CHAPTER XV. 



SPH^ROPTERIS, Wallich. 



(Sphaer-op'-ter-is.) 



HE name of this genus is derived from sphairo, a globe, and 

 Pteris, a Fern, in allusion to the fructification being covered 

 by a globose involucre. Sphceropteris is a division of the 

 tribe Dicksoniece, and in Hooker and Baker's " Synopsis 

 Filicum" forms Genus 12. It is monotypic, that is to say it 

 comprises but one species ; this requires stove temperature, a shady situation, 

 and an abundance of water at the roots all the year round. It is propagated 

 by spores, which are freely produced when the plant has attained its full 

 development. Podeilema of R. Brown and Nematoptera of Kunze are 

 synonymous with this genus. 



S. barbata — bar-ba'-ta (bearded), Wallich. 



This plant is a native of Nepaul, Sikkim, and Khasya, and Beddome 

 states that it is found on the Western Ghats of the Neilgherries. Its fronds, 

 2ft. to 3ft. long, are tripinnate (three times divided to the midrib), and their 

 oblong leafits are deeply pinnatifid. The base of the robust stalks is densely 

 clothed with long, brown, sharp-pointed scales of parchment-like texture, while 

 the stalks of the leaflets are also furnished with smaller ones. The spore 

 masses, of a globose form, are disposed on the back of a vein or veinlet 

 and contained in a large receptacle ; the involucre (covering), of the same 

 shape, at first encloses the whole sorus (spore mass), but at length bursts 



