A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
199 
DAVALLIA — continued. 
outside. One of the most useful Davallias in cultivation, 
succeeding equally well in stove or gre-enhouse, and making 
a very fine specimen, whether grown in a shallow pan of 
good dimensions, in a hanging-basket, on a pyramid of 
peat, or on a vertical piece of cork or a Tree-Fern stem, 
where the rhizomes have plenty of room for extension. 
D. canariensis. 
Probably the best known of all Davallias, and com- 
monly called the Hare's-foot Fern, from the peculiar 
Fig. 87. The Hare's=foot Fern, Davallia canariensis, one of 
the most useful species of this very large genus. 
nature of its prostrate stems (Fig. 87), which are stout, 
naturally creeping downwards, curving over the sides of 
the pot in which it grows, and being covered with pale 
brown, niarrow scales, much resemble a hare's foot. Its 
fronds, 1ft. to IJft. long, 9in. to 12in. broad, and borne 
on strong, erect stalks 4in. to Gin. long, are triangular 
and quadripinnatifid ; they are of a leathery texture and 
bright green in colour. The sori, abundantly produced 
and covered by hialf -cup-shaped involucres, occupy the 
whole of the margin of the ultimate division on which 
thev are disposed, and are usually provided with a horn 
extending beyond them. A very ornamental and interest- 
ing Fern, useful for either pot or basket culture, or for 
planting on the rockwork. It is also an excellent Fern 
for the dwelling-room. 
