388 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



crown, where they stand erect and have their leaflets and leafits much 

 contracted. It is to that defect alone that we must attribute the comparative 

 rarity of so valuable a plant in our collections. With the exceptions of 

 a few trunks which were imported direct from Victoria, all the specimens 

 now in commerce must have been propagated from suckers sparingly 

 produced by underground rhizomes, or else from young shoots which are 

 occasionally found along the stem, and which, if detached and laid on a 

 bed of sphagnum, emit roots freely. The young plants raised from spores 

 produced by the plant referred to, having all the characters of the parent, 

 show that if it is only a plumose variety, it is of a constant nature, and 

 this form will no doubt soon become more plentiful. 



It is advisable to subject L. d. hiijinnatijida to as little artificial heat as 

 possible, so as to keep it free from the attacks of thrips and red spider, 

 which are particularly fond of it. 



L. d. nuda — nu'-da (naked), R. Bi^oimi. 



Although accepted as only a variety of L. discolor, this handsome, 

 compact-habited, Australian, greenhouse Fern, often met with in cultivation 

 under the name of L. falcata (for which we cannot find any authority), 

 is apparently very distinct from the species to which it is said to be related. 

 Its general appearance, the texture of its foliage, its mode of growth, and 

 the disposition of its fructification, are all diiferent ; and there is no doubt 

 that L. discolor bijnnnatijida is a variety of L. discolor only so far that 

 it is a plumose form of L. d. nuda, to which it is closely related by its 

 habit, its mode of growth, and also, as has been lately ascertained, its 

 mode of fructification. With the exception of L. gihha, which is of more 

 rapid growth, L. d. nuda is undoubtedly the most useful Lomaria in 

 a young state for table and room decoration. Its broadly spear-shaped 

 barren fi.'onds are abundantly produced from a central crown, which, with 

 age, forms a short, slender stem or trunk of erect growth and very tough 

 texture : in that respect at least it difl:ers from most members of the 

 genus. These fronds, which are of a gracefully-arching habit, attain from 

 15in. to 20in. in length ; their numerous leaflets, oblong-spear-shaped and 

 of a light green colour, are of a much thinner texture than those of 

 L, discolor; and their short and perfectly naked stalks are round, smooth, 



