A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
85 
ACROSTlCHJJM—continued, 
leathery fronds, from l^in. to 2in. eacli way, are attached 
by their centre, or nearly so, to slender stalks 2in. to 4in. 
long and scaly throughout. These barren fronds, which 
are produced in great abundance, are essentially different 
from those of any other member of the genus ; not only is 
each portion of them forked, but each forked part is sub- 
divided into two branches, and each of these again into two 
others, thus producing an agglomeration of divisions linear 
in form, or of about equal width throughout their length, 
and seldom more than half a line broad. The fertile fronds, 
which are totally distinct, nearly circular, generally entire, 
and barely lin. broad, though occasionally two-lobed, are 
borne much more sparingly on the same slender rhizome 
Fig. 50. Acrostichum peltatum, one of the smaller growing 
species of the genus, but very attractive. 
that produces the barren ones. Fig. 50. There is a variety 
of this {gracillimum) that is larger and more finely divided, 
as well as easier to grow. 
A. scandens. 
As a decorative fern, this stove species, from South 
China, Ceylon, Fiji, and the Himalayas, is valuable. Its 
elegant, drooping fronds are from 2ft. to 3ft. long, besides 
the firm, naked stalks, 4in. to Gin. long, on which they are 
boi^ne; they are 1ft. or more broad, and simply pinnate. 
The leaflets, which are of a very leathery texture, although 
sometimes slightly stalked and articulated, are usually stalk- 
less; they generally measure from Gin. to Sin. long and 
from lin, to l|in. broad, and have their edge thickened and 
serrated. The fertile leaflets, which are very seldom seen 
