FERN FAMILY. 491 



golden-yellow, sometimes paler ; the fertile fronds at length nearly cov- 

 ered with brownish lines of spore cases. Cal. to Ariz. 



♦ * Fronds obscurely triangular- oblong or narrower. 



-I- Twice or less pinnate. 



G. sulphOrea, Desv. West Indies ; fronds narrowly lanceolate in out- 

 line, 1°-U° high, 2'-3' wide, pinnate ; pinnae ovate or ovate-oblong, lower 

 ones gradually smaller and very remote, pinnatifid into ovate, obtuse 

 toothed or ragged lobes, the lower surface covered with sulphur-yellow 

 powder. 



G. cafomelpnos, Kaulf. Trop. Amer., the commonest Gold and Silver 

 Ferns of the conservatories, and variable ; much like the last, but broader 

 and larger, the lower pinnae largest, and lobes mostly acute. The powder 

 white, or in var. chrysophylla golden-yellow. 



G. tartarea, Desv. (G. dealbXta). Trop. Amer.; fronds dull green 

 ibove but snowy-white-powdered below, oblong-triangular, l°-2° long 

 ind half as broad, the dark-chestnut-brown stipes 6'-12' long, the spear- 

 lanceolate pinnae largest at the base of the frond and divided into oblong, 

 bluntish, nearly or quite entire segments. There are forms with yellow 



powder. „ , , . . 



I- -4- Fronds more than twice pinnate. 



G. schizophyl/a, Moore. Fronds from a central crown, slightly powdered 

 below, about 2° long and 6' broad, on slender reddish stipes, the pinnules 

 divided into "ery small ultimate segments. Delicate and gi-aceful, often 

 producing young plants from the fronds. Jamaica. 



5. NOTHOL.SjNA (spelled also NoxnocHL^KNA). (Greek, signifying 

 spurious covering, the woolly pubescence of some species concealing 

 the marginal fruit dots.) The following species are small, 4'-8' high, 

 ovate in outline, mostly tripinnate ; their ultimate divisions roundish, 

 ovate or oblong, distinct, stalked, and covered beneath with a waxy 

 powder ; stalk and branches dark brown and polished. 



//. flavens, Moore (N. chrysophylla of gardens). Central Amer. ; 

 powder bright yellow ; fruit dots extending from the edge almost to the 

 midrib, so that it might equally well be considered a Gymnogramme. 



N. nhea, Desv. Very like the first, but the powder snowy-white, 

 and the fruit dots closer to the margin ; pinnules long-stalked, the seg- 

 ments roundish, the terminal ones largest and either entire or 3-lobed. 

 Central Amer., to N. Mexico, etc. 



N. dealbita, Kunze. Differs from the last (of which it is probably 

 only a variety) in its smaller segments, which are more numerous and 

 longer than broad, the terminal ones rarely lobed. Kan. and Mo., S. W. 



6. ADIANTUM, MAIDENHAIR. (Greek, meaning unwetted, the 

 rain drops not adhering to the fronds.) A large genus, most abundant 

 in warm climates. 



* Frond tioo-forked, with elongated simply pinnate divisions springing 

 from the upper side of the two recurved branches ; midrib of the pinnules 

 none; veins forked from the base. 



A. ped^tiun, Linn. Maidenhair. In shady woods; whole plant 

 smooth, l°-2° high ; principal divisions 4'-10' long, I'-l^' wide ; pinnules 

 very 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. 



