LYGODIUM. 



433 



L. SCandens — scan'-dens (climbing), Swartz. 



This is a species of very slender growth and somewhat bushy 

 habit, thoroughly distinct from the L. scandens of commerce, which is 

 synonymous with L. japonicum. Swartz's L. scandens is a native of South 

 China, the Himalayas, Queensland, the Malayan Islands, Ceylon, and the 

 Guinea Coast. The primary petiole (first stalk) is very short, and the 

 secondary ones are about Jin. long. The leaflets, 4in. to Sin. long and 

 2in. to 4in. broad, are composed of a terminal segment and four or . five 

 on each side, which are very variable in shape. The segments are usually 

 simple (undivided), broadly strap-shaped, with a rounded or heart-shaped 

 base, sometimes halbert- shaped or even slightly pinnate (cleft to the midrib) 

 below, always articulated (jointed) to a short petiole, and spread at right 

 angles from the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion) ; they are of a firm texture 

 and glaucous (bluish-green) colour, naked, or nearly so, on both surfaces. 

 The fructification consists in the spikes, one to three lines long, being disposed 

 in close rows along the edge of the segments. A character peculiar to this 

 species is the natural propensity which it possesses for developing fresh young 

 shoots all along the stems, being in that respect much more prolific than any 

 other sjoecies in cultivation. The variety microphyllum of Brown is 

 a common form, with short, broad segments. — Hooher, Synopsis Filicum^ 

 p. 437. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 309. Beddome, Ferns of 

 Southern India, t. 61. 



L. Schkuhri — Schkuhr'-i (Schkuhr's). A synonym of L. reticulatum. 



L. semihastatum — se-mi-has-ta^-tum (half halbert- shaped), Desvaux. 



A native of the Mariana Islands, with primary petiole (first stalk) 

 nearly or quite obsolete, and secondary ones lin. or more long. The leaflets 

 are once forked and short-stalked ; the divisions, simple and strap-shaped, are 

 6in. to Sin. long, nearly lin. broad, unequal at the base, on one side of which 

 they are distinctly heart-shaped. The texture is leathery, and in the fertile 

 segments the spikes, about Jin. long, are disposed in close rows along their 

 edge. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 437. 



L. spectabilis — spec-ta'-bil-is (showy). Synonymous with L. heterodoxum. 



VOL. II. 2 F 



