514 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
ASPLENIUMS AS INDOOR PLANTS. 
A MONG the plants of an evergreen nature which are 
"^ used for the decoration of the dwelling-house the 
several species of Asplenium, which are natives of Aus- 
tralia and New Zealand, as also a few of their varieties 
which owe their origin to cultivation, arc among the most 
appreciated, and justl) so, as they are not fastidious, and, 
provided they are allowed a regular supply of moisture 
at the roots, they do not object to the comparatively dry 
atmosphere of the room. Being, when fully developed, 
of various dimensions, from the dainty, dwarf, compact- 
growing A. Colensoi, the fronds of which seldom exceed 
9 inches in length, to the large-growing A. flaccidum, 
whose fronds frequently reach 3 feet in length, they are 
suitable for almost any decoration where great height is 
not required. 
Asplenium Divsifolium 
Culture. — Aspleniums are not difficult to grow, suc- 
ceeding admirably under good greenhouse treatment with 
intermediate temperature and in a compost of fibrous 
loam, peat, or leaf-mould, and sand in about equal propor- 
tions. Their propagation is readily effected by the layer- 
ing or pegging down of the young plants produced on 
the upper surface of their fronds. A great point in favor 
of the cultivation of Aspleniums for room decoration lies 
in the fact that all of them are practically free from the 
attacks of thrips, green-fly, and other insects which are 
so troublesome in the case of many other decorative 
plants. 
A. diversifolium. — The subject of our illustration, 
which in commerce is known under the various names of 
A. dimorphum, diversifolium, biforme, divaricatum, and 
probably some other names, is one of the most elegant, 
as well as one of the most accommodating, members of 
the genus, ft is a native of Norfolk Island, producing in 
abundance gracefully arching fronds, each 24 inches to 30 
inches long. The illustration shows that while some parts 
of the leafy portion of the fronds are provided with nar- 
row leaflets only, other parts, and in some cases the entire 
fronds, bear leaflets of a much broader character. These 
fronds, in fact, are so totally different in appearance that 
unless one sees the plant growing it is difficult to recon- 
cile the two as belonging to the one and the same plant. 
A. bulbiferum is a handsome species of somewhat 
smaller dimensions. Its fronds, which never vary in char- 
acter, and are of a pleasing pale-green color, seldom reach 
more than 2 feet in height and 10 inches in breadth. 
Though of a naturally erect and somewhat stiff habit, 
they frequently become more or less drooping through the 
weight of the young plants with which their upper sur- 
face is covered, and at some time of the year these young 
plants are so fully developed that they are provided with 
half-a-dozen fronds each. It is a native of Australia and 
New Zealand and may be noted as one of the best known 
ferns to withstand the dry atmosphere of the dwelling- 
room. 
A. colensoi is, so far as we know at present, the small- 
est grower in this section of ferns. It is a native of New 
Zealand, with very pretty, dainty fronds of a particularly 
soft, pleasing color. These are produced in great abund- 
ance from a thick, fleshy crown, and seldom attain more 
than 9 inches in length and 4 inches in width. Thev are 
very proliferous, being, when fully developed, literally 
covered with young plants all over their upper surface. 
On account of its small size, and of its neat and compact 
habit, this species is particularly well adapted for grow- 
ing in very small fancy pots for table decoration. 
A. decorum, which also forms the subject of our illus- 
tration, is of a very graceful and compact habit, of me- 
dium dimensions, with fronds 12 inches to 15 inches long, 
partaking of the characteristics peculiar to A. diversi- 
folium, from which it is issue. This is a home product, 
being a seedling raised from that species. It also shares 
in the viviparous character of the other Aspleniums previ- 
ously described and is readily propagated from the young 
plants produced on the upper surface of its somewhat 
more finelv divided fronds. 
Asplenium Decorum 
A. laxum pumilum. — This is a form of A. bulbiferum, 
from which it differs essentially not only in the peculiarly 
dark-green color of its foliage, the sub-divisions of which 
are so narrow as to make the spore masses appear as if 
marginal, but also by the crowded disposition in which it 
is produced from a crown which, instead of having, like 
in the other Aspleniums, the appearance of a shuttlecock, 
is always well filled witli partly developed fronds which, 
when fully grown, are seldom more than 15 inches long 
and 8 inches broad. As these are three times divided 
half-way to the midrib, of a slender nature, and invariably 
falling outward, they form a very compact and decora- 
tive plant. 
Several other Aspleniums, such as A. Belangeri, Fabia- 
num, cicutatium, flaccidum and viviparum, may also be 
grown, but those described above are undoubtedly the 
most suitable for indoor decoration and are all of easy 
culture. — The Garden (English). 
