GLOSSARY. 271 



OBOVATE. The reverse of ovate. 



OBTUSE. Blunt; without point. 



ORBICULAR. Circular. 



OVATE. Egg-shaped ; the broadest part near the base. 



PALEACEOUS. Clothed with chaff. 



PALMATE. With spreading divisions, like the lingers of the hand. 



PANICLE. A cluster of fruit in which the stems branch more or less. 



PAPYRACEOUS. Paper-like. 



PEDICEL. A tiny stalk ; especially the stalk of the sporangium. 



PEDUNCLE. A stalk ; especially the stalk of the fruiting parts in 



Lycopodhim . 

 PELTATE. Shield-shaped ; said of scales and indusia that are 



attached to the frond by their centres. 

 PERSISTENT. Not falling away ; remaining on the plant. 

 PETIOLE. Same as stalk and stipe. 



PINNA (PL. PINNAE). One of the primary divisions of a frond. 

 PINNATE. Consisting of several leaflets arranged on each side of a 



common petiole or rachis. 

 PINNATIFID. Divided in a pinnate manner, but with leaflets not 



entirely separate. 



PINNULE. One of the small divisions of a pinnate leaf. 

 PROCUMBENT. Lying along the ground. 

 PROLIFEROUS. Giving rise to new plants. 

 PROTHALLIUM (PL. PROTHALLIA). The minute scale-like growth 



from the spore of a fermvort. 

 PUBESCENCE. A covering of soft, short hairs. 

 PUBESCENT. Covered with fine, soft hairs. 

 QUADRIPINNATE. Four times pinnate. 



RACHIS. The continuation of the stipe through a compound frond. 

 RECEPTACLE. The part of the frond to which the sporangia are 



attached, especially in the filmy ferns. 

 REFLEXED. Abruptly bent downward or backward. 

 RENIFORM. Kidney-shaped. 



REVOLUTE. Rolled backward, as the margins of some fronds. 

 RHIZOME. An underground stem ; a rootstock. 

 ROOTSTOCK. Same as rhizome. The portion that produces the 



fronds or stems in most of our species. 

 SCALES. The chaff on the stems of ferns. 



