PTERIS. 



267 



P. crenata — cre-na'-ta (scalloped). The plant usually found in gardens 

 under this name is P. ensiformis. 



P. cretica — cre'-tic-a (Cretan), Linnceus. 



This deservedly popular, greenhouse species is one of the most useful 

 Ferns for decorative purposes, and the few varieties which have been produced 

 through cultivation are all worthy of special attention. It is a native of Crete, 

 Corsica, Italy, Abyssinia, Bourbon, Natal, Cape Colony, the Caucasus, Persia, 

 Japan, the Himalayas (where it is said to occur at 9000ft. elevation), the 

 Neilgherries, &c., and Eaton states that it is found growing in shady woods 

 in Middle and Eastern Florida. According to Lowe, it was cultivated in 

 the Royal Gardens, Kew, in 1820. Its fronds, 6in. to 12in. long and 

 4in. to Sin. broad, are borne on erect, wiry stalks 6in. to 12in. long. The 

 lateral leaflets (usually two to six opposite stalkless pairs) are broadest and 

 finely toothed when barren ; the lower 

 pairs are often cleft nearly to the base 

 into two or three narrow leafits. They 

 are of a somewhat leathery texture and 

 naked on both surfaces, and the involucre 

 (covering of the spore masses) is of a 

 pale colour and of a parchment-like 

 texture. — Hooker^ Species Filicum, ii., 

 p. 159. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gar- 

 dening, iii., p. 241. Lowe, Ferns British 

 and Exotic, iii., t. 43. Eaton, Ferns of 

 North America, ii., t. 64. 



This species has been greatly in- 

 fluenced by cultivation, and forms have 

 been produced which, though neither 

 named nor described, bring it gradually 



into closer relationship with the more slender-habited P. serrulata. Other 

 varieties however, have been obtained which have been found so essentially 

 distinct as to attract the attention of botanists, and have been duly named and 

 described. All of these, so far as we are aware, have the power of repro- 

 ducing themselves true from spores. The following are the most important : 



Fi^. 72. Pteris cretica albo-lineala 

 (much reduced). 



