Latent Buds and Underground Stems. 
41 
some forms produce buds on tlieir stalks, as also 
on the surface and on the edges of their fronds ; 
in the latter case it is necessary to cut a small 
portion of the frond to fix them in the soil, and to 
hold them until the roots have developed. Even in 
the plumose sections of the Lady Fern a few forms 
have been found occasionally producing on the back 
of their fronds bulbils from which young plants 
can be produced by pegging down. 
Latent Buds and Underg^round Stems. 
A process of reproduction that is less generally 
known consists in artificially stimulating the de- 
velopment of buds which, if left to themselves, 
usually remain dormant at the base of the stalks of 
the fronds of certain species. This is particularly 
applicable, among exotic kinds, to Angiopteris and 
Marattias, whose fronds are surrounded at their 
base by fleshy appendages, each provided with two 
buds, which seldom, if ever, develop when left on 
the plant, but which, on being placed in a compost 
of an open nature, and subjected to heat and moisture, 
never fail to produce young plants. Among 
British kinds, this peculiar method may be applied 
with advantage in the reproduction of some varieties 
of the Male Fern, of the Hartstongue, and even of 
some forms of the Lady Fern ; for it has been found 
that the basal portions of the old, decayed fronds, 
which for many years retain some vitality, contain 
such latent buds, and these usually develop when de- 
tached from the old fronds and treated in the same 
way as the scales of Marattias. As regards Scolo- 
pendriums, all may be readily increased by dividing 
the stool, or underground stem, with which every 
plant belonging to this genus, when sufliciently old, 
is provided. Cut up that portion which is below 
the ground into small fragments, lay these in a 
shallow pan half filled with crocks, and cover them 
with a thin layer of very sandy soil, which must be 
kept moderately, and also constantly, moist. In 
this way a crop of young plants, in all respects like 
the one from which the divisions have been obtained, 
