BLECHNUM. 



9 



B. (Eublechnum) longifolium— Eu-blech'-num ; long-if-oy-i-um (long- 

 leaved), Hooker and Bonpland. 

 A variable, stove species, native of Tropical America and the West Indies. 

 Its fronds are simply pinnate (only once divided to the midrib), usually from 

 9in. to 12in. long including their stalks, and are produced from a slender, 

 creeping rhizome ; they consist of 

 a terminal leaflet and three to six 

 pairs of lateral ones (Fig. 2), of 

 a leathery texture, 3in. to 5in. long 

 and Jin.- broad, gradually narroAved 

 towards the point and somewhat 

 heart-shaped at the base, the lower 

 ones about lin. apart. The sori 

 (spore masses) are disposed in broad 

 lines close to the midrib. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, iii., p. 49, t. 94. 

 Loive, Ferns British and Exotic, 

 iv., t. 37. 



Fi^. 2. Blechnum longifoliiiin 

 (i nat. size). 



B. 1. fraxineum— frax-in'-e-um 

 (Ash-leaved), Willdenow. 

 A variety generally found in gardens mider the name of B. fra.r.inifolimn ; 

 it is more robust and closer -growing than the type, with six to eight pairs of 

 leaflets, sometimes lin. broad. — Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 195. 



B, 1. gracile — grac'-il-e (slender), Kaulfuss. 



A distinct and pretty variety, differing from the species through the slender 

 habit of its fronds, which are of a beautiful red colour when young. It is 

 a good companion to B. Lanceola when planted in the Fern- case, and thrives 

 under the same treatment.- — Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 195. 



B. (Blechnidium) melanopus — Blech-nid'-i-um ; mel-an'-op-us (having 

 a dark foot or stalk). Hooker. 

 A greenhouse species, of small dimensions, native of the Khasia Hills, 

 Bengal, and distmct through the dark chestnut-brown colour of the stalks on 



