194 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



■ notched, and articulated with the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion). The 

 sori (spore masses) are disposed from two to six to a pinnule. — Hooker^ 

 Species Filicum, iv., p. 5. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 472. 

 Lowe, Ferns British and Exotic, vi., t. 4. Beddome, Ferns of British 

 India, t. 15. 



D. lunulata is entirely distinct from any other Fern in cultivation, its 

 general aspect being that of an arborescent Adiantum, for its pinnules are 

 shaped like those of several Maidenhair Ferns, and the bright metallic colour 

 which adorns its fronds in their young stage helps to make the illusion more 

 complete. The fronds are, however, provided with thick, fleshy stalks, and 

 their leafy portion, at first of a crimson-bronze tint, which gradually turns 

 to a vivid, glossy green, are of a fleshy texture unknown among Adiantums, 

 to which the resemblance is thus much more apparent than real. This Fern 

 might be extensively used for outdoor sub-tropical decorations from mid-June 

 to mid- September, the experiments which have been tried in that respect in 

 France and in Belgium having proved very satisfactory. It has a very 

 disagreeable way of losing its pinnules ; but these drop oiF only when the 

 plant has been allowed to get dry at the roots. 



D. polycarpa — pol-yc-ar'-pa (many-fruited), Baker. 



In habit this stove species resembles a Nephrodium, but its involucre 

 is similar in structure to that of the foregoing species. It is a native of the 

 Malayan Peninsula and Islands, and has an upright trunk from which its 

 fronds, simply pinnate (only once divided to the midrib), 2ft. to oft. long, 

 and 1ft. to l^^ft. broad, are produced. These fronds are furnished with 

 numerous leaflets, closely set and of a soft, papery texture, the largest of 

 which are 6in. to 9in. long and Jin. broad ; but they gradually dwindle down 

 to mere auricles towards the bottom of the fronds, and are cut down about 

 half-way to the rachis into close, linear-oblong lobes. The sori (spore masses) 

 are closely disposed upon the lobes, and eventually become confluent. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, iv., p. 67. Nicholson, Dictio7iary of Gardening, i., p. 472. 



D. p. asplenioides — as-ple'-m-o-i'-des (Asplenium-like). 



A hairy form of the species, from which it is distinguished not only by 

 its villous nature, but also by the narrow shape of its leaflets and the short. 



