DAVALLIA. 



141 



it is more slender in all its parts. The graceful fronds, of an elongated- 

 triangular shape, Sin, to 12in. long and 4in, to Sin. broad, are borne on 

 naked, slender, flexible stalks 3in. to 4in. long, and produced from slender, 

 wide -creeping rhizomes (prostrate stems) of a peculiar grey colour ; they are 

 four times pinnatifid (cut nearly to the midrib), with the pinnules (leafits) of 

 the lower leaflets spear-shaped, and deeply cut into oblong segments (Fig. 32). 



f/^. 32. Frond of Daval/ia Mariesii 

 a nat. size). 



The sori (spore masses), disposed at the extremity of the segments, are deeply 

 half-cup-shaped. — Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 446. 



As a basket Fern, D. Mariesii is one of the best of the genus ; its 

 rhizomes, of a very slender and flexible nature, readily take possession of the 

 whole exterior surface of the basket, and peep out in all directions. It is exten- 

 sively used in Japan for forming boats, wreaths, crosses, and other designs, 

 to which purpose its flexible rhizomes readily lend themselves. 



