286 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



notched along the outer margin : the terminal one is generally three-lobed 

 (Fig. 40). On account of the light colour of its foliage, the aspect of this 

 Fern is particularly pleasing. The sori (spore masses), of oblong form, 

 are situated at the top of the lobes of the pinnules. — Nicholson, Dictionary 

 of Gardening, iv., p. 484. 



A. festum — fes'-tum (pleasant), Moore. 



A supposed garden hybrid, requiring greenhouse treatment. Its fronds, 

 borne on stalks Sin. to 9in. long and of a purplish-ebeneous colour, are pro- 

 duced from a densely-tufted crown. They are about 1ft. long, triangular in 

 shape, decompound (many times divided), of a drooping habit, and having 

 pinnules (leafits) that are small, crowded, cuneate (wedge-shaped), and larger 

 towards their extremities ; the terminal ones are either symmetrically or 

 unequally cuneate and bipartite (deeply divided into two parts), the others being 

 lobed on their anterior or outward edge. The kidney-shaped sori (spore 

 masses) are disposed in a sinus (notch) of the lobe.— Nicholson, Dictionary 

 of Gardening, iv., p. 484. 



A. fissum- nV-sum (deeply cut). A variety of A Capillus- Veneris. 



A. flabellulatum— fla-bel-lul-a'-tum (small fan-leaved), Linnaeus. 



A stove species, of medium dimensions, native of Hindostan from the 

 Himalayas to Ceylon, also of Japan, South China, and the Malay Islands. 

 It is also known as A. amamum. Its peculiar fronds, borne on strong, 

 upright stipes (stalks), are dichotomously branched (divided into two parts, 

 which are in their turn divided into two again) and furnished with a central 

 pinna (leaflet) 4in. to Sin. long and fin. broad. The pinnules (leafits), 

 about Jin. broad and deep, are dimidiate (fully developed on one side of the 

 midrib and scarcely at all on the other) ; their lower edge is nearly straight, 

 the upper one rounded, the outer one blunt, both entire or only slightly 

 notched. The sori (spore masses) are disposed in several oblong patches round 

 the upper and outer edge. — Hooker, Species Filicum, ii., p. 30. Nicholson, 

 Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 26. Beddome, Ferns of Southern India, t. 218. 



A. flexuosum — flex-u-o'-sum (zigzag). Synonymous with A. Feei. 



A.. Footi — Foot'-i (Foot's). A variety of A. Capillus -Veneris. 



