610 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



A. m. laxum — lax'-um (loose), Lowe. 



This is a very singular form, found wild in the Burrow, County Clare. 

 Its fronds, 2ft. to 3ft. long and home on long, eheneous (blackish) stalks, 

 are furnished with pinnae (leaflets) set far apart, especially in the lower 

 portion of the frond, where they are over lin. distant and are also the 

 smallest, gradually becoming larger to about Sin. below the summit and then 

 slightly narrowing. The leaflets are simple, with a shallow-dented margin. — 

 Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 192, figs. 538 and 539. 



A. m. mirabile — mi-ra'-bil-e (wonderful), Moore. 



In this very strange variety, the fronds, which are about Sin. long 

 including the stalks, have their midrib cleft about half-way down from 

 the top into two nearly equal divisions, which are again freely forked and 

 furnished with bluntly-lobed leaflets and segments. The whole of the leafy 

 portion is expanded, but not crested, into a breadth equal to the length of 

 the frond, and the lower leaflets, more or less abnormal, are also bluntly 

 lobed. — Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 132. 



A. m. multifldo- irregular e — mnl-tif^d-o-ir-reg-ul-a'-re (irregular and 

 much-cleft), Lowe. 



A variety having fronds of medium size, with leaflets very irregular in 

 size and form, some of them no larger than the lobes of others which ■ are 

 deeply divided, while others are simply toothed. The extremity of each 

 frond is regularly forked. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 197, fig. 547. 



A. m. parallelum — par-al-le'-lum (parallel), Moore. 



This is a very strong-growing variety, originally found in Guernsey, 

 and the fronds of which attain 3ft. in length. The distinctive character 

 resides in the shape of its leaflets, which are somewhat distantly placed, 

 measure from 2in. to 2ji&. in length and barely Jin. in breadth, and are 

 parallel- sided, with their base wedge-shaped and their margin coarsely though 

 not deeply toothed. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 188, fig. 531. 



A. m. plumosum — plu-mo'-sum (feathery), Moore. 



Perhaps the handsomest form of A. marinum, for its fronds, which 

 have a very elegant appearance and are from Gin. to lata, long, are 



