522 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



leaflets, Sin. to 4in. long and lin. broad, are cut down to tlie midrib, with 

 a distinct, narrow wing, into small, oblong lobes ; the lower ones are distant, 

 shorter than the others, and deflexed (thrown back) ; all are of a soft, papery 

 t^ture. The sori (spore masses) are disposed about half-way between the 

 edge and the midrib. — Hooker^ Sjjecies Filicum, iv., p. 133, t. 263. 



N. (Lastrea) flexuosum— Las'-tre-a ; flex-u-o'-sum (flexible), Baker. 



A stove species, of large dimensions, native of Rio Janeiro, Avith ample 

 fronds of a peculiar appearance, produced by the zigzag nature of their rachis 

 (stalk of the leafy portion), which is clothed with woolly hairs and spear- 

 shaped scales. The leaflets, oblong-spear-shaped, distinctly stalked, and Sin. 

 to 9in. long, are divided into close, strap-shaped pinnules (leafits), which are 

 again divided into oblong, close, blunt segments of moderately thick texture 

 and clothed with short hairs. The small sori (spore masses), disposed along 

 the midvein, are covered by a smooth involucre of a fugacious nature. — 

 Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 501. 



N. (Lastrea) floridanum — Las'-tre-a ; flor-id-a'-num (from Florida), 

 Hooker. 



A very distinct, North American species, of robust growth and peculiar 

 habit, perfectly hardy in this country, where it withstood uninjured, and 

 without protection, the severe winter of 1879-80. According to Eaton, it is 

 called the " Florida Wood Fern," and is found growing in wet woods from 

 Florida to Louisiana. The fronds, which are highly ornamental and of a 

 somewhat leathery texture, are produced from a stout, fleshy, creeping, very 

 chaiFy rhizome (prostrate stem), with large, thin, brown scales, and are borne 

 on dark green stalks, which are longer in the fertile than in the barren fronds. 

 The two kinds of fronds are quite dissimilar in appearance. The totally 

 barren ones are much shorter than the others and comparatively broader, 

 being Din. long and 4Jin. broad in the middle. The fertile fronds, IJft. to 

 2ft. long, 6in. to Sin. broad, and oblong-spear-shaped, have their lower leaflets 

 barren and their upper part only fertile ; in the latter portion the leaflets are 

 cut down to a narrowly-winged rachis (stalk) into oblong, slightly notched, 

 blunt leafits, with their own breadth between them, and two rows of rather 

 large sori (spore masses) which reach from the midrib nearly to the edge, and 



