A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
109 
ADIANTIJM— continued. 
great vtalue las an edging for tile conserviatory, for not only 
are tlie fronds produced in abundance^ but the slender 
rhizomes possess the peculiarity of forming young plants on 
all their parts, thus making compact little specimens, of 
great interest and utility. 
A. digitatum. 
In general appearance this species, from Peru and 
New Granada, reminds one but very little of a Maidenhair 
Fern, as it is of semi-scandent habit, and its large tripin- 
nate fronds are of a soft, fleshy texture and deciduous; 
they are borne on thick, fleshy, pale green stalks, woolly and 
transparent, from 1ft. to l|ft. long ; their foliaged portion, 
which frequently attains 3ft. in length and 20in. in 
width at the lower part, gradually shortens upwards. The 
leafits vary in form from deflexed to wedge shape at the 
base ; they are very symmetrically set, borne on short stalks, 
often measure IJin. across, have their upper edge rounded 
and deeply cut, and are densely covered with short hairs, 
\vhich give the foliage a woolly feeling when touched. The 
sori are disposed in lines along the edge of the lobes. A 
very distinct and ornamental Fern, sometimes known as A . 
speciosum. 
A. excisum. 
This pretty, greenhouse species, native of Chili, though 
of smaller growth and of slenderer habit, is closely allied 
to A. CEthio^ncum, and, like that species, has also produced 
several distinct varieties. In the type the fronds. Gin. to 
12in. long and 3in. to 4in. broad, are borne on stalks 2in. 
to 3in. long, of a wiry nature and chestnut-brown colour, 
rising from a tufted crown. They are furnished on each 
side with numerous zigzag, short leaflets, the lowest of 
which are slightly branched again ; their leafits are about 
three lines broad, wedge-shaped at the base, while their 
upper edge is rounded and bluntly lobed. The sori are 
large for the size of the plant, kidney-shaped, and situated 
in distinct hollows on the lobes. 
A. e. multifidum. 
This handsome, garden variety partakes somewhat of 
the character of A. concinnum, both as regards the way m 
which its fronds are produced and by the peculiar manner 
in which their stalk is covered by deeply-cut leafits closely 
pressed against it. The fronds, of a drooping habit, are 
four times divided to the midrib, and their deeply-cut sub- 
divisions give the plant a very graceful appearance : these 
fronds grow from 1ft. to IJft. in length, and are usually 
divided at their summit into several branches, which very 
