NEPHRODIUM. 



563 



sori (spore masses), disposed along the midveiii, are covered with a firm, 

 slightly hairy, persistent involucre. — Hooker^ Synopsis Filicum^ p. 494. 

 Nicholson^ Dictionary of Gardening^ ii., p. 443. 



N. R. multifidum — mul-tif-id-um (much cleft), Moore. 



This variety, also known on the Continent under the name of Aspidium 

 Germinyi, is no doubt one of the handsomest of all Ferns, although it 

 has sprung from a typical form, native of New Caledonia, which, probably 

 on account of its weedy appearance, has never been much in cultivation. In 

 this exceedingly ornamental variety, the fronds difier ' from those of the 

 typical plant in having their extremities, as well as those of the leaflets, 

 cleft into numerous narrow, pointed, spreading, finger-like lobes. Its 

 fronds, which are produced in great abundance from a short, succulent, 

 decumbent stem, measure about 2ft, in length and Sin. in breadth at their 

 widest part; they are borne on round stalks lOin, to 15in. long,' of a pale 

 green colour, and slightly downy when young. The leaflets, which are 

 upwards of 4in. long in the broadest part of the frond, terminate in a dense 

 tuft of long, narrow divisions, the extremity of the fronds being also 

 divided into two or more branches consisting of numerous thread-like segments. 

 The singular and elegant character of this useful plant is enhanced by its 

 bright green colour and the arching habit of its fronds (see Plate). It 

 possesses the faculty of reproducing itself true from spores. — Nicholson^ 

 Dictionary of Gardening, iv,, p. 573. 



N. (Lastrea) rigidum — Las'-tre-a ; rig'-id-um (rigid), Desvaux. 



This hardy species, of medium dimensions, has a very wide range of 

 habitat. Besides being found in Algeria, Tunis, Syria, Asia Minor, and 

 California, it is also a native of various parts of Europe, and occurs in several 

 localities in England, where it is commonly known as the " Eigid Buckler 

 Fern," and is almost confined to the limestone mountains of the North, 

 ranging, as Mr. Moore remarks, between 1200ft. and 1500ft. above the sea- 

 level. Its notice as a British species dates from 1815, when it was first 

 discovered at Ingleborough by the Rev. Mr. Bree. It was subsequently found 

 at Whornside ; at Settle ; at Arnside Knot (near Silverdale), in Westmoreland ; 

 and on White Scars, above Ingleborough. Later still, a single plant of it 



