NEPHRODIUM. 



567 



and their small and scattered sori (spore masses) are confined to the connected 

 Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 59, t. 231. Beddome, Ferns of 

 British India, t. 137. 



N. (Lastrea) semihastatum — Las'-tre-a ; se-mi-has-ta'-tum (half 

 halbert- shaped), Hooker. 

 This stove species, of botanical interest only, is a native of Peru. Its 

 peculiar- shaped little fronds, seldom more than 6in. long, are borne on 

 slender stalks 3in. to 4in. long, of a hairy nature. — Hooker, Species Filicum, 

 iv., p. 87. 



N. (Eunephrodium) serra — Eu-neph-ro'-di-um ; ser'-ra (hke a saw), 

 Desvaux. 



A stove species, of large dimensions (better known perhaps as Lastrea 

 augescens), native of Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, &c. Its fronds, of a particularly 

 slender nature, 2ft. to 3ft. long and 1ft. or more in breadth, are produced from 

 a wide-creeping rhizome (prostrate stem) and borne on firm, glossy stalks 

 1ft. or more in length ; they are broadly spear-shaped, with spreading leaflets 

 6in. to 9in. long and seldom Jin. broad, cut down about half-way to the 

 midrib into sickle- shaped, sharp-pointed lobes of a somewhat leathery texture 

 and light or pale green in colour. The sori (spore masses), disposed in rows 

 a little apart from the midrib, are covered with a hairy indusium. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, iv., p. 79. Loive, Ferns British and Exotic, vi., t. 10. 



N. (Lastrea) setigerum — Las'-tre-a ; se-tig'-er-um (bearing bristles), 

 Baker. 



This strong-growing, greenhouse species, better known under the name 

 of N. tenericaule, has a very wide range of habitat, being found in China, 

 Japan, Northern India, &c., in all of which places it appears to occur in 

 great quantities. Its ample fronds, 1ft. to 3ft. long and borne on sometimes 

 naked, sometimes scaly, stalks 1ft. to 2ft. long, are produced from a creeping 

 rhizome (prostrate stem). The lowest leaflets, which are the largest — often 

 Sin. to 12in. long and 4in. to 6in. broad — are divided again into narrow-spear- 

 shaped pinnules (leafits) cut down to the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion) 

 into close, deeply-cleft lobes ; they are of a soft, papery texture and pale 



