CHAPTER IV, 



ONYCHIUM, Kaulfuss. 



(On-ycli'-i-um.) 



HE name of this genus of very beautiful Ferns, from Arabia, 

 India, Cuba, Japan, &c., is derived from onyx, onychos, a claw, 

 in reference to the shape of the lobes of the fronds. In 

 Hooker and Baker's " Synopsis Filicum " these plants form 

 Genus 27, being a small but very interesting division of the 

 tribe Pteridece. These Ferns, in fact, differ from Pteris, with which they are 

 united by Mettenius, much more in the cutting of their fronds, and the 

 smallness and narrowness of their ultimate segments, than in their fructification. 

 The sori (spore masses) are placed upon a continuous, linear (very narrow) 

 receptacle, which connects the summits of several veins ; they are covered 

 with a long and narrow involucre, which is disposed parallel with the margin 

 of the segments, pressed down over the spore masses, and with its edge nearly 

 or quite reaching the midrib. The genus has no British representative. 



Culture. 



Although four species belonging to this genus are known in cultivation, 

 the two most extensively grown — 0. auratum. and 0. japonicum — are extremely 

 elegant, and possess some useful decorative qualities. Their fronds are so 

 light and finely cut, and of such a pleasing colour, that they are specially 

 adapted for mixing with cut flowers, amongst which they look as graceful as 



