566 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



are arranged in a rosette round the short, upright caudex (stem) from which 

 they are produced ; they are borne upon densely-tufted, slender stalks, 2in. 

 to 3in. long. The leaflets are barely lin. long, bluntish at the point, with 

 the edge more or less deeply cleft ; their lobes are sometimes close and 

 narrow-oblong, at other times distinct and spathulate (spoon-shaped). The 

 fronds are of a soft, papery texture and dark shining green colour, and 

 are slightly glandular on their under-side. The small and numerous sori 

 (spore masses) are covered with an involucre of a very fugacious nature. — 

 Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 252. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, 

 ii., p. 443. 



N. (Lastrea) SCabrosum— Las'-tre-a ; scab-ro'-sum (rough). Baker. 



This greenhouse species, which is the Poly podium nigrocarjjum of 

 Beddome, is a native of the Neilgherries. Its ample fronds, l|ft. to 2ft. long 

 and Iffc. to l^ffc. broad, are borne on slender stalks IJft. to 2ft. long, furnished 

 throughout with small, egg-shaped, straw-coloured scales. The leaflets, 6in. 

 to Din. long and Sin. to 5in. broad, have the pinnules (leafits) of the lower 

 side largest, with spear-shaped segments cut down nearly to the rachis (stalk 

 of the leafy portion) into toothed, strap-shaped lobes of a soft, papery texture. 

 The small sori (spore masses), disposed usually one at the base of each lobe, 

 are covered with a small, fugacious involucre. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, 

 p. 283. Beddome, Ferns of Southern India, t. 169. 



N. (Eunephrodium) scolopendrioides— Eu-neph-ro'-di-um ; scol-op- 

 en'-dri-o-i'-des (Scolopendrium-like), Hooker. 

 A stove species, native of the West Indies. It is ol little decorative 

 value, with fronds 1ft. long, lin. to 2in. broad, and of a soft, papery texture. 

 — Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 65. 



N. (Sagenia) semibipinnatum— Sag-e'-ni-a ; se-mib-ip-in-na'-tum (half- 

 bipinnate). Baker, 



This stove species, native of Penang and Borneo, produces fronds 1ft. to 

 IJft. long and 6in. to 9in. broad, composed of a narrow-oblong, terminal 

 leaflet 6in. to 9in. long, entire, and narrowed towards both ends, and four to 

 six smaller lateral ones on each side. They are of a soft, papery texture, 



