BA VALLIA. 



147 



Java, Borneo, and Singapore, where some trees have their trunks hterally 

 covered with it. Its httle fronds, deltoid in outhne (in shape of the Greek 

 delta, A), seldom exceed lui. long and Jin. broad (Fig. 34). They are produced 

 from a slender, scaly rhizome (prostrate stem), and are borne on smooth stalks 

 Jin. to lin. long ; they are bi- or tripinnate (twice or three times divided to 

 the midrib), with all their divisions almost fiHform (thread-like) and the 

 ultimate segments sharp at the point. The sori (spore masses) are placed at 

 the sinuses (openings) of the ultimate forks, 

 and are covered by involucres that are 

 broader than the segments. — Hooker, Species 

 Filicum, i., p. 160. Nicholson, Dictionary of 



Gardeninfi, i., p. 446. Beddome, Ferns of - ^ ^» ^ 



British India, t. 97. 



Although it grows only a few inches 



high, D. parvula, with its small, dark green 

 ^ T p 1,1,,. 1 Fig. 34. Damllia parvula 



ironds oi a very leathery texture, is a general ^^^^ ^^^^^ 



favourite amongst lovers of plants which are 



attractive either through some peculiar conformation or simply on account of 

 the neatness of their habit. To be grown to perfection, this exquisite little 

 gem requires only a very shallow pan, great care being taken to keep the 

 whole of the rhizomes above ground. It also forms very pretty objects when 

 grown on a Tree-Fern trunk, or on imitations of trunks made of sphagnum 

 moss tightly bound together. 



D. (Humata) pectinata— Hum-a'-ta ; pec-tin-a'-ta (comb-hke), S7nith. 



A stove species, of small dimensions, native of the Tropical Polynesian 

 Islands. It produces, from a creeping, scaly rhizome (prostrate stem), spear- 

 shaped fronds 4in. to Sin. long and 2in. to Sin. broad, which are borne on 

 upright stalks 2in. to 4in. long and of a more or less scaly nature. They 

 are cut down nearly or quite to the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion) into 

 parallel, linear-oblong leaflets of a leathery texture, the lowest pair deeply 

 pinnatifid (cut nearly to the midrib) on the lower side, with lobes sometimes 

 Jin. long. The sori (spore masses) are obliquely placed in two sub-marginal 

 rows. — Hooker, Species Filicum, i., p. 153. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, 

 i., p. 446. Hooker and Greville, Icones Filicum, t. 139. 



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