A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
329 
under cool treatment, as when subjected to lieat they 
soon become a prey to thrips and scale, whereas 
when grown in a cool atmosphere they are usually 
very clean plants. Although Woodwardias may be, 
and sometimes are, propagated from spores, they 
are usually increased by means of the young bulbils 
produced either towards the end of their fronds, as 
in W. radicans and its varieties, or over the whole 
of their surface, as in W . orientalis. The hardy 
species are also easily multiplied by the division of 
their rhizomes — an operation which is more success- 
fully performed from TsTovember to March than at 
any other time of the year. 
W. an^ustifolia. 
Synonymous with. W . areolata. 
W. areolata. 
In its native habitat this handsome species is found 
growing in swampy woods. The barren and fertile fronds 
are totally different ; both kinds are produced from a root- 
stock sometimes 1ft. long, often branched, round, about 
iin. thick, of a very dark brown colour, and bearing 
blacky fibrous roots along its whole length. The barren 
fronds are by far the more abundant; fhey are borne on a 
short, slender stem^ are Din. to 12in. long and 6in. to 
Sin. broad, and are furnished with numerous pairs of 
oblong-spear-shaped, wavy leaflets, Sin. to 4in. long, ^in. to 
jin. broad, of a soft, papery texture, and naked on both 
surfaces. The fertile fronds, considerably taller than the 
barren ones, and borne on a longer and much, darker- 
coloured stalk, are erect, and provided with narrow-linear 
leaflets, disposed ^in. to lin. apart. W. angustifolia is 
synonymous with this species. 
W. Fortunei. 
Synonymous with W, oinentalis. 
W. orientalis. 
A very distinct and highly decorative species, found 
from Japan southward to Formosa. It has somewhat the 
habic of the better-known W. radicans, to which it is closely 
related, but in general appearance its fronds are readily 
distinguished from those of that species (1) by their much 
more leathery texture, (2) by their deep crimson colour 
when young, and (3) by the numberless minute bulbs, or 
gemmiferous buds, which are produced on their upper sur- 
face when mature — all characters which do not exist in 
TF. radicans. TF. Fortunei is a synonym of this species. 
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