216 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS 



G. (Eugleichenia) circinata— Eu-giei-che'-m-a ; cir-cin-a'-ta (circinate 

 or rolled inwards), Sicartz. 

 This is an elegant, greenhouse species (Fig. 47), native of Anstraha, 

 Tasmania, New Zealand, ISTcav Cale- 

 donia, and Malacca. It is of parti- 

 cularly slender habit, with short and 

 narrow fronds borne on stems clothed 

 with chaffy hairs of a reddish-brown 

 colour. The lobes of their ' leaflets 

 are ovate or nearly round, especially 

 when fertile, more or less glaucous 

 underneath, and have their margins 

 slightly rolled inwards. The sori 

 (spore masses) are disposed in cap- 

 sules three or four together, and very 

 abundantly produced. This species 

 is also known as G. microphylla. — 

 Hooker Species F/'licum, i., p. 3, t. 2. Nicholson., Dictionary of Gardeninq, 

 ii., p. 72. Bedclome, Ferns of British India, t. 177. 



Several very handsome 

 forms, considered in com- 

 merce as distinct species, are 

 only varieties of G. circinata. 

 The following are the most 

 ornamental of those known 

 in cultivation : 



G. c. g-lauca — glau'-ca 

 (bluish-green). Identical 

 with G. c. Mendelli. 



Fig. 47. Gleichenia circinata 

 J nat. size). 



Fig. 48. Gleichenia circinata Mendelli 

 (gieatly reduced). 



G. c. Mendelli — Men- 



del'-h (Mendeirs), Moore. 

 One of the most distinct and free-growing kinds in cultivation, diftermg 

 from the foregoing species in being much more robust in growth and of a 



