NEPHROLEPIS. 



591 



farther apart. In the barren leaflets, ivhich in fully-developed plants are 

 situated only on the lower portion of the frond, and which generally are few 

 m number, the furcation is less marked and sometimes only rudimentary ; in 

 the fertile leaflets it is twice or even three times repeated at the extremities 



^1 ^ \' 



f/^. 144. Portion of Frond and detached Fertile Pinna of Neplirolepis davallioides furcans 



(Portion of Prontl, i nat. size ; detached Pinna, nat. size). 



of the first divisions, becoming more complex towards the summit of the 

 frond, where it often forms quite a large tassel, whose weight gives the fronds 

 an elegant, pendulous habit. — Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 445. 



This plant is valuable for growing in large baskets, in which it never 

 fails to prove very attractive. Although spores are freely produced, it is best 



