592 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



to propagate N. d. furcans by means of the young plants produced from 

 rhizomes in the ordinary way, on account of the numerous and extreme 

 variations which take place among the seedlings, a small percentage only of 

 which are possessed of the true characters of the parent. 



N. d. f. plumosa — plu-mo'-sa (feathery), May. 



This, no doubt, is the most distinct of the numerous forms raised from 

 the above-named variety. It is of smaller dimensions and much more 



compact habit, its fronds being 

 ^^•-^-"^^ ^^^^ repeatedly forked at their sum- 



^^'^ Y<c^il and ending in large tassels 



of a crested and feathery nature. 



N. Duffii— Duf'-fi-i (DulF's), 

 Moore. 

 This pretty, neat-habited, 

 stove species, native of the 

 Duke of York's Island, in the 

 South Pacific Ocean, is un- 

 doubtedly one of the most 

 interesting of the whole genus. 

 Its compact habit, its compara- 

 tively small dimensions, and 

 the bright glossy colour of its 

 beautifuUy-tasselled fronds, give 

 it a prominent place in a group of Ferns naturally rich in decorative subjects. 

 Its curious, irregularly-pinnate fronds are borne on slender stalks covered with 

 reddish-brown, downy scales at their base. Instead of these fronds being 

 produced loosely, as in most other Nephrolepises, they are densely crowded — the 

 outcome of closely-clustered crowns ; they seldom measure more than 2ft. in 

 length, and are terminated by very handsome crests, which vary in size 

 according to the temperature in which the plant is grown. We have 

 frequently heard comjDlaints of the - fronds being simply forked (Fig. 145), 

 when the same plants, after being subjected to a greater amount of heat and 

 moisture, produced fronds very heavily tasselled, the plant then assuming an 



Fi^. 145. Nephrolepis Dufpi, showing Habit and Upper Portiom 

 of detached Frond 

 (Habit, much reduced ; Portion of Frond, J nat. size). 



