LO MARIA. 



407 



L. rigida — rig^-id-a (stiff). Synonymous with L. dura. 



L. robusta — ro-bus'-ta (strong). A name applied to varieties of 

 L. Boryana and L. gihha. 



L. (Plagiogyria) semicordata — Plag-i-og-y'-ri-a ; se-mic-or-da^-ta (half 

 heart-shaped), Baker. 

 A stove species, of medium dimensions, native of Tropical America, its 

 habitat extending from Mexico to Peru and South Brazil. Its broadly spear- 

 shaped barren fronds, 1ft. to 2ft. long and 4in. to Gin. broad, are borne 

 on erect, naked stalks 3in. to Gin. long, dilated (widened) and winged at 

 the base, and produced from a short, upright stem. The numerous leaflets, 

 Sin. to 4in. long and little more than Jin. broad, are somewhat cordate 

 (heart-shaped) at the base and gradually narrowed at the point. They are 

 of a somewhat leathery texture, finely serrated (toothed like a saw) 

 throughout, and the lower ones are deflexed (thrown back). The fertile 

 fronds are similar in shape and size, but their very narrow leaflets are 

 more distantly placed. — Hooker.^ Species Filicum, iii., p. 19. 



L. spectabilis — spec-ta'-bil-is (showy). A synonym of L. jjrocera 

 ornifolia. 



L. Spicant— Spi^-cant (spiked), Desvaux. 



Although a thoroughly British plant, the " Hard Fern," as this species 

 is popularly called, and which is also known as Blechnum horeale and 

 B. Spicant., is of a most cosmopolitan character, being found in nearly every 

 part of the world. Besides growing wild throughout Europe, from the 

 Arctic regions to Madeira and Crete, it is also found in the Caucasus, 

 Kamtschatka, Japan, the Cape of Good Hope, &c. It is plentiful in North 

 America, where, according to Eaton, it grows on the ground in dense forests, 

 sometimes in open places from Mendocino County, California, to Oregon, 

 British Columbia, and Sitka ; but nowhere is it met with in such abundance 

 as in the British Islands, notably in St. Faith's, Newton Woods, near 

 Norwich ; at Bromsgrove Lickey, in Worcestershire ; at the bottom of the 

 thicket in the Vale of Dudecombe, near Pains wick ; at Hainsford, in 

 Norfolk ; in Anglesey, in various parts of Hertfordshire, and in the Northern 

 counties. It is also spread all over Ireland, but principally in the counties 



