444 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



Norfolk Island, New South Wales, &c. Its very lasting fronds, of a 

 leathery texture, are produced from a thick, creeping rhizome (underground 

 stem), and borne on stiff, upright stalks that are 1ft. to l|ft. long, and 

 clothed on all their length, but principally in their lower part, with very 

 narrow scales of a dark brown colour. The leafy portion of these fronds is 

 tri- or quadripinnatilid (three or four times divided half-way to the midrib); 

 their lower pinnEe (leaflets), which are the largest and sub-deltoid (nearly 

 like the Greek delta, A), are 6in. to 9in. long and 3in. to 4in. broad. 

 The lowest pinnules, which are also the largest, are of similar shape, from 

 Sin. to 4in. long, and copiously furnished around their margin with 

 aristate (awned) teeth. The sori (spore masses) are small, and disposed 

 principally in two rows near the midrib, which is very nearly naked. — 

 Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 27. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., 

 p. 126. A. aristatum of Wollaston and Moore is a variety of A. angulare. 



A. a. COniifolium — co-ni'-if-ol'-i-um (Hemlock -leaved), Wallich. 



A. aristatum has produced several varieties : of these coniifolium is 

 usually considered as a species, and has been illustrated as such in Lowe's 

 excellent work under the name of A. coniifolium. It is an evergreen and 

 very beautiful, stove Fern, native of Ceylon and the Philippine Islands. 

 It differs from A. aristatum principally through having its handsome fronds, 

 which are adherent to a small, creeping rhizome, more finely divided. These 

 fronds, of a deep shining green, about 2jft. long by 1ft. broad at the base, 

 are borne on stipes (stalks) quite l^ft. long, and covered with brown 

 hairs which are considerably longer near the base. The basal pinnules 

 (lealits) are very large, and the sub-divisions are throughout copiously 

 toothed. The very abundant sori (spore masses) eventually merge into one 

 another, cover the whole under- side of the frond, and very nearly touch 

 each other before shedding the kidney-shaped indusium (covering) : though 

 white when only partly developed, they are of a reddish-brown colour 

 when mature. — Lowe, Ferns British and Exotic, vi., t. 39. Hooker, Synopsis 

 Filicum, p. 255. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 126. 



A. a. Yariegatum — var-i-eg-a'-tum (variegated), Moore. 



This very handsome Fern, of Japanese origin and of great decorative 

 value, is much better known under the name of Lastrea arista fa variegata ; 



