A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
169 
ASPLENIUM —continued, 
India, throughout the United States, and in neiarlv 
every part of England. According to the situation 
which it occupies, its long and narrow fronds, only once 
divided to the midrib, vary from Gin. to 12in. in 
length ; they are borne on slender, glossy stalks 2in. to 4in. 
long and of a peculiar chestnut-brown colour, and are 
furnished with from fifteen to thirty pairs of dark green 
leaflets, scarcely stalked and of a somewhat leathery texture. 
These are usually roundish-oblong, obliquely wedge-shaped at 
the base, and toothed all round, yet variable in form. The 
fructification is distributed over the frond, and the sori are 
disposed in linear, oblique lines of three to six on each side 
of the midrib, become confluent when fully developed and 
entirely cover the under-side of the leaflets. 
The Maidenhair Spleenwort has produced several very 
interesting and pretty varieties, some of which are more or 
less crested, forked, or branched, while others differ from 
the typical species by having their leaflets variously cut or 
disposed in different ways. These will be found listed in 
the catalogues of Fern specialists. 
A. trilobum. 
A very rare little, stove species, native of Chili and 
South Brazil, with curious fronds l^in. long and lin. broad, 
borne on firm, erect stalks 2in. to 3in. long and scaly 
below. These fronds are very singular in shape, being wedge- 
shaped at the base, entire, with their margin undulated and 
notched, on the lower part deeply lobed with broadly-notched 
divisions. They are of a leathery texture, and the sori are 
broad and short. 
A. Veitchianum. 
A synonym of A. Bclangeri. 
A. viviparum. 
This exceedingly elegant stove species, native of the 
Mauritius and Bourbon Islands, has dark green fronds, 1ft. 
to 2ft. long, 6in. to Sin. broad, borne on firm, erect, greenish 
stalks 6in. to 9in. long. The many closely-placed leaflets, 
4in. to 6in. long, l^in. to 2in. broad, are cut down to 
numerous pinnatifid leafits, the lower segments of which are 
again forked and hardly thicker than a thread : these being 
of a somewhat erect nature give the plant a very feathery, 
light appearance, which is enhanced by the presence 
of young plants, with which the upper surface of its fronds is 
entirely covered, and which, when pegged down to the soil, 
root very freely. The abundant sori are solitary and disposed 
on the margins of the segments. A. v. nobile is a beautiful 
and more vigorous form, and it also requires stove treatment. 
