266 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
NEPHROLEPIS. 
Altliough not a large genus, yet Nephrolepis 
(Ladder Ferns) contains some of the most valuable 
Ferns for planting on rockwork. A peculiarity of 
tlie genus is the indefinite growth of the fronds. Ac- 
cording to the most capable observers, there is no 
necessary limit to the apical development of the 
fronds on mature plants. All Nephrolepises are 
Fig. 107. Nephrolepis Duffii, an elegant, graceful species, one 
of the best for pot culture. 
most tenacious of life, and when it so happens that, 
through want of moisture at the roots, their leaflets 
drop off, the plants soon recover; for, after a few 
weeks of attentive nursing, another crop of fresh 
foliage usually takes the place of the fronds pre- 
viously destroyed. The fronds, which in some kinds 
attain 4ft. in length, are in most, if not in all, cases 
produced from crowns disposed at various intervals 
on long, thin, rapid-growing rhizomes of a wiry 
nature. This is a feature peculiar to the plants 
contained in this genus, and by which means most 
