CASSELL'S POPUI-AR GARDEXINa. 



5 at Ijotli hemisplieres, confining themselves prin- 

 cipally to the tropics. They are readily recognised 

 by the sori not being restricted to the veins only, 

 bat spread in a stratum over the under siu'face, and 

 sometimes, but more rarely, upon both surfaces of 

 the frond. Very wide divergences occur in size 

 and habit, as well as in the veining and general 

 character of the fronds. As it would be impossible 

 to find space to give even a very condensed descrip- 

 tion and account of a large number of species, only 

 the most distinct and desirable, from a purely garden 

 standpoint, are mentioned in these pages. 



A. aureum has an erect caudex, and tufted, stroiig, 

 i'rect, glossy stipes, one to two feet in ■ length, with 

 ^jeathery fronds, two to six feet long by one to two 

 ^eet broad. This species is very widely spread over 

 rhe tropical and sub-tropical countries of both 

 hemispheres. In A. crinitum, a native of the West 

 Indies and Mexico, the caudex is erect and woody, 

 and the stipes of the barren fronds are densely 

 dothed with long, slender, fibrillose, purplish-brown 

 scales, the broad- oblong, rather leathery frond 

 itself often measuring from twelve to eighteen 

 inches long by six to nine inches broad. The 

 entire edge is densely fringed, and both sides 

 scattered over Avith scales like those of the stem. 

 The fertile fronds are like the barren ones in forui, 

 "but are smaller in size, and have a longer stipe. 

 A. cmpidatum has a thick, woody rhizome, clothed 

 ?vith dense, linear-pointed, nearly black scales ; 

 the firm, erect stipes covered with deciduous, 

 adpressed, dax'k-colomed scales, measuring from six 

 to fifteen inches in length. The barren fronds arc 

 leathery in texture, and are from one to two feet 

 long by three to four inches broad, the upper 

 surface being nearly naked, and the lower densely 

 .matted with small, rusty-coloured, ciliated, brown 

 scales. The fertile fronds are somewhat smaller 

 than the barren ones, the stipes being about the 

 same length in both. This species is found in a 

 wild state from the West Indies to Peru. A. gra- 

 moiifolium, a recently introduced species from the 

 West Indies, has narrow, grassy fronds, and is one 

 Cif the most distinct of the smaller-growing kinds. 

 In A. heteromorphum, from Columbia and Ecuador, 

 the small, wide- creeping, filiform rhizome is clothed 

 with small, brown, lance-shaped scales. The 

 slender, slightly scaly stipes are from one to three 

 inches long, and the barren fronds, of a thin but 

 iirm texture, measure one and a half to two inches 

 m length by three-quarters to one inch in breadth, 

 both sides being scattered over with dark narrow 

 scales. The conspicuous raised veins, darker in 

 colour than the rest of the frond, give this species 

 a distinctive character. The fertile fronds are 

 much smaller, and their stipes much longer. 



A. latifoUum, from Mexico and Cuba to Brazil and 

 Peru, has a thick, woody, often creeping rhizome, 

 clothed with crisped, lance-shaped, dark or light 

 brown scales. The firm, erect, slightly scaly or 

 naked stipe is from six to twelve inches long, and 

 the very leather)' barren fronds measure from nine 

 to eighteen inches in length by two to four inche.-< 

 in breadth ; the fertile frond, except in being 

 considerably narrower than the barren one, other- 

 wise resembles it. A. angtistifoUnm, A. callccfollum, 

 A. cra^sinerve, and A. conopodliim are varieties of 

 this species. 



A. osmundaeeum, a large, strong-growing, hand- 

 some species from Tropical America, is the repr(^- 

 sentative of a section in which the barren fronds an; 

 variously pinnatifid or pinnate, and in the ultimate 

 divisions of which the veins are pinnate. This has 

 a woody rambling rhizome, clothed with long narrow- 

 scales ; the erect stype is scaly only at the base, and 

 the lower pinnte of the tripinnate, dark gi een. somo 

 what leathery fronds are from one to two feet long- 

 by from four to eight inches broad. 



A. peUatfim is the reiu'esentative of a small section 

 in which the venation is fan-shaped, and the fertile 

 fi-onds small, suborbicular, and uncut. It is an 

 excellent garden plant, easily grown in any damp 

 shaded stove, and especially suitable for a small fern- 

 case. Tlie slender wide-creeping rhizome throws up 

 numerous slender scaly stijies. one to three inclios 

 long, surmounted by repeatedly forked, somewhat 

 leathery, barren fronds, measuring fx'om one to two 

 inches each way. The fertile fronds, round and 

 quite uncut, measure about half an inch in diameter. 

 This is a native of Mexico, the West Indies, Peru, 

 and Brazil. 



A. Treat oni is a recently introduced species from 

 Rio de Janeiro ; it has a thick, short-creeping, woody 

 caudex, clothed with dense, brown, lance-shaped, 

 membranous scales ; the moderately fii'm, lanceolate, 

 barren fronds are from one to one and a half feet 

 long by two inches broad, and are bordered by a 

 dense persistent fiinge of minute brown scales ; the 

 fertile fronds are much smaller, with longer stems. 

 A. quercifoHitm, a native of Peninsular India, Ceylon, 

 South China, and Cochin China, has a stout wide- 

 creeping rhizome ; the stipes of the barren fronds 

 are one or two inches in length, and are clothed with 

 soft, spreading, ferruginous hairs ; the barren fronds 

 measure thi-ee to four inches in length by one and a 

 half to two inches in breadth. A. simjjlex, from Tropi- 

 cal America, is readily distinguished by its finn fronds 

 very gradually narrowed to both ends ; it has a 

 short-creeping woody rhizome, covered with rather 

 large, dark brown, lanceolate scales ; the firm, erect, 

 naked stipes are from one to four inches long ; and 

 the leathery barren fronds, quite glabrous on both 



