ASPLENIUM. 



565 



A. F.-f. Stipatum — sti-pa'-tum (stalked). Synonymous with A. F.-f. 

 Grantice. 



A. F.-f. SUbcruciforme — sub-cruc-if-or'-me (nearly cross - shaped), 

 Wollaston. 



A large-growing variety, more singular than beautiful ; it is remarkable 

 only for the almost cruciform shape of a portion of its pinnae (leaflets), which 

 are so variable as to be sometimes branching, forked, or more or less 

 depauperated (impoverished). It was originally found at Whitbarrow. — 

 Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 88, fig. 405. 



A. F.-f, SUblunatum — sub-lu-na'-tum (nearly crescent- shaped). 



A very curious and pretty, dwarf variety, with short, upright fronds 9in. 

 to 12in. long and less than lin. broad, furnished on their entire length with 

 much-contracted, sparingly-divided, nearly crescent- shaped leaflets. — Nicholson, 

 Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 130. 



A. F.-f. tridentato-multifidum— trid-en-ta'-to-mul-tif'-id -um ( three - 

 toothed and much-cleft), Lowe. 

 This exceedingly handsome variety, which was raised from spores, is very 

 distinct in appearance. Its massive fronds, l£ft. long and about Sin, broad 

 in then* widest part, are borne on stout stipes (stalks) of a purplish colour 

 and slightly scaly ; they are regular in outline, being widest in the middle 

 and narrowing rapidly to their summit and more gradually toward their 

 base. The pinnae (leaflets), linear-oblong in shape, are of thin texture and 

 have their extremity forked more or less according to the position they 

 occupy on the frond, the lower ones being more conspicuously forked than 

 those on the upper portion of the frond. These pinnae are divided into broad 

 and deeply-cut pinnules (leafits) spreading at their extremity, thus forming 

 numerous lobes, mostly tridentate, though only bidentate (twice toothed) 

 when near the summit of the frond, which is repeatedly forked. The fructifi- 

 cation is very abundant, every lobe from the base to the apex of the frond 

 being soriferous (spore-bearing) ■ the sori (spore masses) are crescent -shaped 

 and provided with the usual covering, and are situated close to the midvein 

 at the base of each lobe, mostly six or seven on each side. — Lowe, Our Native 

 Ferns, ii., p. 90, fig. 409. 



