PELL^A. 69 



P. (AUosorus) robusta — All-os-o'-rus ; ro-bus'-ta (strong), Hooker. 



In the case of this greenhouse species, native of Namaqua Land, South 

 Africa, it ' is difficult to see the meaning of the specific name, as the whole 

 plant does not exceed at most Sin. in height, and it is of the same delicate 

 texture as P. densa ; in size and habit it much resembles the common " Parsley 

 Fern" {Cryptogramme crtspa), from which it differs principally in having its 

 barren and fertile fronds similar and the segments smaller (not exceeding |in. in 

 length and ^in. in breadth), more crowded, and of a darker green colour. 

 The involucre (covering of the sori) is similar in substance to the frond, and 

 is rolled over the fruit till full maturity. — Hooker, Species Filicum, ii., p. 147. 



P. (Platyloma) rotundifolia — Plat-yl-o'-ma ; rot-un-dif-ol'-i-a (round- 

 leaved). Hooker. 

 A very useful and pretty, greenhouse species, of drooping habit, native of 

 New Zealand and Norfolk Island, and, according to Lowe, introduced into the 

 Royal Gardens, Kew, in 1841. The fronds are produced from a stout, scaly, 



Fig. 24. Frond of Pelleea rotundifolia 



(^ nat. size). 



underground -creeping rhizome, and are borne on wiry stalks more or less 

 hairy. Bin. to 12in. long, and clothed throughout with narrow, chaffy, light 

 brown scales. They are narrow, simply pinnate (only once divided to the 

 midrib), Gin. to 12in. long, lin. to IJin. broad, and furnished with numerous 

 short- stalked, oblong or roundish leaflets, blunt (Fig. 24) or sometimes provided 

 with a sharp point, or mucro, at their summit. The fronds are of a leathery 

 texture, of a particularly dark green colour and glossy nature, though the rachis 

 (stalk of the leafy portion) is conspicuously hairy. The sori (spore masses) 

 are disposed in a continuous, broad, marginal line, and eventually hide the very 

 narrow involucre. — Hooker, Species Filicum, ii., p. 136 ; Filices Exoticce, t. 48. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iii., p. 67, Lowe, Ferns British and 

 Exotic, iii., t. 24a. 



