LO MARIA. 



405 



L. p. Gilliesii — Gil-lies'-i-i (G-illies'), Hooker and Greville. 



A pretty, evergreen, greenlaouse Fern, native of Chili and Brazil, and 

 one which is by amateurs frequently mistaken for the previously described 

 L. J), chilensis ; but it only resembles that plant in its tough, parchment- like 

 texture, all other characters being essentially different. Unlike L. p. chilensis, 

 it forms a short, upright stem or trunk, from which the pinnate (once- 

 divided) barren fronds are produced. These, instead of being of an arching 

 habit, are of a somewhat rigid appearance, much shorter, seldom exceeding 

 2ft. in length, and have their leaflets set much more closely. The stalks 

 also differ in colour, for they are light green in this case, whereas those of 

 L. p. chilensis are of a red hue and also much longer. The fertile fronds, 

 also pinnate and upright, are furnished with leaflets which usually have only 

 their -lower half contracted and fertile, the upper half of each being barren 

 and somewhat spathulate (spoon-shaped) — a character which, however, is 

 sometimes also met with in Z. p. chilensis. — Loioe, Ferns British and Exotic, 

 iv., t. 54. 



L. p. ornifolia — or-nif-oh-i-a (Ash-leaved), Fresl. 



A strong-growing variety, which produces fronds oft. long, furnished 

 with as many as forty leaflets, the lower ones distinctly stalked and 

 frequently furnished with glands at the base of their petioles (small stalks). 

 L. longifolia of Schlechtendahl, L. spectahilis of Liebman, and L. tuberculata 

 of J. Smith are identical with this variety. — Hooker., Synopsis Fllicuni, 

 p. 197. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 294. 



L. p. Yestita — ves-ti'-ta (clothed), Blume. 



A form of large dimensions, distinguished from the others through the 

 nature of its rachis (stalk of the leafy portion), which, like the stalks on 

 which the fronds are borne, is densely clothed with brown scales. — 

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



L. pumila — pu'-mil-a (dwarf), Faoid. 



A very pretty, greenhouse species, native of New Zealand, and one which 

 somewhat resembles the better-known L. alpina, but it is much more delicate 

 in texture and has its leaflets distinctly notched. Its small barren fronds. 



