A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
149 
ASPlDl\JM—co7itinued. 
down b-elow to the stalk into spear-shaped or sharp-pointed, 
narrow lobes of a leathery texture. The sori are disposed 
principally in two rows near the midrib. 
A. trifoliatum. 
When w^ell grown, this stove species, native of the West 
Indies and Tropical America, is one of the most conspicuous 
of all cultivated Ferns. Its bold-looking fronds, 1ft. to l^ft. 
long and Gin. to 12in. broad, with a large terminal leaflet 
narrowed or forked at the base, are borne on tufted, 
brownish, stout stalks 1ft. or more long and scaly only at the 
base. They also usually have on each side one or two lateral 
leaflets of a nearly triangular shape, the lowest of which are 
mostly forked; these leaflets are of a soft, papery texture 
and bright green colour ; they are also fertile throughout. 
The abundant sori, disposed in rows near the main veins, are 
gigantic and conspicuously black. 
A. tsus=siniense. 
Probably only a slender form of A. aculeatum^ of 
a particularly compact habit and dark green colour. 
A. vestitum. 
This very handsome, evergreen, greenhouse species, 
native of New Zealand, Tasmania, and Chili, is of smaller 
and more compact habit than most of the species belonging 
to the section FolijsticJnun, and it makes a very pretty 
specimen plant. The fronds, which are produced from a 
tufted rhizome, are of a particularly dark green colour ; 
they are from Din. to 12in. long and are borne on stalks of 
similar length, and densely clothed with bright-coloured 
scales. These fronds are almost spear-head-shaped and 
bipinnate ; their oblong, pointed leaflets are furnished with 
leafits some of which are eared at the base, while 
the majority of them are wedge-shaped, with a sharp tooth 
at their point. The distinct and conspicuous sori are disposed 
in one row on each side of the midvein of the fertile pinnules. 
A. viviparum. 
Better known under the names of Folystichum viviparum 
and P. trapezioides, this stove species is a native of the West 
Indies, and is distinct from nearly all other species on 
account of its producing at the extremity of the fronds a 
solitary bud or bulbil from which the plant may be easily 
propagated. Its very handsome fronds, 1ft. to l^ft. long 
and 4in. to Gin. broad, are borne on stalks, 4in. to Gin. 
long, covered with large, spear-shaped scales at their base, 
the lower ones nearly black in the centre. The numerous 
