MENISCIUM. 



449 



swamp-loving subjects, tliey are useful for planting in Ferneries near the 

 margin of water, a place wliere few Ferns grow very satisfactorily. They 

 thrive luxuriantly in a mixture of half loam and half iibrous peat, with a 

 few pieces of crocks or charcoal intermixed. Though their roots, which are 

 of a fleshy and brittle nature, are fond of moisture, they have a great dislike 

 to stagnant water. 



Menisciums are usually propagated by division of their crowns, but they 

 may also be easily and more rapidly increased by means of their spores, which 

 germinate freely when sown in a warm and moist position. 



Principal Species and Varieties. 



M. ang-UStifolium — an-gus-tif-oF-i-um (narrow-leaved), Willdenow. 



This species, of medium dimensions, which is distributed over a vast area, 

 extending from the West Indies to Peru, has simply-pinnate (once-divided) 

 fronds l^ft. to 2ft. long and 1ft. broad, borne on firm, erect stalks 1ft. to 

 IJft. long and of a slightly downy nature. The spreading leaflets, of 

 a somewhat leathery texture, are 4in. to 6in. long, Jin. to fin. broad, gradually 

 narrowed to a sharp-pointed extremity, with their edge quite or nearly entire, 

 and are wedge-shaped at the base and downy on the veins on the under- 

 surface ; the lower ones are often stalked, the others are sessile (stalkless). 

 The fertile leaflets are much narrower than the barren ones, and the sori 

 (spore masses) are disposed four to six together between the midrib and the 

 edge. — Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p. 164. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, 

 ii., p. 352. 



M. CUSpidatum — cus-pid-a'-tum (cuspidate, or gradually tapering into 

 a sharp, stiff point), Blume. 

 A strong-growing species, native of the Himalayas, the Malaccas, and the 

 Philippine Islands. Its simply-pinnate (once-divided) fronds, 2ft. to 4ft. long 

 and 1ft. or more broad, are borne on stout, naked stalks 1ft. to 2ft. long. 

 Both barren and fertile leaflets are of a somewhat leathery texture and of the 

 same shape and dimensions ; they measure from 6in. to 9in. in length and 

 lin. to 3in. in breadth, are wedge-shaped or rounded at the base, where they 

 are often slightly stalked, and terminate in a tapering point. The rachis 



YOL. II. 2 Q 



