390 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



from these by the thick, leathery texture of its barren fronds, which are 1ft. 

 or more long, spear-shaped, and furnished with leaflets, the lower ones of 

 which are dwarfed into rounded lobes, the middle ones oblong or nearly 

 sickle-shaped, and the upper ones narrower and more sharply pointed. It is 

 also distinct from the above-named species by its fertile fronds, which are 

 remarkable for their stout, densely-fruited, very crowded leaflets, and for the 

 fringed nature of their indusia. — /. Smithy Ferns British and Foreign, p. 290. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 294. 



L. elongata — e-long-a'-ta (elongated), A variety of L. Patersoni. 



L. emarginata — e-n:ar-gin-a'-ta (notched at the apex). A synonym of 

 L. opaca. 



L. falcata — fal-ca'-ta (sickle-shaped). A synonym of L. discolor nuda. 



L. filiformis— ti-lif-or'-mis (thread-like), Cunningham. 



This is a very distinct, greenhouse species, native of New Zealand and 

 Fiji, with broadly spear-shaped barren fronds 1ft. to 2ft. long, 3in. to ■lin. 

 broad, borne on distant stalks lin. to 4in. long, and produced from a stout, 

 climbing rhizome (stem) of a scaly nature. The numerous leaflets are 

 spreading, 2in. to oin. long, |^in. broad, distinctly stalked, gradually narrowed 

 towards the point, and regularly notched or dented throughout. The fertile 

 fronds are smaller than the barren ones, and egg-shaped ; they are composed 

 of numerous leaflets 3in. to -lin. long and very narrow. — Hooker, Species 

 Filicum, iii., p. 33. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 296. 



L. flUYiatilis — fluv-i-a'-til-is (river-loving ?), Sprengel. 



A most distinct, greenhouse species, native of New Zealand, Tasmania, 

 and South Australia, in general aspect widely difl"erent from all other 

 known Lomarias, and easily recognisable by the shape of its leaflets. It 

 is of dwarf, decumbent habit, and although its curious barren fronds, 

 borne on slender stalks 3in. to lin. long and densely scaly, often measure 

 l:|ft. in length, they are never more than 2in. broad. These fronds are 

 produced from a flesh}^ crown, which, with age, forms a little trunk 3in. 

 to lin. high, and is clothed towards the crown with narrow scales of a 

 bright brown colour. They are simply pinnate (only once divided to the 

 midrib) and furnished with oblong, blunt, spreading leaflets, which are 



