86 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
ACROSTICHVM— continued. 
on plants under artificial cultivation^ though from Sin. to 
12in. long, are so contracted that they are seldom more 
than two lines broad. This is mor-e generally known as 
Stenochlcena scandens. 
A. scolopendrifolium. 
A stove, Brazilian species, and one of the most decora- 
tive of all those having simple fronds, for its singular 
barren fronds, often more than 1ft. in length and from 2in. 
to 3in. in breadth, are produced in great abundance from 
a very short-creeping or short-trailing rhizome, which is 
densely covered with long and very narrow chestnut-brown 
scales. These fronds, of a leathery texture, are pale green, 
and their stalks, from 8in. to 12in. long, their midrib, and 
their margin are densely covered with long, heart-shaped 
brown scales. Unlike the barren fronds, which are pen- 
dulous, the fertile ones, much smaller and more sparingly 
produced, are erect and jointed near the base of the stalks. 
The general aspect of the plant is that of a gigantic downy 
Scolopendrium — hence the specific name. 
A. squamosum. 
Although not attaining very large dimensions, this 
singular species, which thrives equally well under either 
stove or greenhouse treatment, and which is also known 
under the name of A. paleaceum, deserves a special notice. 
It is a native of Sumatra, Ceylon, and the Sandwich Islands, 
also of Madeira and the Azores; while, according to Bed- 
dome, it is abundant on trees on the Neilgherries, about 
Nediwattan, and on the Sisparah Ghat. The barren fronds, 
of a thick but not leathery texture, are from Sin. to 12in. 
long, and about lin. broad, undivided, gradually narrowed 
at the base, and densely covered on both sides with red- 
dish, velvety scales, extending to the edge, which appears 
fringed with hairs all round. These curious fronds are 
borne on dark, scaly stalks, proceeding from a prostrate, 
woody, and equally scaly stem — a characteristic that gives 
rise to the specific name. 
A. virens. 
A particularly robust and decorative stove species, 
native of Fernando Po, Sierra Leone, and also found from 
the Himalayas to Ceylon, Formosa, and Moulmein. Its 
barren, leathery fronds, which have both surfaces naked, 
are from 2ft. to 3ft. long, often 1ft. broad, and furnished 
on each side with stalkless leaflets, 6in. to Sin. long and 
about lin. broad, the edge of which is usually bluntly lobed, 
though it sometimes has a tendency to become wavy; 
