POLYPODIUM. 181 



a brownish, woolly material. The spore masses sometimes cover their entire 

 surface. — Hooker^ Species Filicum, v., p. 54. Beddome, Ferns of British 

 India, t. 370. 



P. obliquatum — ob-li-qua'-tum (oblique), Blume. 



A small-growing, stove species, native of Southern India, Ceylon, Malaysia, 

 and the Philippines. Its fronds. Sin. to 12in. long and l^in. to 2in. broad, 

 are borne on very short stalks, and cut down to the rachis into narrow 

 leaflets dilated at the base ; they are of a somewhat leathery texture, and 

 naked on both sides. The spore masses, sunk in a cavity, are disposed 

 four to six on each side of the midrib, and the edges of the fertile leaflets 

 are sometimes ' undulated. — Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 190. Nicholson, 

 Dictionary of Gardening, iii., p. 191. Beddome, Ferris of Southern India, 

 t. 167. 



P. (Phegopteris) obtUSilobum— Phe-gop'-ter-is ; ob-tu-sil'-ob-um (blunt- 

 lobed), Desvaux. 

 The fronds of this stove species, of medium dimensions, native of 

 Mauritius, Madagascar, the Cameroon Mountains, and Fernando Po, are borne 

 on densely-tufted stalks about 1ft. long, of a slender nature, and nearly 

 naked ; they are 2ft. or more in length. Sin. to lOin. broad, and furnished 

 with leaflets 4in. to 6in. long, gradually narrowed from the base to the 

 point, and cut down nearly to the midrib into entire, slightly sickle-shaped, 

 blunt lobes about ^in. broad. The texture is soft and papery, and the 

 small and abundant spore masses are disposed in one row on each side of 

 the midvein. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicmn, p. 305. 



P. (Phegopteris) Oldhami— Phe-gop'-ter-is ; Old-ham'-i (Oldham's), 

 Baker. 

 A stove species, native of Formosa. Its deltoid fronds (in shape of the 

 Greek delta. A) are borne on stalks 1ft. to IJft. long and densely scaly at the 

 base ; they are l^t. to 2ft. long, Ift. broad, with their lowest leaflets much 

 the largest. The leafits of the lower sides, 2in. to 3in. long, are again divided 

 into distinct, spear-shaped, deeply-cleft segments of a soft, papery texture, and 

 rather glossy on their under- side. The numerous and very dense spore 

 masses are disposed close to the midrib. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 311. 



