DA VALLIA. 



127 



finely divided through the contraction caused by the fructification. In each 

 case the lower leaflets are often 1ft. long by 6in. broad ; they are of a 

 leathery texture, and the half- cup -shaped sori (spore masses) are placed 

 obliquely as regards the central veins in the teeth, at some distance from the 

 edge. — Hooker, Species Filicum, i., p. 168, t. 59a. Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, i., p. 445. Lowe, Ferns British and Exotic, viii., t. 23. 

 Beddome, Ferns of British India, t. 107. 



The place that suits this species best is a projecting rock in the warm 

 Fernery, where it can show itself in all its beauty. It is also a shallow- 

 rooting plant, requiring but a few inches of soil to develop itself to perfection, 

 and on that account can easily be grown on the trunk of a dead Tree Fern. 



D. (Eudavallia) dubia— Eu-dav-al'-li-a ; dub'-i-a (doubtful), R. Broivn. 



The ample fronds of this greenhouse species, native of Austraha, and also 

 known as Balantium Brownianum of Presl and Dicksonia duhia of Gaudichaud, 

 are deltoid (in shape of the Greek delta. A), and four times pinnatifid (cut 

 half-way to the midrib). Their leaflets, Ift. or more long, 2in. to 4in. broad, 

 and of a rigid, leathery texture, have their stalked pinnules (leafits) close, wedge- 

 shaped on their lower side at the base, and the oblong, stalkless segments 

 smooth on their upper surface and slightly downy underneath. The small 

 and numerous sori (spore masses) are situated one at the end of each final 

 lobe, and show a small horn extending beyond them. — Hooker, Species Filicum, 

 i., p. 71, t. 24c. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 445. 



D. (Eudavallia) elegans — Eu-dav-ar-li-a ; e'-leg-ans (elegant), Swartz. 



A magnificent, vigorous -growing, stove species, native of Ceylon, the 

 Malayan Peninsula, Java, Borneo, Madras, &c., and remarkable for the elegant 

 divisions of its fronds, which are Ift. to 2ft. long, 9in. to 15in. broad, deltoid 

 (in shape of the Greek delta. A), three times cut nearly to the midrib, and 

 of a bright shining green. These fronds are abundantly produced from a stout, 

 wicle-creepmg rhizome (prostrate stem) densely clothed mth woolly fibres ; the 

 pinnules (leafits) of their lower leaflets are fully Sin. long, lin. broad, and cut 

 down into oblong segments which are slightly toothed, and of a leathery 

 texture. The sori (spore masses), covered by half-cup-shaped involucres, are 

 disposed several on the extremity of each segment, and have sharp teeth 



