NEPHRODIUM. 



553 



tripinnate (three times divided to the midrib), the lowest leaflets being much 

 the largest (Fig. 135, reduced from Col. Beddome's " Ferns of Southern India," 

 by the kind permission of the author). The pinnules (leaiits) are spear-shaped, 

 often imbricated (overlapping), and have blunt, rounded lobes ; they are of 

 a soft, papery texture and pale green 

 colour, and are hairy on both sides. 

 The abundant and conspicuous sori 

 (spore masses) are covered with a large, 

 pale, ^iry involucre. This species is 

 of very good and compact habit, but 

 requires very careful watering during 

 the winter. — Hooher^ Species Filicum, 

 iv,, p. 141. Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, ii., p. 442. Beddome, Ferns 

 of Southern India, t. 95. 



N. (Lastrea) opacum — Las'-tre-a ; 

 op-a'-cum (opaque). 

 This garden name, for which we 

 cannot find any authority, is applied to 

 a plant having the appearance of a 

 thick-leaved, dull form of the popular 

 N. erythrosorum, and said, like that 

 species, to be a native of Japan. Its fronds, however, never show, even in 

 their young state, the beautiful tints which form the principal ornament of 

 N. erythrosorum; yet it is a most useful Fern, as its foliage is rarely 

 affected by gas, smoke, or London fog. 



N. (Lastrea) Oreopteris — Las'-tre-a ; Or-e-op'-ter-is (Mountain Fern). 

 Synonymous with N. montanum. 



N. (Eunephrodium) Otaria — Eu-neph-ro'-di-um ; O-ta'-ri-a (Otaria), 

 Baher. 



This very useful, greenhouse species, better known in gardens as Lastrea 

 aristata, although usually considered of Japanese origin, is also a native of 

 the Philippines, the Neilgherries, and Ceylon. Its beautiful fronds, of a very 



