LO MARIA. 



375 



totally distinct, the latter being always entirely contracted ; also in the 

 disposition of the sori (spore masses), which are hnear (long and narrow), 

 continuous (uninterrupted), parallel with the midrib, occupying the whole or 

 nearly the whole of the space between it and the edge, and covered by an 

 involucre of a parchment-like texture, formed of the revolute (curled- up) 

 edge of the frond. 



The only accepted sub-division of the genus is : 



Plagiogyria (Plag-i-og-y'-ri-a), Kunze, which differs from Lomaria 

 proper in having the base of the stalk suddenly dilated, fleshy, triquetrous 

 (three-cornered), and furnished with large, spongy glands. Their capsules 

 are also furnished with an oblique ring. 



According to their habit and mode of growth, Lomarias are divided into 

 three sections as follows : 



Section I. Plants with fronds either simple or pinnate, and lower leaflets 

 of the barren fronds more or less distinctly dilated and connected at the base. 

 The best-known representative is L. gihba. 



Section II. Plants with fronds distinctly pinnate, the central and lower 

 leaflets of the barren ones being narrowed at the base and always distinctly 

 separated from one another. This section is best represented by L. procera. 



Section III. Plants with barren fronds either bipinnatifid or bipinnate, 

 as illustrated by L. Fraseri and also by the Australian form of L. discolor., 

 called L. d. hij^innatijida. 



Culture. 



The members of this extensive genus, replete with interesting species of 

 highly decorative qualities, are, as we have said, found in nearly all parts of 

 the globe, and, owing to that fact, their constitution is such that, while some 

 few, such as those which come from New Caledonia, the West Indies, and 

 Tropical America, need stove treatment, the great bulk of them are green- 

 house plants. It is especially the numerous and handsome species native 

 of Brazil, Chili, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa, which can be employed 

 with the utmost advantage for the ornamentation of our cool-houses, as not 

 only is this mode of treatment the most rational and the least expensive, 

 but it is also the only one under which such species thrive well. It is an 

 indisputable fact that, whereas fine-foliaged or flowering jDlants can often, 



