272 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



A. C. gracillimum— grac-iF-lim-um (very slender), Moore. 



This beautiful Fern, of garden origin, is one of the first really distinct 

 variations observed in the popular A. cnneatum, and one which has very few 

 rivals. The fronds — which, like those of the typical species, are produced in 

 profusion from a densely -tufted crown and measure from ljft. to 2ft. in length 

 and about 9in. across — are decompound (many times divided), thin and fragile 

 in spite of their massive appearance, and furnished with minute pinnules 

 (leafits) of a rich green, which are distinctly stalked and two- or three- 

 lobed, the sterile lobes blunt. It is a most elegant Fern, with light and 

 graceful fronds. The multiplicity of the minute pinnules and the almost 

 invisible ramification of the rachis (stalk) give to a well-grown plant a 

 particularly charming appearance. The sori (spore masses), slightly kidney- 

 shaped, are solitary on the entire pinnules and two to three on the larger 

 lobed ones. This variety reproduces itself true from spores, although the 

 young seedlings do not show their characters until they have attained a 

 certain size. See Fig. 36 (for which we are indebted to Mr. B. S. Williams). 

 — Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 26. 



A. C. grandiceps — gran'-dic-eps (large-headed), Moore. 



One of the most distinct and by far the most attractive of the numerous 

 home-raised forms of the popular species, from which it differs in several 

 striking particulars. It is more robust in habit ; its fronds, produced in 

 great numbers from a densely-tufted crown, are more elongated and 

 terminate in a dense tassel of finger-like growths ; the pinna? (leaflets) also 

 terminate in similar, but smaller, branched tassels, which by their weight 

 give the fronds a very elegant, arching habit, rendering the plant one of the 

 most suitable Ferns for suspended baskets, in which position it thrives apace 

 and soon makes a very handsome object. This highly decorative variety 

 reproduces itself freely and true from spores. See Plate. — Nicholson, Dictionary 

 of Gardening, iv., p. 484. 



A. C. Lawsonianum— Law-so-ni-a'-num (Lawson's), Moore. 



This very abnormal form, of garden origin, is very distinct, inasmuch 

 as its fronds — which, as in the typical species, are produced from a densely- 

 tufted crown — are more rigid, yet not too much so to prevent its being a 



