142 
VIII. ATIIYIUUM. 
by early frosts. In vernation they are circinate, but as 
they unfold, the apex by degrees becomes liberated, and 
hangs down, giving the half 
developed fronds the ap- 
pearance of a shepherd's 
crook. The fronds grow 
arouod the crown, in vigo- 
rous plants often to the 
number of twenty or thirty, 
such examples being noble, 
as well as lovely. The out- 
line is lanceolate. The 
stipes, which varies from a 
fourth to a third of the 
height, is clothed with nu- 
merous elongated scales 
around the base, where it 
is much swollen, a few 
smaller scales occurring 
higher up. The pimue vary 
considerably in disposition, 
being either closer or more 
distinct, according to the 
situation in which the plant 
has been growing ; thy are 
three to six inches long, 
lanceolate, more or less at- 
tenuated from a broad base, 
distinctly pinnate, the pin- 
nules becoming more or less 
decurrent in some of the 
varieties. The pinnules are 
[A. F f. crispnm ] 
oblong, sometimes approaching to lanceolate, acute, 
flat, deeply pinnatifid ; the anterior basal lobe larger 
than the rest ; the lobes variously toothed, usually 
bi or tridentate towards the base, merging into simply 
toothed towards the apex. The venation is very distinct, 
