294 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



A. hispidulum— his-pid'-ul-um (slightly hairy), Swartz. 



This is a very handsome, greenhouse species, native of Australia and 

 New Zealand • it is extensively known and cultivated under the name of 

 A. pubescens. Its fronds, borne on slender yet stiff, erect, hairy stipes 

 (stalks) Sin. to loin, long, are of a peculiar dichotomous form, their main 

 divisions being branched and forked again; they consist of a terminal 

 pinna (leaflet) 6in. to 9in. long, Jin. to lin. broad, and of others that 

 gradually become smaller, all of which are furnished with very small pinnules 

 (leafits) only Jin. to Jin. broad, almost stalkless, and of a peculiar leathery 

 texture. These pinnules, which have their outer edge bluntly rounded and 

 their upper or outer margin finely toothed, are when mature hairy and of a 

 dark green colour, but of a bright metallic or coppery tint when only partly 

 developed. The sori (spore masses) are roundish and abundantly produced, 

 being disposed from six to eight on each pinnule, where they are so closely 

 set as to form an uninterrupted line.— Hooker, Species Filicum, ii., p. 31. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 27. Lowe, Ferns British and 

 Exotic, iii., t. 13a. 



A. Hookeri— Hook'-er-i (Hooker's). A variety of A. Capillus- Veneris. 



A. imbricatum— im-bric-a'-tum (overlapping). Perhaps the most distinct 

 of all the varieties of A. Capillus -Veneris. 



A. incisum— in-ci'-sum (cut), Presl. 



This stove species, native of the West of Mexico and Columbia, is very 

 closely related to the better-known A. pulverulentum; but its fronds, which 

 are borne on wiry, almost black, polished stipes (stalks) 4in. to 6in. 

 long, are smaller in all their parts and less branched, being only once 

 divided to the midrib, with occasionally one or two pairs of short, 

 spreading branches at their base. The pinnules (leafits), which are of a 

 sub-coriaceous (almost leathery) texture, are of the same shape, the lower 

 line nearly straight, the upper one almost parallel, and, like the outer edge, 

 finely toothed ; but they are of larger dimensions and more deeply toothed 

 than those of A. pulverulentum. The sori (spore masses) are disposed in a 

 continuous, marginal line on the edge of the lower two-thirds of the upper 

 margins. — Hooker, Species Filicum, ii., p. 16. 



