452 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



M. serratum— ser-ra'-tum (saw-toothed), Cavanilles. 



This very decorative species is a native of Mexico, the West Indies, 

 Brazil, and Peru. It is also called M. paJustre, and appears to be somewhat 

 related to M. reticulatum, as its simply-pinnate (once-divided) fronds are of 

 similar size (3ft. to 4ft. long and Ift. or more broad), and borne on stout, 

 glossy, brownish stalks 1ft. to 3ft. long. The leaflets, of a somewhat 

 leathery texture, oblong-spear-shaped, with a heart-shaped base, and sharp- 

 pointed at the extremity, are loosely set lin. to 3in. apart ; they are 

 6in. to 12in. long, lin. to 2in. broad, finely toothed on the margin, 

 very dark glossy green on the upper surface, and paler below, where the 



most beautiful venation, the principal 

 attraction in the plant, is shown by 

 alternate lines of very conspicuous 

 ridges and furrows. The sori (spore 

 masses) are disposed twelve to twenty 

 between the midrib and the edge, — 

 Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p. 165. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, 

 ii., p. 352. Lowe, Ferns British and 

 Exotic, ii., t. 45. 



M. simplex — sim'-plex (simple, 

 undi^dded). Hooker. 

 This charming, miniature species, 

 Fig. 112. Meniscium simplex which Kunze considers as a simple 



form of M. triphyllum, is a native of 

 Chusan, Hong-Kong, and Formosa. 

 It is as totally ditFerent in habit and in general aspect as it is in size 

 from any other species belonging to the genus. The barren and fertile 

 fronds are similar in shape but entirely distinct : both are produced from 

 a wide-creeping rhizome (prostrate stem) of a firm nature, and borne on 

 slightly pubescent stalks 1ft. or more in length in the case of the fertile 

 fronds, but only 4in. to 6in. long in the barren ones. Both kinds of fronds 

 are simple (undivided), oblong- spear- shaped in general outline (Fig. 112), 

 heart-shaped and sometimes auricled at the base, and somewhat undulated at 



