THE TWINING FERNS 
309 
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A Fine Twining Fern (Hygodium). 
(^Engraved for '■'■Flora," from a plant in the Fern Nurseries, Sale.') 
like spores resembling little catkins, and made 
up of tiny pockets each with its rich brown 
seeds. These brown fringes are the prettiest 
part of the plant, and appear from the end of 
August throughout the 
autumn. Whether dried or 
used fresh, these fruited 
trails are in great demand 
for decoration, so that at 
one time the plant was in 
danger of extermination 
from the continual loss of 
its seed. To save it from 
this fate the government of 
the United States imposed 
penalties ranging from a 
£20 fine to a year's im- 
prisonment, for its unlaw- 
ful destruction. A mixture 
of equal parts of leaf-mould 
and sphagnum suits this 
dainty little plant, with 
abundance of water at the 
root from March to Sep- 
tember. 
L.pinnatifidum. — A beau- 
tiful plant of free growth 
in stove heat, but scarce in 
gardens. Its leafletsaresoft 
and thin in texture and very 
bright green, set thickly in 
pairs upon the main stem, 
and almost without stalk. 
They are 8 to 12 inches 
long and nearly as broad, 
cut into 3 or 4 pairs of 
rounded or heart-shaped 
segments with an odd one 
at the tip, and these often 
again more or less divided, 
and sparingly covered with 
down. The little spike-like 
spores form a pretty mar- 
gin to the fertile leaflets. 
Tropical Asia, Australia, 
and Africa. 
L.polystachyum. — Avery 
distinct stove kind, differ- 
ing from all its fellows in 
its red coloured stems, its 
crowded leaflets finely and 
regularly cut, and its own method of fruiting. 
The leaflets are of 8 to 12 inches long and 
about half as wide, borne upon very short stalks, 
and beautifully waved. They are cut into many 
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