546 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



leaflets, which are closely set with small, roundish, obtuse, serrated pinnules 

 (toothed leafits). The point of the frond is very slender and two or three 

 times finely forked.— Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 128, fig. 467. Nicholson, 

 Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 130. 



A. F.-f. Appleby anum—Apple-by-a'-num (Appleby's), Moore. 



This is one of the most distinct and one of the prettiest of the known 

 varieties artificially raised. Its fronds, 1ft. to 2ft. long, are very narrow and 

 for about lOin. nearest to the base are furnished with short, blunt pinnae 

 (leaflets) less than lin. in diameter. At about 5in. from its summit the frond 

 becomes branched and branched again, until it becomes dilated into a broad, 

 forked crest, formed of numerous leaflets twice or thrice divided. This crest 

 is very striking upon such a narrow frond, on the basal half of which the 

 pinnas resemble those of A. F.-f. Frisellice ; in the upper half of the frond 

 they more nearly resemble those of A. F.-f. Fieldice, being abruptly branched 

 and lying along the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion), which, through their 

 peculiar mode of wrapping over, they entirely hide. Though fertile, this 

 beautiful form seldom reproduces itself from spores. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, 

 ii., p. 27, fig. 308. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 130. 



A. F.-f. Barnesii— Barnes'-i-i (Barnes's), Lowe. 



The fronds of this singular variety, found in Levens Park, are about 8in. 

 long and only about lin. broad. The pinnas (leaflets), as organs usually 

 understood, are wanting, and their place is taken by wide, remarkably ragged 

 or laciniated pinnules (leafits) and a terminal one much larger but equally 

 irregular. These pinnules, which vary in size and form, are sharply dented 

 and of a very membranous texture. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 29, 

 fig. 310. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 130. 



A. F.-f. ealothrix— cal-oth'-rix (beautiful hair), Moore. 



This remarkably fine and elegant variety, by far the most finely -divided 

 of all those in cultivation, was raised amongst a batch of A. F.-f. plumosum. 

 Its fronds, of a pale green colour and somewhat spear-shaped, seldom attain 

 more than lpt. in length and 6in. in breadth at their widest part ; they are 

 copiously divided into exquisitely fine segments, so that they present a very 



