40 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
the fronds, they may be allowed to drop on to the 
soil, or be removed with a view to their rooting, and 
ultimately becoming independent subjects. Asple- 
7iium hulhiferuvi is a good example of such Ferns; 
in fact, the genus is unusually prolific of such species 
Fig. 29. The I\'y=leaved Fern, Hemionitis palmata, a 
dwarf=growing species for the stove. 
and varieties. If such plantlets bearing no resem- 
blance to the parent be picked off when three rudi- 
mentary fronds are made, and lightly placed on 
damp, sandy soil, they will emit roots, and may 
afterwards be pricked off singly. There are, how- 
ever, exceptions even to this rule, and with these the 
bulbils must not be separated from the fronds, but 
be pegged to the soil in order that the adventive 
growth may develop. Well-known instances are 
Hemionitis cordata and H. 'palmata (Fig. 29), and 
Ceratopteris thalictroides . Again, in the Hartstongue, 
