20 Ferns and Fern Culture. 
the knife if they wish their favourites to continue in a 
healthy condition. 
In some species the sterile and fertile fronds are 
entirely distinct from each other, having so different an 
appearance that they do not appear to belong to the 
same plant. In the majority the fronds do not differ, 
the spores being produced on the under surface of the 
fronds without affecting their form. 
ASPLENIUM AUSTRALASICUM, 
(Showing undivided fronds.) 
In the foliage of Ferns there is the most wonderful 
diversity of texture, size, and colour. Some species pro- 
duce fronds little more than half an inch long—thick, 
fleshy, and undivided—an example being Drymoglossum 
piloselloides; others, as in the case of some Tree-ferns 
have a length of frond 15ft. to 20ft., and a width of 
10ft. to 12ft., branched again and again, divided and sub- 
divided into countless pinnules or leaflets. Some fronds 
are strong, thick, and leathery in substance; others are 
