The Nothochlæna argentea appears to be very ra re in cultivation
in Great Brita in , so much so th a t it is even difficult to procure
a frond.
A stove F e rn , req u irin g much care in its cultivation, b u t the
attention given to it is well repaid when the plant becomes a
full-grown specimen.
This species is a native of South America and Mexico, and
is an evergreen Fern .
The form of the frond is trian g u la rly ovate, sub-bipinnate,
the pinnules crenate and oblong-obtuse, the lower pinnules being
distant.
T h e stipes, rachis, and even the midrib of the pinnæ are
black and polished. T h e stipes scaly near the base.
Sori linear and termina l, being composed of a single row
of spore-cases ro u n d each segment, immediately within the margin.
T h e fronds rise out of a somewhat creeping rhizoma.
T h e colour is dull g reen above, beneath the farinose powder
renders it snowy white.
A dwarf species, having somewhat the appearance of a diminutive
p lan t of the Cheilanthes fa r in o sa of Ho o k e r, the fronds
seldom as much as s is inches in length.
T h e only British Catalogue which includes this F e rn , appears
to he th a t of Mr. Sim, of the F o o t’s Cray N u rse ry , in K en t.
T h e only plants which I possess are seedlings, raised in the
autumn from spores, and consequently n o t y e t characteristic.
I am indeb ted to Mr. H en d e rso n , of W en tw o rth ; Mr. Sim,
of F o o t’s C ray ; and to Mr. Norman, of H u ll, for beautiful
fronds of N . argentea.
T h e illustration is from a frond forwarded by Mr. Henderson,
of lYentworth.
Portion of mature Frond, upper side.
NOTHOCHLÆNA DISTANS.
R , B r o w n . K ü n z e . K a u l f u s s ? L a b il l . M o o r e a n d
H o u l s t o n . F e e . J. S m i t h .
P L A T E X IX .— B.
Nothochlæna—Spurious cloak. D ista n s—D istant.
A K A B E F e rn , being seldom met with in our British collections,
and consequently a difficult species to procure fronds of. I t is
a neat in teresting F e rn , and one which should be more generally
cultivated.
Nothochlæna distans is a dwarf evergreen species.
A greenhouse F e rn .
N ew H o llan d appears to be the only country in which this
species has been found.
This Nothochlcena was introduc ed into F n g la n d in the year
1823, and was raised from spores at the Royal Gardens, K ew ,
in 18-36.
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