 

 vature being outwards, the concavity towards the rachis, bifid 

 or trifi-d at the apex, and occasionally toothed or lobed on one 

 or both sides : the united apical jjortion of the frond is gene- 

 rally larger and also more pointed than either of the pinnse, and 

 is also amorphous, being dissimilar in different fronds of the 

 same plant : the pinnte, as in the last species, are without a 

 midvein ; they have two, three, or four sub-parallel, longitudi- 

 nal veins, and on each of these is usually situated a line of cap- 

 sules, which, as far as I have observed, is covered by a linear, 

 somewhat inflated and persistent involucre, which is slightly 

 arched over the capsules, opens towards the median line of the 

 pinna, and has a sinuous and sometimes entire free margin. 



ihmtm. 



From the preceding observations it will, I think, be manifest 

 that this little fern is all variety, and has no normal form : each 

 plant differs from the rest, and each frond, as developed, is also 

 found to differ from the preceding one. It would therefore be 

 useless to attempt any definition of varieties. 



CttltttW. 



This little fern is common in cultivation, but, generally 

 speaking, is not long-lived. It is cultivated with more success 

 on the continent, especially in Germany and the South of 

 France, where it is sought for with avidity, owing to its high 

 money-value, and is freely imported by our nurserymen. My 

 friend, Mr. Birkett, lias a British specimen growing luxuriantly 

 in a Wardian case at the top of his house in "Wellington Street, 

 Southwark. It should be planted between fragments of free- 

 stone, in a soil composed of peat and thoroughly decayed vege- 

 table mould, the latter in small quantities. Great care should 

 be taken that water be supplied moderately, and none should 

 be allowed to stagnate about the roots. 



