492 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



and texture. Its fronds, 1ft. to 2ft. long and 1ft. broad, are produced from 

 a wide-creeping rhizome (prostrate stem) and borne on firm stalks 1ft. to Ifft. 

 long and scaly only at the base. They are broadly triangular, with their lowest 

 leaflets much the largest (Fig. 119). sometimes measuring 9in. long and 4in. 

 broad : these are divided into spear-shaped and more or less deeply-cleft 

 pinnules (leafits), with unequal-sided, deeply-cleft, and lobed segments. The 

 rachis (stalk of the leafy portion) and under-side of the frond, which is of 

 a soft, papery texture, are more or less woolly, and the rather large and 



Fig. 119, Frond of Nephrodium decompositum 

 (i nat. size). 



prominent sori (spore masses) are placed midway between the midrib and 

 the edge. — Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 146. Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, ii., p. 440. Lowe, Ferns British and Exotic, vi., t. 33. 



This species is of comparatively easy culture, and is altogether a most 

 desirable plant. It is usually of medium growth, exceedingly useful for 

 table-decoration, and also for forming an edging in the rockery in front 

 of taller kinds, as it is of a neat and compact habit. 



N. d. glabellum— glab-el'-lum (smoothish), Cunningham. 



This is an exquisite variety, native of New Zealand, and differing from 

 the species mainly in its dimensions and in the nature of its fronds. Its full 



