ADIANTUM. 



247 



it ; but having decided to follow the nomenclature adopted in the " Synopsis 

 Filicum," the most striking of these forms, notwithstanding the apparent 

 distinctive characters possessed by them, are accordingly given here as varieties 

 of A. cethiopicum. 



A. se. assimile — as-sim'-il-e (assimilated), Swartz. 



This essentially Australian Maidenhair Fern, which thrives best under 

 cool treatment, is given in the " Synopsis Filicum," p. 123, as well as in 

 Nicholson's "Dictionary of Gardening," L, p. 25, as "an Australian . form of 

 the widely-distributed A. cethiopicum.''' 1 In Lowe's " Ferns, British and Exotic," 

 vol. hi., an excellent plate (t. 8) is given with the information that A. assimile 

 is a common Fern in Australia, and one which appears to vary considerably 

 in different situations. The form generally met with in cultivation in this 

 country is that which is found in its wild state growing in low, damp situ- 

 ations ; it is of comparatively small dimensions • its delicate fronds, which 

 are slender, measure, with the stalks on which they are borne, lOin. to 12in. 

 in length ; they are glabrous (smooth), tripinnate (divided three times to the 

 rachis or midrib), and furnished with numerous pinnules (leafits) of a pecu- 

 liarly vivid green colour, of oblong shape, wedge-shaped at the base, and 

 slightly crenate (dented) at the edge. These fronds are produced from a 

 thin, wiry rhizome (stem creeping underground), and for that reason the plant 

 is well adapted for growing in suspended wire baskets, for which purpose it is 

 extensively used, as it covers them all round in a very short time with a 

 mass of light and elegant foliage. It is of a deciduous nature : that is to say, 

 its fronds generally disappear about November, and the plant starts growing 

 afresh about February. It is almost, if not quite, hardy in some sheltered 

 situations, as Lowe mentions specimens of it which have lived outdoors for 

 five consecutive years without any special protection. This pretty Fern is 

 found in a wild state in Tasmania, New South Wales, Australia, New 

 Zealand, &c. Besides the works enumerated above in which it is mentioned, 

 it is also found in Hooker's " Species Filicum," ii., pi. 37. 



A. ae. a. cristatum — cris-ta'-tum (crested). 



This is a sub-variety, of garden origin, with fronds of dimensions similar 

 to those of the plant last described, but elegantly crested, their extremity, as 



