260 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



A. C.-Y. Hookeri— Hook'-er-i (Hooker's), Lowe. 



This very peculiar form, native of the Crimea, recedes from the type 

 towards A. cuneatum. It is remarkably slender in all its parts, and is of 

 a particularly close, thick- set, erect habit. The pinnae (leaflets) and their 

 ultimate sub-divisions are disposed alternately (not opposite) ; the latter 

 are cuneate (wedge-shaped) at the base, and very finely dented at their 

 summit, which is naturally rounded or fan-shaped. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, 

 p. 123. Lowe, Native Ferns, ii., fig. 834. 



A. C.-Y. imbricatum— im-bric-a'-tum (overlapping), Moore. 



By far the handsomest of all varieties of A. Capillus- Veneris at present 

 known. Its fronds are ovate (egg-shaped, much broader at the base than at 

 the summit), from Sin. to lOin. long, tripinnate (three times divided to the 

 midrib), and evergreen. They are borne on particularly slender stalks, and 

 consequently are very pendulous, and are furnished with pinna3 (leaflets) set 

 close together, 3in. to 3iin. long and about 2in. broad ; the pinnules (leafits), 

 of a very light or pale green colour, are large, much overlapping, deeply cut 

 from the outer edge towards the centre, and beautifully undulated ; the lateral 

 ones are rhomboid in form (having the four sides of equal size), whereas the 

 terminal ones, lin. or more in breadth, are broadly flabellate (fan-shaped), 

 and borne on thread-like little stalks. The entire appearance of the plant, as 

 far as size, colour, and disposition of leafits are concerned, is exactly that of 

 the popular A. Farleyense, but it is essentially a cool-house variety and is 

 of dwarfer habit. It is interesting to note that this plumose form of the 

 common Maidenhair Fern, like most other forms of a plumose character, is 

 entirely barren. — Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iv., p. 484. 



A. C.-Y. incisum— in-ci'-sum (deeply cut), Moore. 



A very distinct varietj^, in which the pinnules (leafits) are split into 

 long, narrow- cuneate (wedge-shaped) lobes, deeply serrated (saw-like) at the 

 edges. It is very strange that such a distinct form should have originated 

 spontaneously in localities so wide apart, for it has been collected in Ireland 

 by Dr. Allchin ■ at Menstone Bay, Devonshire, by Mr. E. Newman ; and at 

 Guernsey by Mr. J. James. This plant is well illustrated in Lowe's "Native 

 Ferns," ii., fig. 839. — Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 25. 



