364 FERN FAMILY. 



4 GYMNO GRAMME. (Name meaning in Greek a naked line, from 



tin- elongated fruit-il(ii>. ) The following eult. species all have live veins and 

 i In- under surface of the fronds covered with n yellow or whitish waxy powder. 



G. triangulai'is, CALIFORNIAN GOLD-FERN. Deserves more general c'tl- 

 'ivntion ; frond 4' -6' long, on slender and poli>hed stalks, broadly 3- or rather 

 5-angled in outline, twice pinnate below, pinnate above ; pinna> oblong-lanceo- 

 late, deeply pinnutitid into obtuse lobes. Smooth and green above, beneath 

 of a rich golden yellow, sometimes paler; the fertile fronds at length nearly 

 covered with brownish lines of spore-cases. 



G. SUlphiirea, of West Indies : fronds narrowly lanceolate in outline, 

 l-lihigh, -2'-', 3' wide, pinnate; pinna; ovate or ovate-oblong, lower ones 

 gradually .--mailer and very remote, pinnatifid into ovate obtuse toothed or rag- 

 ged lobes, the lower surface covered with sulphur-yellow powder. 



G. calomelanos, from Tropical America, the commonest Gold and Silver 

 ferns of the conservatories ; much like the last, but broader and larger, the lower 

 pinna: largest, and lobes mostly acute. The powder white, or in var. CHRYSO- 

 PHY"LLA golden yellow. 



6. NOTHOLJENA. (Name from the Greek, signifying spurious wool, the 

 woolly pube.-ccuee of some species concealing the marginal fruit-dots.) The 

 following eult. species are small, 4' -8' high, ovate in outline, mostly tri- 

 pinnatc ; their ultimate divisions roundish-ovate or oblong, distinct, stalked, 

 and covered beneath with a waxy powder : stalk and branches dark brown 

 and polished. 



N. flavens, from Central America : powder bright yellow ; fruit-dots ex- 

 tending fiom the edge almost to the midrib, so that it might equally well be 

 considered a Gymnogramme. 



N. nivea. Also Central American, and very like the oilier ; but the powder 

 snowy white, and the fruit-dots closer to the margin. 



6. ADIANTTJM, MAIDKX-IIAIU. (Name from the Greek, meaning 

 iinivftfeil, the rain-drops not adhering to ihe fronds.) A large genus, most 

 abundant in warm climates. 



* Frond simply pinnate : exotic. 



A. macrophyllum. Cult, in hot-houses from West Indies; pinnae 2-5 

 pairs and a terminal one, nearly sessile, deltoid-ovate, 2' -3' long, nearly half 

 as wide; fructification in long marginal rarely interrupted lines. 1'innae of 

 sterile fronds wider and somewhat crenately incised and toothed. 



# * Frond 2 - 4 timrx pinnate, ovate-lanceolate in general outline. 



A. Capillus-V6neris, VKNTS-HXIR, so named from the shining capillary 

 branches of the rhachis ; native S., often in conservatories X. : twice pinnate or 

 thrice pinnate at the base, the long upper part simply pinnate; pinnules about 

 ' broad, on verv slender stalks, sharply wedgc-shapcrt at the base, rounded at 

 the top, or rhomboidal, commonly deeply lobed from the upper margin; fruit- 

 dots one to each lobe; involucres kidnev -h:i;i'd or transversely oblong. Plant 

 fi'- 12' high, ol'en pendent from damp shaded rocks in the mouths of wells. 

 &c., in S. of Kurope. 



A. ^Ithiopicum, as commonly seen in hot-houses, is much like the last , 

 but has smaller pinnules not -o ^harply wed-:c-shapcd, often broader than long, 

 and les- deeply lobed; fruit-dots in deep sinuses of the upper margin ; involucres 

 kidney-shaped <>r crescent-shaped. 



A. CUncatum, from S. America, is a much larger plant, broadly triangu- 

 lar in outline, .'< - 4 times pinnate; pinnules smaller and very numerous, wedge- 

 shaped at the base, the upper edge deeply lobed ; fruit-dots as in the last. 



* * * rn>nil tm>-forki <l, iriih elongated simply p/muite divisions springing from 



ranches: 



the upper siilr <>f tin- two recurved branches: midrib of the pinnules none; 

 I'i'iiis forked from the Ixise. 



A. pedatum, MAIPKN-HAM:. Native in shady woods ; whole plant smooth, 

 l-2 high; principal divisions 4' -10' long, l'-li.' wide; pinnules very 



