132 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
on account of their vegetation being too slow, still, 
when grouped by themselves or with other Ferns of 
dwarf habit or of medium dimensions, they present 
a very striking appearance. Anemias are usually 
propagated from their spores, which germinate ver^^ 
freely, though some species of a naturally tufted 
habit may be successfully increased by division of 
the crowns, between the middle of March and the 
end of April. 
A, adiantifolia. 
This very handsome, evergreen, stove species is perhaps 
the best-known of the whole genus. It is a native of the 
West Indies, Central and South America, Southern Florida, 
Guatemala, Mexico, &c. Its fronds, which seldom exceed 
l^ft. in height, including the very slender and very hairy 
stalks on which they are borne, are produced from a creeping 
rhizome, and have their veins repeatedly forked but not 
intermixed. They are bipinnate, except at the base, where 
they are thrice pinnate : their barren portion is shortly 
stalked. Gin. to 9in. long, 4in. to Gin. broad, deltoid, and 
furnished with spear-shaped leaflets, the lower pair of which 
are opposite and the others alternate. Their leafits are of 
a leathery texture, dark green on both sides, wedge-shaped 
at the base, and sharply toothed on the margin, the basal 
ones being again divided to the midrib. The fertile panicle, 
situated at the base of the leafy or barren portion of the 
frond, consists of two upright, contracted segments Sin. to 
4in. long, and borne on slender stalks 2in. to 3in. long : they 
are flattened, and bear two rows of acorn-shaped spore 
cases, provided with a terminal transverse ring — a character 
which is shared by all the species belonging to the same 
section. 
A. cheilanthoides, 
A popular appellation for A, fomentosa, and one for 
which there is no lauthority. 
A. coliina. 
This very rare, stove species, also known as A. hirta of 
J. Smith, is a native of Brazil. It is quite distinct from most 
other known species owing to the rusty colour of the spreading 
hairs which densely clothe the firm, upright stalks Sin. to 
12in. long. The fronds have their barren portion Gin. to 
12in. long, 2in. to Sin. broad, and are composed of about 
twelve pairs of stalkless leaflets, which are about IJin. long 
by -Jin. broad, unequahsided, blunt, and nearly entire : these 
are of an almost leathery texture, set further apart than 
in most other species, and the stalk of the leafy portion is, 
