A SPLENIUM. 



559 



A. F.-f. laciniatum — lac-in-i-a'-tum (fringed), Moore. 



This interesting form, of dwarf habit, which was originally found at 

 Nettlecombe, is, on account of the variable character of its fronds, a difficult 

 plant to describe. These fronds, when perfect in outline, are somewhat spear- 

 shaped, but they are usually furnished with very irregular pinnae (leaflets), 

 some being short, others tapering into a point, while a quantity of them are 

 quite praemorse (bitten off) and terminate abruptly. The pinnules (leafits) 

 are equally irregular, varying much in size and form, and are profoundly 

 cut into sharp teeth. The sori (spore masses) are very abundant, and the 

 plant reproduces itself pretty fairly from spores. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, 

 ii., p. 141, t. 39a. 



A number of variations which somewhat differ from A. F.-f. laciniatum 

 have been referred to that variety by T. Moore, the following being the most 

 distinct and those best known in commerce : 



A. F.-f. 1. dissectum— dis-sec'-tum (deeply cut), Moore. 



This exceedingly beautiful sub-variety, of dwarf habit, originally found 

 in Newton Dale, near Whitby, Yorkshire, and subsequently near Levens, 

 has, like A. F.-f. laciniatum, fronds rugged in outline and irregular, owing 

 to the uneven lengths of the leaflets, which are subdivided into leafits that 

 are less abbreviated and more regularly toothed, their teeth being bold, 

 long, and narrow. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 66, fig. 366. 



A. F.-f. 1. majUS — ma'-jus (large) and A. F.-f. 1. minus — min'-us 

 (small), Moore. 



These differ from A. F.-f. laciniatum through their dimensions. The 

 former, originally found at Tunbridge Wells, has fronds 2ft. in length and 

 comparatively very broad, depauperated (impoverished) in their upper half 

 and more normal in the basal half. The latter, found at Ilfracombe, in 

 Devonshire, is simply a dwarf A. F.-f. laciniatum; its fronds, deeply toothed 

 and fringed, seldom exceeding Sin. in length. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, 

 ii., p. 65. 



A. F.-f. 1. Padleyi— Pad'-ley-i (Padley's), Lowe. 



This charming form, originally found at Exeter, has fronds about ljft. 

 long and 6in. broad in their widest part, furnished with pinnae (leaflets) 



