558 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



long and about 4m. broad, borne on short, stout stalks, are broadly oval in 

 form and furnished with closely-set pinna?, the divisions of which are 

 imbricated (overlapping), thus forming densely leafy and crispy-looking 

 fronds. A most pleasing character is also furnished by the margins of 

 the leaflets being undulated and their points turned upwards, producing 

 a prettily crimped and bristly appearance. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., 

 p. 57, fig. 353. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 130. 



A. F.-f. incisum — in-ci'-sum (incised, cut), Hoffmann. 



This large-growing and handsome variety, which we also find described 

 under the same name by Sowerby, Moore, and Newman, is a widely-spread 

 and not uncommon form, found wild at Penryn, in Cornwall ; at Marwood 

 and Bittadon, in Devonshire ; at Nettlecombe, Somersetshire ;• at Bath ; at 

 Mayford, in Surrey ; at Castle Malgwyn, in Pembrokeshire ; at Chaigeley 

 Manor, near Clitheroe, Lancashire ; near Ambleside ; in Teesdale ; at Corby 

 Castle, near Carlisle ; in County Donegal, County Mayo, and County Dublin, 

 at Killarney, and in other parts of Ireland. Its gigantic fronds, 4ft. to 5ft. 

 long and when fully developed 1ft. broad, are broadly lanceolate (spear- 

 shaped) and have a drooping and feathery appearance ; they are furnished 

 with ascending pinnae (leaflets) 9in. to lOin. long, broad-oblong, tapering to 

 a slender point, and the pinnae in their turn are subdivided into pinnules 

 (leafits) ljin. long, ^in. broad at the base, and frequently so profoundly 

 divided as to render the fronds almost tripinnate (three times divided to the 

 midrib) and thoroughly distinct. The ultimate lobes are separated by sinuses 

 (well-marked depressions) and toothed at the margin and at the point. — Lowe, 

 Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 58, fig. 354. 



A. F.-f. Jonesii — Jones'-i-i (Jones's), Moore. 



A very singular form, raised from spores, differing from nearly all, if not 

 even all, other crested forms by having the crests of the pinnae (leaflets) 

 larger than the one at the extremity of the fronds. The fronds are 1ft. to 

 lift, long, oblong- spear-shaped in outline, twice divided to the midrib, and 

 furnished at their summit with a small crest. The pinnae, which are forked 

 and heavily crested at their point, are subdivided into numerous narrow, 

 toothed and slightly -crested pinnules (leafits). — Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, i., p. 130. 



