612 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



singularly and very irregularly divided, some being forked from about the 

 middle of their leafy portion, while a few are borne on stalks divided near 

 the base, but by far the greatest portion of them are more or less branched 

 near their summit only, as illustrated in Fig. 116. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, 

 ii., t. 45b. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 132. 



A. m. ramo-trapeziforme— ra'-mo-trap-e-zif-or'-me (branched and 

 rhomb-shaped), Clapham. 

 In this pretty, dwarf, much- divided variety, originally found at Burniston, 

 near Scarborough, the fronds, which are furnished with small, roundish- 

 trapeziform, and usually sharply -toothed leaflets, branch at the top of the 

 stalks or half-way up the leafy portion of the fronds, and these branches are 

 again forked once or twice. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., 195, fig. 544. 



A. m. SUbbipinnatum — suV-bip-in-na'-tum (twice divided nearly to the 

 midrib), Moore. 



This very pretty variety, which was originally found in a cave at Petit 

 Bot Bay, Guernsey, and later on in Cornwall, is equal in size to the typical 

 species, but its fronds, 7in. long and 2|in. broad, are so much divided and so 

 deeply lobed as to become quite brpinnate ; the leaflets are wedge-shaped at 

 the base, and slightly toothed on the margin. Lowe gives it as his opinion 

 that this variety is never fertile. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 188, 

 fig. 532. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 132. 



A. m. Thompsoniae — Thomp-so'-ni-aB (Mrs. Thompson's), Loive. 



An exceedingly distinct and very beautiful form, originally found wild 

 in Devonshire, and having fronds 14in. long, widest at their base, and very 

 gradually narrowing to the point. The leaflets are alternate (not opposite), 

 narrow and long, and conspicuously auricled (eared), the basal ones especially 

 so ; their superior margin is notched and toothed, yet not deeply divided ; 

 the lower margin, on the contrary, is very deeply cut into narrow segments, 

 some of the basal ones being even shortly stalked, and as these segments 

 are disposed more or less at right angles with the midrib, the plant has 

 a much laciniated (torn) appearance. — Lowe, Our Native Ferns, ii., p. 196, 

 figs. 545 and 546. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 132. 



