560 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



descending to the centre of the frond and then slightly ascending to the 

 apex, the upper ones being irregular in size and alternate (not opposite) 

 from the base to the tip of the frond. The pinnules (leafits) are usually 

 large and much cut, variable in shape and size, especially in the upper half 

 of the frond, where they are extraordinarily laciniated. The sori (spore 

 masses) are very irregular, and are sparingly distributed over the under - 

 surface of the frond. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 70, fig. 375. 



A. F.-f. latifolium— la-tif-or-i-um (broad-leaved), Babington. 



This very handsome, vigorous -growing, though peculiar-looking variety was 

 originally found near Keswick, Cumberland : it possesses the power of repro- 

 ducing itself from spores. The fronds, of a peculiar dark green colour, attain 

 3ft. or more in length and are remarkable principally for the irregular outline 

 of then leaflets, for the manner in which the pinnules (leafits) are crowded 

 together, and for the peculiar disposition of the spore masses, which are small 

 and cmwed and placed in two distinct hues half-way between the margin and 

 the mid vein. The pinnules are usually oblong- egg- shaped, overlapping, flat, 

 and have their anterior side by far the longer ; and their peculiarly-toothed 

 margins give the entire frond a fimbriated (fringed) appearance.— Lowe, Our 

 Native Ferns, ii., p. 6, fig. 278. 



A. F.-f. minimum— mm'-im-um (smallest). 



A very dwarf variety, originally found at Ilfracombe. Its short fronds, 

 4m. to 6in. long and about lin. broad, are bipinnate (twice divided to the 

 midrib), spear-head-shaped, and furnished with somewhat irregular pinnee 

 (leaflets) that are oblong in form, with toothed lobes below and slightly 

 dented above ; the teeth being narrow and sharp, the dentation produces 

 a fringed appearance. The short and irregular sori (spore masses) are mostly 

 situated at the base of the pinnules. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 31. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 30. 



A. F.-f. Monkmanii— Monk-man'-i-i (Monkman's), Moore. 



This crested form, of irregular aspect, which makes a very handsome plant 

 of somewhat erect habit and with pinnte of a particularly expanded nature, was 

 originally found growing on a bank near a well in Troutbeck village, near 



