588 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



numerous leaflets, about lin. long and Jin. broad, are very closely set, 

 sometimes overlapping ; their base is rounded or heart -shaped on the lower 

 side and distinctly eared on the upper side ; they are usually blunt, have 

 their edge entire or slightly notched, and are of a rich dark gTeen colour. 

 The sori (spore masses), disposed in a row about half-way between the midrib 

 and the edge, are covered with a firm, distinctly kidney-shaped involucre, 

 obhque or opening towards the outer edge. Fig. 142 is reduced from 

 Col. Beddome's "Ferns of Southern India," by the kind permission of the 

 author. — Hooher^ Species Filicum, iv., p. 151. Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, ii., p. 445. Beddome, Ferns of Southern India, t. 92. Lowe, 

 Ferns British and Exotic, vii., t. 25. 



Fi^. 142, Frond of Neplirolepis cordifolia 

 (J nat. size). 



N. C. COmpacta — com-pac'-ta (compact). 



Under the name of N. cordata comjMcta, for which we can find no 

 authority, there has recently been distributed a most elegant form of the above 

 species. Its arching fronds spread in all directions from a common centre ; 

 they are from l^ft. to 2ft. long, and are furnished with leaflets from the base. 

 The leaflets are closely disposed along the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion), 

 and are oblong in form, leathery in texture, seldom more than lin. long, 

 elegantly toothed, and of a deep glossy green colour, with a darker mid-nerve. 

 This variety thrives equally well in the intermediate house or in the stove, 

 and reproduces itself freely from spores. 



