288 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



sub-divisions are pale green, the barren ones being finely dented. The spore 

 masses, nearly kidney-shaped, are usually disposed six to eight to each fertile 

 pinnule.— Hooker, Species Filicum, ii., p. 51, t. 86b. Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, i., p. 26. Lowe, Ferns British and Exotic, iii., t. ,11. 



This species is of very easy culture, and succeeds admirably in a green- 

 house ; yet, when cultivated in stove heat, the sub-divisions of the fronds 

 become larger, and the plant forms in all respects a handsomer specimen. 

 It is very readily propagated by spores, and also by the division of the 

 creeping rhizome. No particular care is required with regard to its propa- 

 gation, as one is almost certain to find seedlings of it coming up amongst 

 the different plants in the house in which it is cultivated. 



A. fOYearum — fov-e-a'-runi (pitted). Synonymous with A. intermedium. 



A. fragile — frag'-il-e (fragile), Sivartz. 



A species of dwarf habit, native of the West Indian Islands. Its fronds 

 are 6in. to 12in. long and 3in. to 6in. broad ; they bear numerous pinnse 

 (leaflets), the lowest of which are branched again. The pinnules (leafits), 

 which are articulated (jointed) at the base, much resemble those of the 

 common A. cuneatum, being cuneate (wedge-shaped), but they are smaller 

 and less deeply lobed. These pinnules are of such a deciduous nature that 

 they have entirely fallen from nearly all the specimens in the Hookerian 

 Herbarium, so that nothing remains but a dense tuft of rigid stems, with 

 numerous slender, glossy branches. The sori (spore masses), nearly kidney- 

 shaped in this species, are placed in distinct hollows in the lobes of the 

 upper edge. — Hooker, Species Filicum, ii., p. 41. 



A. fragrantissimum — fra-gran-tis'-sim-um (very sweet-scented), Henderson. 



This handsome Fern is quite distinct from anything previously known 

 in cultivation. It is of garden origin, and is possibly a natural hybrid 

 from A, cuneatum and A. Moorei {A. amabile of commerce). Its fronds, 

 which last much longer than those of any other Adiantum with wedge- 

 shaped pinnules (leafits), are produced from a central tufted crown and are 

 borne on glossy and somewhat upright stalks 5in. to Gin. long ; the leafy 

 portion of the fronds is from 1ft. to l|ft. long by about 1ft. broad at the 

 base : they are quadripinnate (four times divided to the midrib), furnished 



