CASSELL'S POPUIAR GAEDENING. 



out both hemispheres, confining themselves prin- 

 cipally to the tropics. They are readily recognised 

 hy the sori not heing restricted to the veins only, 

 hut spread in a stratum over the under surface, and 

 sometimes, hut more rarely, upon hoth surfaces of 

 the frond. Ycry wide divergences occur in size 

 and hahit, as well as in the veining and general 

 character of the fronds. As it would he impossible 

 to find space to give even a very condensed descrip- 

 tion and. account of a large number of species, only 

 the most distinct and desirable, from a purely garden 

 standpoint, are mentioned in these pages. 



A. awrewn has an erect caudex, and tufted, strong, 

 erect, glossy stipes, one to two feet in length, with 

 leathery fronds; two to six feet long by one to two 

 feet broad. This species is very widely spread over 

 the tropical and sub-tropical countries of hoth 

 hemispheres. In A. crinitum, a native of the "West 

 Indies and Mexico, the caudex is erect and woody, 

 and the stipes of the barren fronds are densely 

 clothed with long, slender, fibriUose, purplish-brown 

 scales, the broad-oblong, rather leathery frond 

 itself often measuring from twelve to eighteen 

 inches long by six to nine inches broad. The 

 entire edge is densely fringed, .and hoth sides 

 scattered over with scales like those of the stem. 

 The fertile fronds ?,re like the barren ones in form, 

 but are smaller in size, and have a longer stipe. 

 A. cuspidatum has a thick, woody rhizome, clothed 

 with dense, linear-pointed, nearly black scales; 

 the firm, erect stipes covered with deciduous, 

 adpressed, dark-coloured scales, measuring from six 

 to fifteen inches in length. The barren fronds are 

 leathery in texture, and are from one to two feet 

 long by three to four inches broad, the upper 

 surface being nearly naked, and the lower denselj' 

 matted with small, rusty-coloured, ciliated, brown 

 scales. The fertile fronds are somewhat smaller 

 than the barren ones, the stipes being about the 

 same length in both. This species is found in a 

 wild state from the West Indies to Peru. A. gra- 

 minifolimn, a recently introduced species from the 

 West Ihdies, has narrow, grassy fronds, and is one 

 of 'the most distinct of the smaller-growing kinds. 

 In A. heteromorphum, from Columbia and Ecuador, 

 the small, wide-creeping, filiform rhizome is clothed 

 with small, brown, lance-shaped scales. The 

 slender, slightly scaly stipes are from one to three 

 inches long, and the barren fronds, of a thin but 

 firm texture, measure one and a half to two inches 

 in length by three-quarters to one inch in breadth, 

 hoth sides being scattered over with dark narrow 

 scales. The conspicuous raised veins, darker in 

 colour than the rest of the frond, give thijj species 

 a distinctive character. The fertile fronds are 

 much smaller, and their stipes much longer. 



A. latifoHum, from Mexico and Cuba to Brazil and 

 Peru, has a thick, woody, often creeping rhizome, 

 clothed with crisped, lance-shaped, dark or light 

 brown scales. The firm, erect, shghtly scaly or 

 naked stipe is from six to twelve inches long, and 

 the very leatherj' barren fronds measure from nine 

 to eighteen inches in length by two to four inches 

 in breadth; the fertile frond, except in being 

 considerably narrower thaix the barren one, other- 

 wise resembles it. A. mguatifolium, A. eallafolium, 

 A. ermsinerve, and A. conopoSium are varieties of 

 this species. 



A. osmmdaceum, a large, strong-growing, hand- 

 some species from Tropical America, is the repre- 

 sentative of a section in which the barren fronds are 

 variously pinnatifid or pinnate, and in the ultimate 

 divisions of which the veins are pinnate. This has 

 a woody rambling rhizome, clothed with long narrow 

 scales ; the erect stype is scaly only at the base, and 

 the lower pinnae of the tripinnate, dark green, some- 

 what leathery fronds are from one to two feet long 

 by from four to eight inches broad. 



A. peltatmn is the representative of a small section 

 in which the venation is fan-shaped, and the fertile 

 fronds small, suborbicular, and uncut. It is an 

 excellent garden plant, easily grown in any damp 

 shaded stove, and. especially suitable for a small fern- 

 case. The slender wide-creeping rhizome throws up 

 numerous slender scaly stipes, one to three inches 

 long, surmounted by repeatedly forked, somewhat 

 leathery, barren fronds, measuring from one to two 

 inches each way. The fertile fronds, round and 

 quite uncut, measure about half an inch in diameter. 

 This is a native of Mexico, the West Indies, Peru, 

 and Brazil. 



A. Freatoni is a recently introduced species from 

 Eio de Janeiro ; it has a thick, short-creeping, woody 

 caudex, clothed with dense, brown, lance-shaped, 

 membranous scales ; the moderately firm, lanceolate, 

 barren fronds are from one to one and a half feet 

 long by two inches broad, and are bordered by. a 

 dense persistent fringe of minute brown scales ; the 

 fertile fronds are much smaller, with longer stems. 

 A. qmrcifoUum, a native of Peninsular 'ndia, Ceylon, 

 South China, and Cochin China, has a stout wide- 

 creeping rhizome ; the stipes of the barren fronds 

 are one or two inches in length, and are clothed with 

 soft, spreading, ferruginous hairs ; the barren fronds 

 measure three to four inches in length by one and a 

 half to two inches in breadth. A. simplex, from Tropi- 

 cal America, is readily distinguished by its firm fronds 

 very gradually narrowed to both ends; it has a 

 short-creeping woody rhizome, covered with rathgr 

 large, dark brown, lanceolate scales ; the firm, erect, 

 naked stipes are from one to four inches long ; and 

 the leathery barren fronds, quite glabrous on both 



