188 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



D. tenera — ten'-er-a (tender). A variety of B. cicutaria. 



D. (Eudicksonia) thyrsopteroides— Eu-dick-so'-ni-a ; thyr-sop-ter-o- 

 i'-des (Thyrsopteris-like), Mettenius. 

 A stove, arborescent species, of large size, native of New Caledonia, 

 where, according to Vieillard, its trunk attains a height of from 24ft. to 

 30ft, Its ample fronds are tripinnatifid (three times divided half-way to the 

 midrib) and have their central leaflets oblong- spear- shaped, 1ft. to l^ft. long, 

 4in. to 5in. broad, furnished with close, ascending, hgulate and sessile pinnules 

 (strap-shaped and stalkless leafits) Jin. broad, cut down to a narrow wing. 

 The close and toothed barren segments differ from the fertile ones (which 

 are reduced to the stalk), and bear six to eight spore masses covered by 

 round and firm involucres.— ZToCit'er, Synopsis Filicum, p. 462. 



D. (Cibotium) Wendlandii — Cib-o'-ti-um ; Wend-land'-i-i (Wendland's), 

 Baker. 



This stove species, better known in gardens under the name of Cibotmm 

 spectahile., is a native of Guatemala and Mexico, and in general appearance 

 is closely related to D. regalis, from which it is readily distinguished by its 

 more upright habit and its narrow fronds, which are slightly hairy all over their 

 under- surface and uniformly green. The silky hairs which abundantly cover 

 the crown and the stalks are also of a much lighter colour than those of 

 D. spectahilis ; otherwise its fronds are of the same oblong-triangular shape, 

 of a similar leathery texture, and, like those of that species, subdivided into 

 sessile pinnules (stalkless leafits) and closely- set segments, upon which the 

 sori, four to eight to a segment, are disposed parallel with the edge, being 

 covered by an involucre with equal valves. — Hooker^ Synojjsis Filicum, p. 460. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 468. 



D. (Eudicksonia) Youngise — Eu-dick-so'-m-a ; Young'-i-a3 (Mrs. Young's), 

 C. Moore. 



This greenhouse species, native of New South Wales, somewhat resembles 

 the better-known D. squarrosa; but its trunk, which, like that of that species, 

 possesses the peculiarity of producing young plants on its surface, is more 

 slender still and of a brighter colour. The fronds, of the same oblong- 

 triangular shape and tripinnate (three times divided to the midrib), are borne 



