September 15, 16S7, ] 
225 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
iicind. But, however beautiful all these may be when seen from ' 
below, the G. schizophylla from Jamaica and its garden variety 
glonosa, although nearly deprived of either silver or golden 
powder, are far the best of the genus for basket culture. It is a 
West Indian species, the fronds of which, from 20 inches to 
30 inches long, are rather slender and arching regularly on all 
sides. It differs from all other Gymnogrammas by having the 
leafy portion of its fronds, about 3 inches broad, very finely cut, 
rind by the remarkable peculiarity, as seen in the furcation of the 
greatly resembling those of an Adiantum, even to the black and 
almost invisible stem, peculiar to the representatives of that 
popular genus, but the under surface is thickly coated with a yellow 
powder as thick and as conspicuous as that of any Gymnogramma. 
N. nivea is a plant similar in growth to that just described, but 
silvery white instead of yellow underneath. The under side of the 
fronds of N. sinuata, which frequently attain 24 inches in length, is 
covered with very minute white woolly scales, which produce the 
same effect as the white powder in the other species. 
Tachis at about two-thirds of its length, where it is proliferous, 
■every frond producing a young plant at the point of furcation. 
The very elegant contour of this Fern, its moderate size and grace¬ 
ful habit, its delicately cut pinnules, and also its pleasing colour, 
render it one of the most attractive of all our stove Ferns, and 
one of the very best for cultivation in suspended baskets. We 
must not leave the Gold and Silver Ferns without mentioning the 
lovely Nothochlaenas, which have all the appearance of Gold and 
Silver Maidenhairs, but none of their comparatively delicate con¬ 
stitution. Nothochlaena chrysophylla, sometimes also called N. 
flavens, is an elegant plant with fronds about 12 inches long, 
In addition to the above-described Ferns a few Adiantums also 
make very handsome baskets of medium dimensions, principally a 
crested form of the common A. cuneatum called grandiceps, the 
fronds of which on account of the heavy tassel situated at their 
summit show a drooping habit of a particularly graceful character. 
Then there is the lovely A. amabile of Peruvian origin, with 
fronds from 15 inches to 24 inches long, of a beautiful pale 
green colour, thin and membranaceous texture, and assume more 
gracefully curving lines than those of any other Maidenhair. The 
drooping character of the plant does not exclusively belong to the 
fronds, but is equally shared to a similar degree by their pinnae, 
