438 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



A. a. proliferum — pro-lif-er-um (proliferous), Moore. 



This singular plant, although simply a variety of A. angular e, may 

 be said to form, with the sub-varieties related to it, quite a distinct 

 group of Ferns, distinguished from all others belonging to the same genus 

 through the peculiar habit they possess of producing on their rachis (stalk 

 of the leafy portion), by means of small bulbils, a crop of young plants, by 

 which these forms are most readily propagated. The typical A. a. 'pro- 

 liferum was discovered at Ide. It is a Fern with narrow fronds of graceful 

 habit, three times divided to the midrib, and viviparous (bud-bearing) in the 

 axils of the lower pinnse (leaflets), and even occasionally in the axils of the 

 pinnules (leaflets). Other forms more or less distinct, but scarcely deserving 

 varietal names, have been found in a wild state at Whitby and near Brighton, 

 while one which was never named or described shows a peculiar appearance 

 through the dense mass of long red scales which covers the rachis, and 

 which is strikingly effective in the lower half of the frond : it was found 

 at Monk Leigh, in North Devonshire. A. a. proliferum was found by 

 Dr. Kinahan, as long ago as August, 1849, growing on slate rocks by the 

 side of a stream which, running through Friarstown House demesne, falls 

 into the Dodder, just above Bohernabreena, County Dublin. — Loive, Our 

 Native Ferns, L, p. 80, fig. 48. 



The most distinct of the several known forms of i. a. proliferum are 

 the following : — 



A. a. p. angustatum — an-gus-ta'-tum (narrow), Stansfield. 



This variety, raised from spores at Todmorden, near Manchester, differs 

 from the typical A. a. proliferum in having its fronds, lft. to 2ft. long, 

 much narrower, seldom attaining 2in. in breadth. They are bipinnate (twice 

 divided to the midrib), and furnished with short, blunt pinnae (leaflets) ; 

 their pinnules (leafits) are slightly eared at the base. This variety is 

 proliferous only at the base of the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion). — 

 Lowe, Our Native Ferns, i., p. 176. 



A. a. p. Footii — Foot'-i-i (Foot's), Moore. 



A most elegant and finely-divided variety, found wild in County Clare, 

 Ireland. Its fronds are more triangular than those of the typical form, and 



