422 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



10in. to 15m. long and 3in. to 5in. broad, being furnished with ample 

 and somewhat crowded pinnules (leafits), which, by their disposition, give 

 the plant an imbricated (overlapping) appearance. 



A. a. furcatum — fur-ca'-tuin (forked), Lowe. 



This variety, which was found wild in Devonshire, is of robust habit, 

 and differs from the typical species through its fronds, 2Jffc. long, being 

 invariably forked at their extremity. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, i., p. 202, 

 fig. 160. 



A. a. interruptum — in-ter-rup'-tum (interrupted), Lowe. 



In this extremely curious variety, found wild in North Devonshire, the 

 fronds, 2ft. long by about 5in. broad in their widest part, have a particularly 

 depauperated (impoverished) appearance. The pinme (leaflets) are alternate 

 (not opposite), and normal at the base, where there are four or five pairs 

 of fully-developed pinnules (leafits) ; then there are about half-a-dozen pairs 

 of pinnules reduced to mere lines, or footstalks, above which the extremity 

 of the pinnse again becomes normal. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, i., p. 203, 

 fig. 161. 



A. a. lobatum — lob-a'-tum (lobed), Deakin. 



This variety, which is undoubtedly the most striking of all those at 

 present in cultivation, is exactly intermediate in size between A. aculeatum 

 and A. Lonchitis, its fronds being from 1ft. to lift. long. In his " Synopsis 

 Stirpium Britannicarum," Ray, who gives it as a distinct species, describes it 

 as " Filix aculeata major j^inxxuilis auriculatis crebioribus, foliis integris 

 angustioribus " (larger Prickly Fern with closer and eared pinnee, and with 

 the whole frond narrower). Sir J. E. Smith, who acknowledges that Ray 

 has well marked the differences between A. aculeatum and A. lobatum, also 

 rightly observes that the latter is always distinguished by its much shorter, 

 more crowded, and less scaly pinnse (leaflets). Its pinnules (leafits) are also 

 more nearly entire, being but slightly auriculate (eared), very convex, thick, 

 and of a glaucous (bluish-green) colour. Like the typical species, A. a. lobatum, 

 which is even hardier than either A aculeatum or A. angulare, is generally 

 found growing wild on shady hedge-banks in nearly all parts of the United 



