128 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



projecting beyond them at the edges. — Hooker^ Species Filicum, i., p. 164. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 445. Lowe, Ferns British and 

 Exotic, viii., t. 22. Beddome, Ferns of Southern Lidia, t. 18. 



This handsome species has produced several varieties, the principal of 

 which are described below : 



D. e. dissecta — dis-sec'-ta (dissected). A garden name for D. dissecta. 



D. e. elata — e-la'-ta (tall), Swartz. 



A form with larger but less feathery fronds, the segments of which are 

 narrower and more deeply and sharply cut. 



D. e. polydactyla — pol-yd-ac'-tyl-a (having many fingers or divisions), 

 , Moore. 



In its general aspect this garden variety resembles the typical form, 

 and is as strikingly handsome as regards the dark glossy green of its 

 substantial, long-enduring fronds ; but instead of the extremity of the frond 

 itself, as well as the ends of the leaflets and of their pinnules (leafits), 

 terminating in a narrow point like those of the species, they become dilated, 

 and split down into several divisions, each of which is again divided several 

 times, so that all the extremities are crested. It is very distinct, and the 

 whole contour of the plant is extremely ornamental. — Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, iv., p. 530. 



D. (Prosaptia) Emersoni — Pros-ap'-ti-a ; Em-er-so'-ni (Emerson's), 

 Hooker and Greville. 

 This singular, stove species, which is the D. alata of Blume, is a native 

 of Madras, Ceylon, Penang, Java, Borneo, and the Philippine Islands. Its 

 tufted, sessile (stalkless) fronds are 6in. to 12in. long, nearly lin. broad at 

 their widest part, and of a coriaceous (leathery) texture. They are narrowly 

 spear-shaped, and are cut more than half-way down to the rachis (stalk 

 of the leafy portion) into numerous narrow-oblong or, at the lower part, 

 triangular lobes, round the edge . of which the sori (spore masses) are 

 disposed from one to six together. — Hooker and Greville, Icones Filicum, 

 t. 105. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 446. Beddome, Ferns 

 of Southern India, t. 20. 



