166 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs 
ASPL0KNlVyi— continued. 
A. nobile. 
A garden name for a variety of A. viviparum. 
A. obtusatum lucidum. 
This, the common A. lucidum of commerce, is a very 
decorative, free-growing form, whose fronds, of a graceful 
habit and beautiful shining-green colour, often measure 2ft. 
in length and 1ft. in breadth. The leaflets, which vary from 
fifteen to twenty on each side of the stalk, are oblong, 
leathery, 6in. long, l^in. broad, and narrowed gradually to a 
long, tapering point ; their edge is also more deeply toothed. 
The long lines of sori are placed so near together that when 
mature they become confluent, and when in that state the 
dark brown fructification forms a very pleasing contrast to 
the vivid colour of the frond. This New Zealand variety is 
an easily-cultivated plant. 
A. obtusilobum. 
This is a very pretty, dwarf, stove species, native of the 
New Hebrides. It is readily distinguished from all other 
known Aspleniums by the proliferation, which, instead of 
being, as is usual in many Aspleniums, located at the 
extremity of the fronds, only shows itself on the slender, 
whip-shaped growths that start from amongst the fronds at 
the base of the plant. These runners, which have 
all the appearance of undeveloped fronds and which extend to 
fully 1ft. long, bear at a distance of about every 3in., where 
they appear as if articulated, a proliferous bud : this, even 
without its being brought into immediate contact with the 
soil, produces a young plant, from the base of which several 
runners like the one above described will eventually start 
and produce young plants in their turn. The fronds, about 
Gin. long and 2in. broad, are borne on greenish, naked, tufted 
stalks about 2in. long. They are furnished with from nine 
to twelve pairs of leaflets of a papery texture and bright 
shining-green colour : the largest leaflets are about lin. long 
and fin. broad, divided into leafits. The sori are regularly 
disposed on the margin of the leaflets. 
A. palmatum. 
A popular name for A. Ilcmionitis, 
A. prsemorsum. 
A very variable, greenhouse species, found wild 
in the West Indies, Australia, Teneriffe, and the Canary 
Islands. From its good constitution and its general appear- 
ance it is a popular favourite, for its beautifully-arching 
fronds, sometimes 3ft. long, are among the most decorative 
of the genus; they are produced from a slightly-creeping 
