130 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
AL,SOPHlL,A—co7ifhmed. 
and of Pv paler green than those of the fertile ones, which are 
also of a more leathery texture. The sori are plentifully 
dispoised close to the midrib of the fertile segments. 
A, infesta Van=Qeertii. 
Under this name is known to commerce a variety of the 
Tropical American species A. infesta. It is a distinct and 
highly-ornamental Tree Fern, whose stem or trunk never 
attains a great height ; it is slender, tortuous, of a bright 
brown colour, and possesses the peculiarity — very rare in 
Alsophilas — ^of producing on its surface lateral growths or 
young plants, which, when sufficiently furnished with roots, 
may be safely detached and soon form independent subjects. 
Although the trunk is of comparatively short stature, it 
produces very fine broad, spear-shaped fronds 5ft. to 6ft. 
long, including the stalk, which are bipinnate. The leaflets, also 
spear-shaped, are 1ft. to l^ft. long and 5in. to Gin. broad, 
and are furnished with leafits of a dark, shining green colour 
and deeply toothed. The light brown stalks are covered with 
numerous short, black spines. The whole plant is of a 
particularly elegant habit, its fronds being gracefully arched. 
A. nitens. 
Synonymous with A . aspera, 
A. pruinata. 
Although scarce in cultivation, this beautiful species, 
suited to either the stove or the greenhouse, deserves every 
attention, if only on account of its distinctive and ornamental 
characters, for its fronds, of a particularly elegant habit, are 
quite as silvery underneath as those of the better-known 
Cyathea dealhata ; while the stem or trunk from which they 
are produced, and which under cultivation seldom attains 
great dimensions, usually produces several crowns or heads, 
and by the division of these the plant can be increased. It is 
a native of Tropical America and the West Indies, and has 
been aptly likened to a small pine-tree, leafy at the top. Its 
stem varies from 3ft. to 8ft. in height, with a perfectly 
smooth stalk. 
A. Rebeccas. 
A Queensland species, whose habit is distinct from all 
others. Its stem, about 8ft. in height, is smooth, and com- 
paratively slender, yet it is well furnished with broad, arch- 
ing fronds 2ft. to 3ft. in length, and of a leathery texture. 
They are bipinnate, and their stalks being nearly black, form 
a striking contrast to the glossy, deep green colour of their 
upper surface. The lower leaflets are 1ft. to IJft. lonf^ and 
4in. to 5m. broad : they are furnished on each side with 
