440 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



M. arguta — ar-gu'-ta (sharply notched), Mettenius. 



A garden plant, of which the native country has not been ascertained. 

 Its very ample fronds are bipinnate (twice divided to the midrib) and 

 furnished with broadly spear-shaped leaflets, which are divided into oblong- 

 spear-shaped pinnules (leafits) of a somewhat leathery texture, 5in. to 6in. 

 long, IJin. broad, roundish at the base, sharp-pointed at the extremity, and 

 famished with sharp, unequal, incurved teeth along the margins. A few 

 fringed scales of a rusty -brown colour are noticeable over the lower surface 

 as also over the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion). The very small .sori 

 (spore masses) are elliptic, and disposed in synangia with five to six capsules 

 on a side and not touching the base of the teeth. — Hooher, Syyiopsis Filicum, 

 p. 525. 



M. ascensionis — as-cen-si-o'-nis (from Ascension Island), A variety of 

 J£ fraxinea. 



M. (Eumarattia) attenuata — Eu-mar-at'-ti-a ; at-ten-u-a'-ta (attenuated), 

 Lahillardiere. 



This robust-growing species, native of Australia and New Caledonia, has 

 fronds 3ft. to 4ft. long, tripinnate (three times divided to the midrib), and 

 borne on smooth, green stalks also 3ft. to 4ft. long. The leaflets, IJft. to 2ft. 

 long, are all more or less distinctly stalked, the lower ones being furnished 

 with a stalk fully 6in. long, two or three leafits on each side, and a terminal 

 segment 4in. to 6in. long and lin. or more broad, all wedge-shaped at the 

 base and finely toothed at their summit. These leaflets are of a somewhat 

 leathery texture, with both surfaces naked and the rachis (stalk of the leafy 

 portion) not winged. The synangia are about ^in. long, their sides are 

 upright, and the receptacle is linear (very narrow). — Hooker^ Synopsis Filicum, 

 p. 441. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 327. 



M. (Gymnotheca) Cicutaefolia — Gym-noth-e'-ca ; cic-u-tse-for-i-a (Cicuta- 



leaved), Kaulfuss. 



A purely Brazilian species, also known as M. Verschaffeltiana. Its ample 

 fronds are of almost erect habit, 5ft. to 6ft. long, strictly bipinnate (twice 

 divided to the midrib), and borne on stout, round stalks 1ft. to 2ft. long, 

 lin. thick, of a dark green colour, and entirely covered in their lower part 



