A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
277 
NO T H O CH L^EN A -continued. 
treatment. Messrs. J. Biackhouse and Son, of York, grow 
it to perfection with very little trouble. All through the 
summer it is grown out in the open, and during the winter 
the plants are simply put into cold frames, where the frost 
often penetrates, and where they are proteeted only from 
excessive wet. 
N. Newberryi. 
A very pretty, greenhouse Fern, native of the southern 
counties of California. It is easily distinguished from all 
other North American species by the division and the colour 
of its broiadly spear-shaped fronds, 3in. to 5in. long, borne 
on nearly black stalks of the same length, and produced 
from a thick, creeping, more or less branched rootstock, 
covered with very narrow, dark brown scales. These fronds 
are tripinnate, and a few of the leafits near the midribs 
being again divided, are thus almost quadripinnate. 
N. nivea. 
This lovely, stove species, of small dimensions, 
deservedly one of the most popular in cultivation, is a 
native of the Andes, from Mexico to Peru. In general 
aspect it resembles N . flavens, though not quite so robust, 
and of a slenderer and more drooping habit. The most 
distinctive character of this extremely interesting plant, 
however, is the dense, pure silvery-white powder covering 
the under-side of its flexible fronds, and through which the 
abundant and naked sori protrude ; these sori are disposed 
all round the margins of the small, roundish leafits. This 
character fully accounts for the common name of Silver 
Maidenhair Fern ; the blackness of the stalks adds to the 
delusion, as their slender and shining nature is very similar 
to that of most Adiantume. A most useful plant where 
baskets of small dimensions are required for the warm 
house; it should be kept very near the light, and in a 
position where no overhead waterings are likely to reach it. 
N. sinuata. 
A beautiful stove or intermediate house Fern, found 
in Peru, Chili, and Mexico, &c. On account of the length 
of its gracefully-pendulous fronds, it should be grown, if 
possible, in a hanging basket — really the only way to show 
off to advantage its lovely fronds, which are l^ft. to 2ft. 
long, lin. to 3in. broad, and borne on firm yet flexible 
stalks 2in. to 4in. long and of a chestnut-brown colour. 
These fronds are simply pinnate, being provided with short- 
stalked, egg-shaped or oblong leaflets, disposed alternately 
along the stalk, and varying from entire and undulated to 
deeply cleft. The texture is thick and leathery, the upper 
