VIVIPAROUS AND PROLIFEROUS FERNS. 



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and very finely cut, with the ultimate pinnules deltoid and very minute. A 

 remarkable peculiarity possessed by these Gymnogrammes is the furcation of 

 the rachis at about two-thirds of its length, where it becomes viviparous, every 

 frond producing a young plant at the point of furcation. 



Nephrodium (Phegopteris) effusum divergens is a beautiful and highly 

 ornamental variety from the West Indies ; its broad, decompound, and finely- 

 divided fronds are from 3ft. to 4ft. in length, and of a very pleasing light 

 green colour. 



In the evergreen and erect-growing Aspidiwm (Polystichum) aculeatum 

 vestitum, from New Zealand, we have one of the most striking of all the 

 strong-growing kinds of Viviparous Ferns. Its bipinnate fronds, which are 

 of a peculiarly rich dark green colour, and vary from 2ft. to 3ft. in length, 

 are abundantly produced from an upright thick crown, which, like the base 

 of the fronds, is densely clothed with chafly scales, nearly Jin, long, black in 

 colour, and bordered with brown. A peculiarity noticeable in these scales is 

 that, while they decrease in length, they gain in breadth as they advance 

 towards the summit of the fronds, thus forming a conspicuous, thick, imbri- 

 cated band along the under side of the stalk. 



Among the smaller-growing kinds of Proliferous Ferns the genus Adiantum 

 is particularly conspicuous. It possesses at present four proliferous representa- 

 tives (two species having each one distinct variety), all of which are natives of 

 the East Indies. The showiest of them all is A. himdatum, a very distinct 

 and equally handsome species, of particularly slender and pendulous habit : 

 its fronds, simply pinnate, beautifully drooping, furnished throughout with 

 half-moon- shaped pinnae of a bright green colour, attain about 20in. in length ; 

 and it is not at all unusual to see at their extremity young plants, which, in 

 their turn, produce others, so that four, or even five, generations are sometimes 

 developed on the same plant. in the course of one season's growth. Unfortu- 

 nately, this is a deciduous species, to which special attention must be paid during 

 the winter, as the crown is then in danger of being kept too dry, and may 

 thereby disappear altogether. A. I. dolabriforme is an evergreen form of 

 recent introduction, somewhat resembling the species in general appearance, 

 though its fronds are much shorter, and are borne on much slenderer 

 stalks ; but they partake to a very great degree of the proliferous character 

 and pendulous habit of the type, and the plant possesses the great advantage 



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