CHAPTER XVIII, 



DOODIA, B. Brown. 

 (Doo'-di-a.) 



Samuel Doody, a London apothecary and botanist, this small 

 genus, composed entirely of plants of dwarf habit, was dedi- 

 cated by R. Brown ; it is a division of the tribe Blechnew, 

 and forms, in Hooker and Baker's " Synopsis Filicum," 

 Genus 37. Doodias are confined to the islands from Ceylon 

 eastward to Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia ; there is no representative in 

 Britain. The fronds of all the species at present known are either pinnate or 

 pinnatifid (divided wholly or partly to the midrib), and are from Gin. to 

 18in. long; their veins form one or two series of arches between the midrib 

 and the edge, on which the sori (spore masses) are placed. The sori are 

 oblong in shape or slightly incurved, superficial, and placed in one or more 

 rows parallel with and between the midribs and margins of the pinnaB (leaflets) ; 

 they are covered by an involucre of the same shape as the sorus, and of a 

 membranous (parchment-like) texture. Several kinds which in commerce hold 

 specific rank are but forms of the more distinct species. 



Culture. 



Although not an extensive genus, Doodia is very rich in decorative 

 Ferns of small habit, as, with the exception of D. blechnoides, all the species 

 and varieties which it contains are of dwarf growth ; they are, nevertheless, 

 found very useful, especially for Fern-cases and for edgings of window-boxes 



