ASPLENIUM 



HABDY FEBNS 



ASPLENIUM 1015 



situations. The deltoid-ovate fronds are 

 twice or thrice pinnate, 6-12 in. long, or 

 even 2 ft. including the naked shining 

 chestnut-brown or purple-black stalks. 

 The variety acutum is very distinct but 

 rare, and differs from the type principally 

 in having more decidedly triangular 

 fronds with very sharp, almost bristly 

 pointed pinnules. Other forms are 

 grandiceps and mierodon ; the latter have 

 broad pinnse like those of the Sea Spleen- 

 wort (-4. marinum). 



Culture dc. as above. Suitable for 

 the rockery or banks in sandy loam and 

 peat, often forming beautiful tufts in 

 moist shaded situations. See also p. 1009. 



A. Ceterach (Ceterach officinarum). — 

 Scaly Spleenwort. — A beautiful native 

 hardy Fern, with pumately divided fronds 

 rarely exceeding 6 inches long, having 

 bluntly triangular pinnules. They have 

 short scaly stalks, and the upper sur- 

 face is of a deep green, while the under 

 surface is densely covered with rusty 

 brovrai scales, which at first conceal the 

 spore-oases. 



Culture and Propagation. — This 

 species flourishes in the crevices of rocks 

 or walls in sandy loam and peat, and is 

 adapted for the rookery in shaded parts. 

 It is somewhat difficult to establish at 

 first, and is best moved in spring. There 

 are a few forms known — crenatum, 

 and muUifido-cristatum, which have the 

 pinnules crenate or crested, being the 

 best. See also p. 1009. 



A. Filix-foemina {Athyrium Filix- 

 foemina), — Common Lady Fern. — An 

 elegant native Fern with a stout Toot- 

 stock from which spring tufts of large 

 delicate green oblong-lance-shaped fronds 

 2-3 times pinnate, and 1-5 ft. long, with 

 stout brown or pale yellow stalks very 

 scaly at the base. The indusium differs 

 from that of other Spleenworts in being 

 more or less curved or kidney-shaped and 

 fringed with bristles on the margin. The 

 variety Ttiolle has shorter and softer fronds 

 than the type ; latifoUum. is a strong- 

 growing variety with larger and more 

 ' leafy ' fronds and crowded pinnules 

 deeply toothed at the edges ; incisv/m has 

 very large, thrice pinnate fronds with 

 broad pinnae ; rhceticum (or convexum) 

 has twice pinnate fronds with narrow 

 convex and toothed pinnules. 



The garden forms of the Lady Fern 

 are very numerous — more than 100 have 



been certificated — and some of them may 

 be regarded as the finest hardy Ferns in 

 cultivation, the plumose or crested forms 

 being particularly handsome. Among 

 the best forms mention may be made of 

 acrocladon, all the crest forming a ball ; 

 Applebyanuin, very narrow, with a wide- 

 branching crest ; Blahce, beautiful plu- 

 mose form ; clarissimum, a very beautiful 

 and rare form, said to be reproduced only 

 by means of apospory (see p. 1010) ; con- 

 gestum grandiceps ; conioides ; corymbi- 

 ferum, a fine crested form; crispum; 

 cristatvm, ; Bdwardsi, a dwarf gem; 

 excurrens, with bristly fronds ; Field/ice, 

 a narrow ' cruciate ' form ; fcBCundoh- 

 sissimujn, a dwarf form remarkable for 

 producing numerous bulbils in the crest ; 

 FrizeUicB, in which the pinnae are con- 

 tracted into round lobes ; Qra/ntce, very 

 fine congested form ; Howardice, laciniate 

 and crested ; halothrix, with unique 

 silky fronds; percristatum, a fine tasselled 

 form ; plumosum, feathery ; divaricatum 

 and forms, one (dissectum) being remark- 

 able for having fronds five times pinnate ; 

 rei)ofoeras, known as the ' Prince of Wales'' 

 Feather ' Fern, in which the fronds ani 

 all divisions are symmetrically curled 

 inwards ; rotundato-cristatum, with pin- 

 nules and crests all prettily rounded; 

 stellatwm angustatum, with very narrow 

 fronds, the lower pafrs of pinnae being 

 star-like ; Vernonice, pretty crisped form ; 

 and Viotorice, a charming form with long 

 narrow fronds, and much divided tassels, 

 the pinnae being arranged crosswise in 

 pairs and beautiftdly tasselled. 



Culture and Propagation. — The Lady 

 Ferns flourish in sheltered shady spots in 

 well-drained sandy peat and loam. Some 

 of the choicer forms are well worthy of 

 special attention and should not be mixed 

 up with the commoner ones. They may 

 be increased by spores as described at- 

 p. 1009. 



A. fontanum {A. Halleri). — The. 

 ' Smooth Eock Spleenwort ' is a small 

 tufted native species rarely exceeding 3-4 

 in. high, with narrow lance-shaped twice 

 piimate fronds, deep green above, paler 

 beneath, and supported on very short 

 stalks having a few narrow-pointed scales 

 at the base. The spore-clusters are 

 distinct, but very often become merged 

 into one another so as to cover nearly the 

 whole under surface of the pinnules. 



Culture do. as above. This species 



