226 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



G. (Mertensia) pedalis— Mer-ten'-si-a ; ped-a'-lis (a foot in length), 

 Kaulfuss. 



A greenliouse species, of small dimensions, native of Chili, where it is 

 found as far sonth as Yaldivia, and also of Juan Fernandez. Its fronds, 

 often proliferous and borne on stoutish stalks clothed with deciduous, chaffy 

 scales, are dichotomously flabelliform (twice forked and fan-shaped), and are 

 furnished with narrow-spear-shaped leaflets of a somewhat leathery texture, 

 spreading or recurved, 4in. to 6in. long, Jin. to fin. broad, deeply pinnatifid 

 (divided nearly to the midrib), glaucous (bluish-green) underneath, yellowish- 

 green above, horizontal, and with their margins scarcely recurved. The sori 

 (spore masses) consist of from two to four capsules, disposed together close 

 to the midvein of the segments.- — -Hooker^ Sjjecies Filicwn, i., p. 6, t. 8b. 



G. pinnata — pin-na'-ta (pinnate). Synonymous with G. longissima. 



G. plumaeformis — plu-ma^-for'-mis (feather-formed). A synonym for 

 G. jiagellaris. 



G. (Eugleichenia) polypodioiaes— Eu-glei-che'-ni-a ; pol-yp-od'-i-o-i'-des 

 (Polypodium-like), Smith. 

 This pretty, greenhouse species, of particularly dwarf habit, is a native 

 of Cape Colony, and produces from thin, wiry rhizomes (prostrate stems) 

 small, dichotomously-branched fronds, as slender in their habit as those 

 of G. circinata, but richer in texture. These fronds are borne in great 

 abundance, and are furnished with loose, drooping leaflets, the egg-shaped 

 lobes of which are closely set, of a bright pea-green above, and glaucous 

 (bluish-green) beneath. This species is easily distinguished from others on 

 account of its peculiar colour, as well as by its extremely slender habit. 

 The flat-topped sori (spore masses) consist of three or four capsules sunk 

 together in a cavity. — Hooker, Sjjecies Filicum, i., p. 3. 



G. (Mertensia) pubescens — Mer-ten'-si-a ; pu-bes'-cens (downy), 

 Humboldt, Bonjjlatid, and Kuntli. 

 A very handsome, stove species, from Tropical America and the West 

 Indian Islands, where it is abundant. It is essentially distinct from all other 

 known kinds through the peculiar cobwebby nature of the under-side of its 

 handsome fronds, which are abundantly produced from underground, creeping 



