252 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
HYMK^OPnYl.l.VM— continued. 
toothed valves. No Hymenophyllum is more effective 
than this species; it is a suitable companion for the 
Killarney Fern, with which, under cultivation, it is often 
found. 
H. dichotomum. 
This pretty, dwarf-growing species, native of Juan 
Fernandez and Chili, where it 
grows on mossy trees, is par- 
ticularly striking on account 
of the beautifully-crisped and 
transparent characters of its 
finely-divided, foliage, which 
distinguish it at first sight 
sight from any other species. 
It delights in sending its tiny 
rhizomes through a coating of 
moss covering either a piece 
of rock or a block of wood or 
Tree Fern. 
flabelfatum. 
This lovely species, also 
known under the names of 
TI. nitens and H. nitidumj 
is a native of Australia, Tas- 
mania, and New Zealand, 
where it grows pendent from 
trunks of Tr-ee Ferns and 
other trees, also from holes 
in rocks and roots of trees. 
It is very variable in size, 
compactness, and degree of 
elongation of its fronds, 
which are of a peculiar, glis- 
teningj bright green hue, the 
same tint being found in both 
young and old fronds. Ac- 
cording to the variety, the 
fronds are from 4in. to 12in. 
long, 2in. to 4in. broad, and 
borne on firm, erect, smooth stalks 2in. to 4in. long; they 
are three times divided to the midrib, and somewhat re- 
semble those of H. demissum in outline, but are more spear- 
shaped, and their leaflets, instead of being smooth, have 
a crisped appearance, produced by a contraction which is 
natural to them. 
Fig. 97. Frond and Portion of 
Rhizome of Hymenophyl= 
lum demissum, one of the 
most decorative of the 
whole genus. 
