314 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



with a large terminal lobe and from one to six pinnae on each side, 

 or the lower pair again branched below. These pinnae are very nearly 

 entire (uncut), about 3in. long and ljin. broad, egg-shaped, rounded and 

 stalked at their base. The sori (spore masses) are, as in A. lucidum, disposed 

 in a continuous line along both margins of the fertile yumse.— Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, ii., p. 5, t. 72b. 



A. polyphyUum— pol-yph-yl'-lum (many-leaved), Wittdenow. 



This noble, stove Fern is a native of Columbia and Peru; it is 

 equally well adapted for planting in the tropical Fernery or for growing 

 as a pot plant for decoration or exhibition, and is certainly one of the finest of 

 its tribe. Unfortunately, besides the above specific name, it is also known 

 as A. macrocladum of Klotzsch and A. cardiochlwna of Kunze ; and it is 

 generally under the latter appellation that one meets with it in the trade as 

 well as in private collections. Under whatever name it may be grown, it well 

 deserves special attention. Its robust fronds, which frequently attain 4ft. 

 in length and 1ft. to lift, in breadth, are borne on strong, upright, stiff, 

 blackish stalks, rather scabrous (rough) in their lower part, polished above, 

 and 1ft. to lift. long. These fronds, which are produced from a very thick, 

 underground, creeping rhizome (prostrate stem), are copiously branched, 

 being three or more times divided ; their upper part is simply pinnate (only 

 once divided to the midrib), while their lower pinna; (leaflets), sometimes 

 lft. long and 6in. broad, are furnished with a long terminal pinna and very 

 numerous pinnules (leafits), sometimes as many as fifty being counted on 

 a single pinna : these leafits are closely set, sub-sessile (almost stalkless), 

 about lin. long and £in. deep, dimidiate (fully developed on one side and 

 scarcely at all on the other), with nearly parallel edges, their upper point 

 blunt, and their upper edge sharply toothed. The numerous kidney-shaped 

 spore masses in this, probably the most gigantic species of the whole genus, 

 are disposed in sub-orbicular (nearly circular) patches placed in hollows in 

 lobes along the upper edge of the fertile pinnules. The plant is equally 

 attractive through the colour of its foliage, which is distinct from most, if 

 not from all, Adiantums ; for while in a young state, and when only partly 

 developed, the pinnules are of a most delicate pinkish tint: they gradually 

 become of a metallic colour, which they retain for a long time, and even 



