244 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



broad -egg -shaped, blunt segments densely clothed on both sides with firm, 

 spreading hairs, especially on the main ribs. The spore masses eventually 

 fill up the whole of the lobes except a narrow border. — Hooker, Synopsis 

 Filimm, p. 516. 



G. (Selliguea) caudiformis — Sel-li'-gue-a ; cau-dif-or'-mis (tail-like), 

 Hooker. 



This singular, stove species, native of Moulmein, the Malayan and Poly- 

 nesian Islands, and New Caledonia, produces from a creeping rhizome (stem) 

 of a woody nature, and clothed with large, spear-shaped, pale brown scales, 

 its curious, leathery fronds : these are of two distinct sorts, though both are 

 borne on firm, erect, glossy, pale brown stalks 6in. to 9in. long ; they are 

 naked on both sides. Gin. to 9in. long, and the barren ones are oin. to 4in. 

 broad, whereas the fertile ones are seldom 2in. broad. The sori (spore 

 masses) are disposed in one continuous or interrupted row between the 

 main veins. — Hooker., SjJecies Filicum, v., p. 158. Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, ii., p. 104. Botanical Magazine, t. 5328. 



G. (Eugymnogramme) cheerophylla — Eu-gym-nog-ram'-me ; chao- 

 roph-yl'-la (Chervil -leaved), Desvaux. ■ 

 Although undoubtedly a Gymnogramme, this elegant, stove species, native 

 of the West Indies, Brazil, and various parts of South America, in general 

 appearance differs materially from most other members of the same genus, 

 having the delicate, fragile appearance of the plants belonging to Cystopteris. 

 Its delicate fronds, of a soft, papery texture, are deltoid (in shape of the 

 Greek delta. A) and borne on slender stalks oin. to 6in. long, green upwards, 

 chestnut-brown near the base ; they are quadripinnatifid (four times divided 

 half-way to the midrib), with lower leaflets and leafits deltoid and further 

 divided into flabellate (fan- shaped) segments ; their colour is a pale, bright 

 green, and the whole of the under-side is covered by the sori (spore masses), 

 which are light brown in colour and disposed in close lines, one to each 

 of the divisions, which are confluent in the centre of the segments. Fig. 57 

 was drawn from a specimen at the Royal Gardens, Kew ; but the general 

 appearance of the plant is usually lighter, the lobes being much narrower 

 than in our engraving. — Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p. 136. Nicholson, 

 Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 104. Lowe, Ferns British and Exotic, i., t. 8. 



