406 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



oin. to 4in. long, ^in. broad, and spear-shaped, are abundantly produced from 

 a slender, creeping rhizome (prostrate stem) clothed at its summit with 

 bluntish scales of a bright rusty-brown colour, and borne on stalks about 

 lin. long. The spreading leaflets, linear-oblong in shape and of a soft, 

 papery texture, are blunt at their extremity and distinctly crenate. The 

 fertile fronds, borne on a stalk oin. to 4in. long, are of erect habit and 

 furnished with narrow-oblong leaflets having a considerable space between 

 them. — Hoolcer, Species Filicwn, iii., p. 18. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, 



ii. , p. 294. 



L. punctata — punc-ta'-ta (dotted). Synonymous with L. Patersoni 

 elongata. 



L. punctulata — punc-tul-a'-ta (dotted), Kunze. 



This is a singular and interesting, greenhouse species, native of South 

 Africa, from Natal southward, and Java. Its barren fronds, oblong-spear- 

 shaped, 1ft. to 2ft. long, and 4in. to Gin. broad, are produced from a stout 

 stem densely scaly at the crown, and borne on erect stalks Sin. to 6in. long. 

 The narrow, somewhat sickle-shaped leaflets are very numerous ; they 

 measure 2in. to Sin. in length and |in. in breadth, are rounded or cordate 

 (heart-shaped) and auricled (eared) at their base, the lower ones deflexed, 

 and the lowest reduced to mere lobes. The fertile fronds are usually 

 similar in shape and size, but their leaflets are seldom more than ^in. in 

 breadth. This species has sometimes the fructification of a Lomaria and 

 sometimes that of a Blechnum. The most surprising abnormal form, however, 

 is that which is figured in the "Botanical Magazine" (t. 4768) under the 

 name of Scohrpendrium Krehsii, in which every leaflet has a large number 

 of parallel rows of fructification extending from the midrib towards the edge, 

 at an acute angle with the former ; but it does not possess the slightest 

 outward sign or character of a Scolopendrium. — Hooher, Species Filicum, 



iii. , p. 31. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 294. Lowe, Ferns 

 British and Exotic, iv., t. 53. 



L. punctulata is an easily-grown plant which requires thorough drainage, 

 stagnation at the roots being particularly injurious to it. Its fronds are very 

 valuable for decoration, as they retain their freshness for a long time when 

 cut and kept in water. 



