308 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



borne on short footstalks, and slightly lobed. The son (spore masses) are 

 sometimes kidney-shaped and sometimes almost round, and are disposed two 

 to four to a pinnule and placed in a sinus (depression) of the marginal 

 lobes. — Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iv., p. 485. 



A. Pacottii— Pac-ot'-ti-i (Paeotto's). A variety of A. cuneatum. 



A. palmatum— pal-ma'-tum (palmate or hand-shaped), Moore. 



A very beautiful and graceful Fern, native of Peru, which thrives 

 equally well under either greenhouse or stove treatment. Its handsome and 

 particularly light fronds, produced from a stout, underground, prostrate stem, 

 are borne on very slender stipes (stalks) 9in. to 12in. long, shining black, but 

 rather downy at the base ; they are tripinnate (three times divided to the 

 midrib), often reaching 3jft. in length by lOin. in breadth. The pinnules 

 (leafits), which are distinctly stipitate (stalked), are of comparatively large 

 dimensions, being lin. to lfin. broad ; they are of a thin texture, smooth, 

 set far apart, and vary in shape from obovate-cuneate (between egg-shaped 

 and wedge-shaped) to semi-orbicular (half-circular) in outline, but all are 

 deeply cut down into from three to five large lobes, which are again more 

 or less divided (Fig. 44). The sori (spore masses), oblong in shape and 

 of variable length, are disposed at the tips of the lobes, usually one to 

 each. — Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 27. 



A very noticeable feature is the flexuose (zigzag) character of the rachis 

 (stalk), most marked towards the terminal end of the frond, and on that 

 account this species is particularly well adapted for basket culture. Grown 

 in that way it soon makes a very handsome plant, specially attractive 

 through the pale-green colour of its foliage. It is deciduous, losing its 

 fronds about November and starting into fresh growth about March, but 

 should not at any time be allowed to get quite dry at the roots. 



A. Parishii— Par-ish'-i-i (Rev. C. S. Parish's), Hooker. 



This extremely pretty and curious, stove species, native of Moulmein — 

 where, according to Bedclome, it is found growing wild on a limestone rock 

 called Twa-Cabin, at an elevation of 2000ft. — has never, to our knowledge, 

 been brought into Europe in a living state. It may be hoped that its 

 introduction to our collections will soon take place, for it is entirely distinct 



