248 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



G. (Leptogramme) diplazioides — Lep-tog-ram'-me ; dip-laz-i-o-i'-des 

 (Diplazium-like), Desvaux. 

 A stove species, native of Mexico and the West Indies, with fronds IJft. 

 to 2ft. long, bipinnatifid (twice di^dded half-way to the midrib), and borne on 

 glossy stalks Sin. to 4in. long and scaly below. The central leaflets, 3in. to 

 4in. long and fin. to lin. broad, are cut about two-thirds of the way down 

 into blunt, entire lobes, the lower ones being gradually reduced ; they are of 

 a soft, papery texture, and the oblong sori (spore masses) often reach nearly 

 from the midrib to the edge. — Hooher, Species Filicum, v., p. 140. 



G. elegantissima — e-leg-an-tis'-sim-a (very elegant). Bull. 



This is an exceedingly graceful plant, having all the appearance of 

 a form of G. schizophylla. The accompanying Plate is reproduced from 

 Mr. W. Bull's Catalogue for 1890, from which we also extract the folio wing- 

 description : "A very elegant, new, stove Fern, with beautifully-arching, 

 finely-cut fronds, of a pleasing green colour and firm texture. The rachides 

 (stalks of the leafy portion) are of a dark reddish-brown colour, the pinnaj 

 (leaflets) being divided and subdivided into numberless minute, emarginate 

 (notched) segments, the whole plant presenting a most attractive appearance. 

 From its graceful habit of growth and its long, elegantly-recurving fronds, 

 this variety is admirably adapted for cultivation in suspended baskets, as well 

 as for other decorative and ornamental purposes." The plant originated acci- 

 dentally among a batch of seedlings in a British collection. 



G. (Selliguea) elliptica — Sel-H'-gue-a ; el-lip'-tic-a (elliptic). Baker. 



This greenhouse species has a very wide range of habitat, being found on 

 the Himalayas at 6000ft. elevation, in Japan, and southward to Moulmein, 

 the Philippines, and Queensland. Its fronds, of a soft, papery texture, 1ft. to 

 IJft. long and 6in. to 9in. broad, are cut down nearly to the rachis (stalk of 

 the leafy portion) in the upper, and quite in the lower, part into four to six 

 narrow -oblong or elliptic leaflets on each side ; they are produced from a 

 wide-creeping rhizome (decumbent stem) of a woody nature, and borne on 

 firm, erect, naked stalks 1ft. or more in leng-th. The narrow, oblique sori 

 (spore masses) reach the midrib but not the edge. — Hooker., Species Filicum, 

 v., p. 161. Beddome, Fer?is of British India, t. 150. 



