104 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
ADIASTIJM— continued. 
Maidenhair Fern. Nothing can surpass the elegance of its 
foliage for bouquets; and this excellent quality is so fully 
appreciated by growers in general that hundreds of 
thousands change hands in our markets yearly; in private 
gardens it is equally in demand. The fact of its being ever- 
green, and consequently very useful in winter, greatly adds 
to its value. The fronds are from 1ft. to l^ft. long, 6in. 
to 9in. broad, of a more or less upright habit, and borne on 
erect, slender stalks 6in. to 9in. long: they are triangular, 
three or four times divided to the midrib, and furnished 
with numerous leafits ^in. or a little more broad, wedge- 
shaped at the base, with their upper edge deeply lobed. 
The sori, which are of moderate size and from four to six 
to each leafit, are dispo&ed all round the upper edge. 
This species has produced undei* cultivation more forms 
or variations which have received distinctive names than 
any other exotic Fern. Although most of them are deserv- 
ing of attention, we must confine ourselves to the follow- 
ing selection : — 
A. c. deflexum. 
This very distinct form, of garden origin, with its 
triangular fronds, three or four times divided to the mid- 
rib, furnished with lobed and deflexed segments, attracted 
the attention of the late Mr. Thomas Moore, who thus 
wrote to the Gardeners^ Chronicle for 8th Dec, 1883: This 
goes far to support the ideas of those who believe in the 
crossing of Ferns, whether the process is truly described by 
the term hybridisation or not. It was raised between A. 
cuneat'uni and A. Bausei, the latter also a so-called hybrid 
Fern." Like both its supposed parents, it reproduces 
itself perfectly true from spores. 
A. c. dissectum. 
A very pretty variety, of garden origin, with fronds 
shorter and more triangular than those of A. cuneatum, and 
furnished with leafits more deeply cut than in that species. 
It is also of more compact habit, but does not reproduce 
itself true from spores, and can only be propagated by the 
division of the crowns. 
A. c. elegfans. 
In this pretty variety, of garden origin, the triangular 
fronds are of a particularly slender nature ; they are about 
9in. long, besides the glossy stalks, about Gin. long, on which 
they are borne, and are furnished with numerous wedge- 
shaped, very light green leafits, whose dimensions are inter- 
mediate between those of the typical species and those of 
