256 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
and stem are almost blended, the leafy part of 
the frond being merged into the stem by means 
of a sort of narrow leafy wing. The fronds, which 
are thrown up in little tufts around the crown 
of the plant, are divided into sometimes two and 
♦ 
sometimes three forked divisions, somewhat club- 
shaped, narrow at their base, and broadening 
upwards, where, being widest, they are each jagged 
or slightly forked, the tips of the segments pre- 
senting sharp points. On the backs of the short 
fronds grow the spore-cases, which, when quite 
ripe, run together and form one mass. 
When growing wild on rocks the Forked 
Spleenwort becomes densely tufted, and spreads 
into a mass of crowns, which throw up a little 
forest of fronds. In cultivating this fern, sandy 
peat and old fragments of mortar should constitute 
the soil. With this should be interspersed pieces 
of freestone or sandstone, and the roots should 
be planted between fragments of stone so as to 
imitate, as nearly as possible, the conditions under 
which it is found growing on its native rocks. 
