204 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



P. (Drynaria) rigidulum — Dryn-a'-ri-a ; rig-id'-ul-um (slightly rigid), 

 Swartz. 

 A stove species, native of Malaysia and Queensland, frequently met with 

 in gardens under the name of P. diversifolium. Its fronds, produced from 

 a stout, wide-creeping rhizome, are of two distinct forms : the barren ones 

 are stalkless, Gin. to 9in. long. Sin. to 4in. broad, and cut down about half- 

 way to the rachis into blunt lobes ; the fertile ones, 2ft. to 4ft. long and 1ft. 

 to IJft. broad, are long- stalked and distinctly pinnate, with leaflets lin. or 

 more apart. These leaflets are 6in. to 12in. long, Jin. to Jin. broad, narrowed 

 or stalked at the base, and more or less deeply notched along the margin. 

 The textur.e of the fronds is somewhat leathery, they are of a glossy nature 

 and naked on both sides, and the spore masses, disposed in a single row half- 

 way between the edge and the midrib, are immersed. — Hooker, Species Filicum, 



v., p. 98 ; Garden Ferns, t. 5. Nicholson, Dic- 

 tionary of Gardening, iii., p. 193. Beddome, 

 Ferns of British India, t. 314. 



Fi^, 58. Polypodium rivale 



(much reduced). 



P. (Phegopteris) rigidum — Phe-gop'- 



ter-is'; rig'-id-um (rigid). Hooker and 



Greville. 



A very variable, stove species, native of 



Gruatemala and Peru, the forms of which differ 



from those of Aspidium [Polystichum) aculeatum 



only in the want of an involucre. It is 



essentially distinct from P. rigidum of Lowe, 



which is a plant with entire (undivided) fronds, 



of upright habit, very thick texture, and glossy 



appearance. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 310 ; 



Species Filicum, iv., p. 246. Lowe, Ferns 



British and Exotic, ii., t. 37a. 



P. (Drynaria) rivale— Dryn-a'-ri-a ; ri-va'-le (brook-loving), Mettenius. 



This distinct, stove species, which is the Drynaria mollis of Beddome, 

 is a native of the North-East Himalayas ; it produces from its stout, 

 creeping rhizomes clothed with narrow, transparent scales of a bright rusty- 



