LO MARIA. 



393 



lin. broad, are produced from a short-creeping rhizome (prostrate stem) 

 that is densely clothed with large, spear-shaped, brown scales, and are borne 

 on nearly black stalks lin. or less in length ; the leaflets are of a somewhat 

 leathery texture, dull green in colour, somewhat strap-shaped, blunt or 

 slightly pointed, closely set, and enlarged at the base. The fertile fronds 

 are quite as large as the barren ones, are furnished with distant, narrowly 

 sickle-shaped leaflets, and are borne on much longer stalks. — Hooker^ 

 Synopsis Filicum, p. 481. 



L. gibba — gib^-ba (gibbous, swollen), Lahillardiere. 



This well-known, stove or greenhouse species, native of New Caledonia, 

 Aneiteum, and the Isle of Pines, is remarkable principally on account of 

 the symmetrical and pleasing form of its growth, which is very rapid : 

 indeed, it is probably owing to this last-named quality, and also to the fact 

 that the plant is easily raised from spores and quickly grown in heat, where 

 it does not object to moisture overhead, that L. gibba has become such 

 a popular and widely- cultivated plant. Its elegant barren fronds, 2ft. to 3ft. 

 long and 6in. broad, are deepl}^ pinnatifid, their leaflets being cut down 

 nearly to the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion), but dilated and connected 

 at the base ; in the centre of the frond they are 2in. to Sin, long, but the 

 lower ones grow shorter very gradually ; all are of a bright shining green 

 colour and of a leathery texture. In the fertile fronds, the leaflets are narrow 

 and contracted, and the sori (spore masses) occupy the whole space between 

 the edge and the midrib. Both kinds of fronds are borne on short, strong, 

 upright stalks densely clothed below with long, narrow, black scales, and 

 produced from a fleshy crown which in course of time forms a stem or 

 trunk 4ft. or even 5ft. in height. These fronds, which are of a somewhat 

 erect habit when the plant is still in a young state, become more pendulous 

 as the specimen gets older, and are of a very elegant, arching habit when 

 the trunk is formed. — Hooker., Species Filicum, iii., p. 5. Nicholson, 

 Dictio7iary of Gardening, ii., p. 294. 



L. gibba is certainly the most useful Lomaria in cultivation for decorative 

 purposes, as may be inferred from the enormous quantities which every 

 season find their way to the flower markets and florists' shops. In the 

 young state especially they are found invaluable for dinner-table decoration, 



