424 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



reach from 3ft. to 4ft. in length ; their broadly-spear-shaped branches, about 

 6in. long, are wedge-shaped at the base and furnished with branchlets which 

 are forked in their lower and simple in their upper half. The leaves of 

 the lower plane are sickle-shaped and sharp-pointed, bright green, moderately 

 firm in texture, and do not overlap the stem ; those of the upper plane are 

 one-third as long and sharp-pointed. The square fruiting- spikes are terminal 

 on the branchlets.— Baker, Handbook of the Fern-Allies, p. 90. Nicholson, 

 Dictionary of Gardening, iii., p. 411. 



S. llldOYiciana — lu-dov-ic-i-a'-na (Louisianian), A. Braun. 



A very dwarf-growing, greenhouse species, closely allied to S. apus, and 

 native of Alabama and Louisiana. It is the S. apus denticulata of Spring. 

 — Baker, Handbook of the Fern- Allies, p. 70.- 



S. Lyallii— Ly-alF-i-i (Lyall's). A variety of S. laevigata. 



S. Martensii— Mar-tens'-i-i (Martens'), Spring. 



Next to S. Kraussiana (S. denticulata of gardens), this greenhouse species, 

 native of Mexico, where it is abundant, is the commonest Selaginella in 

 European gardens. Its steins are 6in. to 12in. long, upright or nearly so, 

 abundantly furnished with long root-fibres, much divided (the branching being 

 between pinnate and fan-shaped), either flat or roundish on the back, and 

 strongly angled in the lower part on the face. The leaves of the lower plane 

 are usually crowded, oblong- spear -shaped, bright green, moderately firm in 

 texture, unequal- sided, and slightly overlap the stem on the upper side at the 

 base ; those of the upper plane are half as long, oblique -oblong in shape, 

 terminating in a sharp, long point, and much overlapping. — Baker, Handbook 

 of the Fern- Allies, p. 80. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, hi., p. 411. 



Under cultivation this species has produced several varieties, the most 

 distinct of which are here described. Their names are of purely garden 

 origin, and are not mentioned by any acknowledged authorities. 



S. M. diYaricata — di-va-ric-a'-ta (straggling). 



A form with fewer and more divaricating branchlets than in the type ; 

 it has also smaller and less crowded leaves, of a pale green colour. 



