514 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



seeming, as Mr. Thomas Moore justly remarks, " to consist only of a frill on 

 each side of the rachis." This variety is of a rich deep green colour and 

 quite constant. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, \., t. 31 ; New and Rare Ferns, 

 p. 129. 



N. F.-m. C. fimbriatum — fim-bri-a'-tum (fringed), Birkenhead. 



A very handsome variety, raised from spores by Messrs. Birkenhead, 

 of Sale, who describe it as a great improvement upon the old cristatum, 

 being lighter in appearance, smaller, more compact, prettily crested, and 

 fimbriated. 



N. F.-m. dentatum — den-ta'-tum (toothed), Lowe. 



This large-growing variety, originally found near Nettlecombe, is, in 

 general appearance, somewhat like the coarser and laxer forms of Aspidium 

 (Folystichum) angulare. Its fronds, 3ft. to 4ft. long and of a vivid green 

 colour, are furnished with numerous sharp-pointed leaflets with deeply-cut 

 and strongly -toothed pinnules (leafits). — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, i., fig. 204. 



N. F.-m. elongatum — e-lon-ga'-tum (lengthened), Hooler and Greville. 



A very distinct, strong-growing form, found in Madeira, the Azores, Cape 

 Colony, Abyssinia, &c. Its fronds, sometimes 3ft. to 4ft. long and 2ft. broad, 

 are quadripinnatifid (four times divided half-way to the midrib) ; the lower 

 leaflets, 1ft. long and 4in. to Gin. broad, are divided into close, spear-shaped 

 pinnules (leafits), cut down nearly to the rachis (stalk) into oblong, notched 

 lobes. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 272. 



N. F.-m. foliosum — fol-i-o'-sum (leafy), Lowe. 



This remarkable Fern, originally found at Woodfield, Moseley, is of close, 

 compact habit and medium dimensions. Its massive fronds, about 16in. long, 

 are furnished with short and broad leaflets closely set together and overlapping 

 each other from the base to the summit of the frond. The pinnules (leafits), 

 large, rounded, and deeply cut almost to the midrib, have their margin more 

 notched than toothed, the inferior ones being much longer, broader, and 

 auricled (eared), almost concealing the midrib, which, like the stalk, is densely 

 covered with large scales of a very dark brown colour. — Lowe, Our Native 

 Ferns, i., fig. 209. 



