H YMENOPHYLL UM. 



311 



H. dilatatum — di-la-ta'-tum (dilated, enlarged), Sioartz. 



This striking species, native of the Samoan, Fiji, and other Polynesian 

 Islands, also of New Zealand and Java, where it is found grooving among 

 moss and decaying vegetable matter, and on trunks of trees, is one of the 

 largest-growing as well as one of the noblest-habited plants belonging to this 

 charming genus. Its beautiful and extremely translucid fronds, of a pale 

 green colour, are produced from a slender, creeping rhizome (prostrate stem), 

 and borne on erect stalks 2in. to 4in. long, of a wfry nature, and slightly 

 winged above ; they are broadly spear-shaped, three times divided nearly to 

 the midrib, 6in. to 12in. long, 4in. to 6in. broad, and have their main rachis 

 (stalk of the leafy portion) winged throughout, the wing bemg quite fiat. 

 The lower leaflets, divided nearly down to the rachis, have their lower leafits 

 again pinnatifid. The habit of the fronds is particularly graceful, as the 

 weight of the broad leaflets causes them to droop in a very elegant manner. 

 The sori (spore masses), two to twelve to a leaflet, are terminal or axillary 

 on the segments on both sides, and are provided with an involucre that is 

 divided about half-way down and has rounded and entire valves. — Hooker^ 

 Species Filicum, i., p. 104. Hooker and Greville^ Icones Filicum, t, 60. 

 Lowe^ Neiv and Rare Ferns, t. 70. 



H. elasticum — el-as'-tic-um (elastic), Bo7y. 



A pretty plant, of a woolly nature, native of the Seychelles, Mauritius, 

 and Bourbon Islands, where it is abundant, and questionably distinct from 

 the better-known H. Kirtellum. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 64. 



H. elegans — e'-leg-ans (elegant). Synonymous with H. linear e. 



H. exsertum — ex-ser'-tum (exserted, thrust out), Wallich. 



This species, of medium growth, has a wide range of habitat, being found 

 on the hills throughout India, from the Himalayas southward to Ceylon. Its 

 oblong- spear-shaped fronds, twice divided nearly to the midrib, are borne on 

 slender stalks lin. to 2in. long ; they are seldom more than 6in. long and 

 2in. broad, and their main rachis (stalk of the leafy portion), which is winged 

 above or throughout, is more or less densely clothed with deciduous hairs 

 of a rusty -brown colour. The leaflets and their divisions or segments are 

 also slightly hairy on the principal veins. The sori (spore masses), two to 



