492 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



and of dimensions equal to those of the typical plant, being irregularly streaked 

 and blotched with creamy-white. This variegation must not be confounded 

 with the discoloration produced by the ravages of a green insect having all 

 the appearances of a diminutive grasshopper, which frequently attacks hardy 

 Ferns even in their wild state, and proves a dangerous introduction into 

 any Fern collection, the more so that fumigation appears ineffectual for its 

 destruction. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 180, fig. 524. 



In his excellent work on British Ferns, Lowe describes twenty varieties 

 of A. Adiantum-nigrum, and Mr. P. Neill Fraser, of Edinburgh, in a list of 

 his collection, published in 1865, enumerates no less than twenty-six forms 

 of the same species ; but it is doubtful whether more than those above 

 described are in existence in any collection at the present day. 



A. (Euasplenium) affine — Eu-as-ple'-ni-um ; af-fi'-ne (related), Swartz. 



A stove species, native of Ceylon, Borneo, Fiji, and the Philippine Islands, 

 and one which is closely related to the more popular A. cuneatum, but of 

 more robust habit and having fronds frequently furnished with ten to fifteen 

 pinnules (leafits) to the lower pinnee (leaflets). These fronds, 1ft. to ljft. 

 long and 9in. to 12in. broad, have their numerous leathery pinna? cut down 

 to the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion) into many distinct pinnules 4in. to 

 Gin. long, which in their turn are* also deeply lobed. The abundant sori 

 (spore masses), are linear (long and very narrow). — Hooker, Species Filicum, 

 iii., p. 170, t. 202. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 28. Beddome, 

 Ferns of Southern India, t. 226. 



A. (Euasplenium) alatum — Eu-as-ple'-ni-uni ; al-a'-tum (winged), 



Hooker and Greville. 

 This stove plant, native of the West Indies, Peru, Brazil, &c, may be dis- 

 tinguished at first sight from all other species through the broad and nearly 

 transparent wings which may be observed on either side of the stipes (stalks) 

 and between the pinna? (leaflets) on the stalk, with a break where each pinna 

 is attached (Fig. 78). The fronds, which are 1ft. to l|ft. long, 3in. to 4in. 

 broad, and borne on stalks 4in. to 6in. long, are simply pinnate (only once 

 divided to the midrib). The pinna?, which are numerous and disposed hori- 

 zontally, are equal in size, except near the point of the frond, where they are 



