FERN *'AMILT. 365 



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

 *ruit-dot9 at the top of the lobes ; involucres transversely oblong or linear. 



A. bispidulum, from Australia, &c. : commonly less symmetrical than 

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

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

 {ruiMots crowded along the upper margin, involucres rounded kidney-shaped. 



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

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



§ 1. Veins Jree: stalk stravi-cotored or brownish. 



# Frond simply pinnate : pinnce undivided. 



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

 lanceolate in outline ; pinnse 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 pinnce forked or again pinnate, 

 the divisions and upper pinnce elongated, simple. 



P. Crdtica. Cult, from warm climates, native in Florida; l°-2° high; 

 pinnas 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. serruldita. Cult, from China: 1°-!^° hig:h; pinn» 3-8 pairs, all 

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

 lower pairs pinuately 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 



hbes, tM lowest ones mostly with 1-3 elongated similarly-tobed branches on 

 the lower side. 



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

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

 oblong, J'-l' long, 3" wide, very numerous and often crowded, mostly rather 

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

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



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



primary divisions long-stalked. 



P. aquillna, Common Brake. Plentiful everywhere, l°-5° high, harsh 

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

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

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



§ 2. Dory6ptekis. Veins finely reticulated: frond pedate, and 5-angled: 

 stalk black and shining. 



P. ped^ta. 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. PELL^A, CLIFF-BRAKE. (Name from the Greek, meaning dark- 

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

 have fronds of a somewhat coriaceous texture. 



P. rotUndif61ia, I'rom New Zealand: frond narrow, 6'- 12' lOng, on a 

 thafFy and pubescent wiry stalk, simply pinnate ; pinnae' round or rOundisli- 

 dblong and eiitire; band of spore-cases very wide aiid eSnCeiling the narrow 

 involucre. 



P. atropurptirea. Wild, on shaded limerock ; fronds tuftedi 6'- 12' long, 

 2' -4' wide, with polished and spstt-ingly downy stalks, 2-pinnate, simply pinnate 

 toward the top ; pinnules distinct, oblong or linear-oblong, rarely halberd-shaped, 

 obtuse or slightly mucronate ; involucre rather broad; and at length hidden by 

 the spore-cases. 



P. bast&ta, from South Africa : mostly larger than the last lad very vari- 

 able ; frond, ovaterlanoeolate or oUong, 1 -t3-pinnate ; - pinnulM- lanceolate or 



