56 THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



and blunt at the extremity. The sori (spore masses) are disposed in broad, 

 marginal lines, which soon hide the involucre. — Hooker.^ Species Filicum, ii., 

 p. 148. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iii., p. 66. 



P. C. flexuosa — flex-ii-o'-sa (zigzag-bending), Link. 



In gardens this variety is usually found under the name of Platyloma 

 flexuosa. It is a North American plant, being found from Austin, Texas, to 

 San Diego County, California, where, according to Eaton, it grows in exposed, 

 rocky places ; it also occurs from Mexico to Peru. Lowe says it was raised 

 from spores in the Eoyal Gardens, Kew, in 1838. The handsome fronds, 

 produced from a rather slender rootstock clothed with narrow, brown scales, 

 are borne on stalks several inches long, more or less fiu"rowed along the front, 



Fl^. 20. Frond of Pelleea cordata fexuosa 



(i nat. size). 



gradually passing into a more or less zigzag stalk (Fig. 20). They 

 are from 6in. to 2ft. long, broadly oblong in outline, twice, or the larger ones 

 three times, pinnate, and furnished with usually alternate leaflets and roundish 

 or egg-shaped, distinctly-stalked leafits that are very blunt at their extremity, 

 of a somewhat leathery texture, smooth, and slightly glaucous beneath. The 

 sori (spore masses) form a broad band, continuous along the margin of the 

 fertile leafits, and are covered by a very narrow involucre. On account of 

 its singular habit, the unusual colour of its fronds, and the broad, dark sori, 

 P. c. flexuosa may be considered as one of the most distinct plants of the 

 whole genus.— Hooker, Species Filicum, ii., p. 148. Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, iii., p. 66. Eaton, Ferns of North America, l, t. 27. Lowe, Ferns 

 British and Exotic, iii., t. 25. 



