A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
145 
AS P I D lUM — contiimed. 
singularly constant in its character, whereas of the Soft 
Prickly Shield Fern some remarkable varieties have been 
either found wild or raised artificially from spores in such 
quantities that the forms affected by the fronds are very 
extensive, and many of them are remarkably handsome and 
decorative. Thus we have forms of much larger size than 
the species from which they spring, and others very dwarf ; 
some with very broad fronds, as we also have particularly 
narrow-fronded varieties. In a popular work like this no 
good purpose would be served by recording all the varieties 
thus obtained. Those interested will find them fully de- 
scribed in Druery's " British Ferns.'' 
A. capense. 
A handsome and very useful greenhouse species, native 
of the Cape of Good Hope, but found in a wild state in 
various other places. Its fronds, of a very leathery texture 
and of a shining nature, have both surfaces naked ; their 
leafy portion is nearly deltoid in form, tripinnate, 1ft. to 
3ft. long and 1ft. to IJft. broad, and is borne on a firm, 
erect, greyish stalk, densely scaly below. The lowest leaflets 
frequently measure Gin. to lOin. long by Sin. to 4in. broad ; 
they are oblong-spear-shaped, sharp-pointed, wedge-shaped 
at the base and have bluntly-lobed segments. The sori are 
disposed in two rows nearly filling the space between the 
midrib and the edge. In gardens this species is also known 
as A. coriaceum. 
A. coriaceum. 
A garden name for A . capeme. 
A. falcatum. 
Ferns belonging to the Cyrtomium section form a small 
group of most useful subjects in the genus Aspidium, but this 
species and its several varieties surpass all others in being 
best adapted for indoor decoration. Although all 
known forms of Cyrtomium falcatum are, in commerce, 
considered as so many species, they are simply 
varieties of A . falcatum, a species with a very wide range of 
habitat, being known as a native of Japan, China, the 
Himalayas, Neilgherries, &c. Its handsome fronds, IJft. to 
2^ft. long and Gin. to 9in. broad, are borne on stout stalks 
Gin. to lOin. long, and densely clothed, especially at the base, 
with large light brown scales. They are produced from a 
very stout crown of a particularly scaly nature, and are 
spear-shaped, simply pinnate, and of a shining dark green 
above but paler underneath. The numerous leaflets are 
stalked at the base of the frond, but stalkless in its upper 
