FERN FAMILY. 365 



numerous, oblong, broadest at the base, obtuse, lobed from the upper edge ; 

 fruit-dots at the top of the lobes ; involucres transversely oblong or linear. 



A. hispid.ulu.ni, from Australia, &c. : commonly less symmetrical than 

 the last, when young irregularly 3 -4-branched; a smaller plant with finely 

 chaffy or bristly stalk and rhachis ; pinnules minutely hairy, nearly entire; 

 fruit-dots crowded along the upper margin, involucres rounded kidney-shaped. 



7. PTERIS, BRAKE. (The ancient Greek name for Ferns, meaning a 

 wing, from the feather-like fronds. ) Another large and widely distributed genus. 



1. Veins free: stalk straw-colored or brownish. 



* Frond simply pinnate : pinnae, undivided. 



P. longifdlia. Cult, from warm regions, native in S. Florida : oblong- 

 lanceolate in outline ; pinuas numerous, linear and tapering from a truncate or 

 cordate base, the upper and lower ones gradually smaller. 



* # Frond pinnate, and with the lower pairs of pinna 1 : forked or again pinnate, 



the divisions and upper pinnce elongated, simple. 



P. Cretica. Cult, from warm climates, native in Florida: l-2 high; 

 pinnae 1-4 pairs, the upper ones slightly decurrent, lower ones cleft almost to 

 the base into 2-3 long linear-lanceolate acuminate divisions; sterile ones and 

 tips of the narrower fertile ones finely and sharply serrate. Var. ALBO-LINEATA 

 has a whitish stripe in the middle of each division. 



P. serrulata. Cult, from China: 1-1^ high; pinnse 3-8 pairs, all 

 but the lowest decurrent and forming a wing 3" wide on the main rhachis ; 

 lower pairs pinnately or pedately cut into several narrow linear-acuminate 

 divisions ; upper ones simple, sterile ones spinulose-serrulate. 



* * # Fronds pinnate, and the numerous primary divisions pinnately cut into many 



lobi'S, the lowest ones most'y with 13 elongated siinilarly-lobcd branches on 

 the lower side. 



P. quadriaurita. Cult, from East or West Indies, &c. : fronds l-3 

 long, 6' -12' wide, broadly ovate in outline; lobes of primary divisions Jinear- 

 oblong, '-!' long,^3" wide, very numerous and often crowded, mostly rather 

 obtuse. Var. ARGYREA, has a band of white along the middle of the 'primary 

 divisions ; to this is added a tinge of red in var. TRICOLOR. 



* * * * Fronds broadly triangular, twice or thrice pinnate throughout: lowest 



primary divisions long-stalked. 



P. aquilina, COMMON BRAKE. Plentiful everywhere, l-5 high, harsli 

 to the touch ; the lowest primary divisions standing obliquely forward ; second- rffi 

 ary divisions pinnatifid with many oblong or linear sometimes hastate lobes, 

 which in a fruiting frond are bordered everywhere with brown spore-cases. 



2. DORYOPTERIS. Veins finely reticulated: frond pcdate, and 5-angled: 

 stalk, black and shining. 



P. pedata. Cult, from West Indies and S.America: frond 2' -6' long 

 and nearly as wide, almost parted into a few primary divisions ; upper ones en- 

 tire, lowest pair again cleft ; the lobes on the lower side much largest. 



8. PELLJEA, CLIFF-BRAKE. (Name from the Greek, meanm- dark- 

 colored, descriptive of the stalk.) Mostly small Ferns: the following species 

 have fronds of a somewhat coriaceous texture. 



P. rotundif61ia, from Now /calami: frond narrow, 6'- 12' long, on a 

 chaffy and pubescent wiry stalk, simply pinnate; pinnae round or roundish- 

 oblong and entire; band of spore-cases very wide and concealing the narrow 

 involucre. 



P. atropurpurea. Wild, on shaded limeroek : fronds tufted, 6'- 12' Ion", 

 2'-4' wide, with polished and sparingly downy stalk*. 2-pinnate, simply pinnate 

 toward the top ; pinnules distinct, oblon- or hnear-ob'on , rarely halberd-shaped 

 obtuse or slightly mucrouate; involucre rather broad, and at length hidden bv 

 the spore-cases. 



P. hastata, from South Africa : mostly larger than the last and very vari- 

 able; frond ovate-lauceolate or oblong, 1 -3-piiuiatc; pinnules lanceolate or 



