604 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



N. Buchanani— Bu-cliaii-a'-ni (Buchanan's), Baker. 



A greenTiouse species, of small dimensions, native of Natal, with fronds 

 simply pinnate (only once divided to the midrib), being formed of two or 

 three pairs of distinct leaflets below the terminal one, the lowest much the 

 largest. These fronds, which seldom exceed 2in. in length and IJin. in 

 breadth, are borne on tufted, slender stalks Sin. to 4in. long, of a woolly 

 nature and bright chestnut-brown colour ; they are of a soft, papery texture, 

 and their stalks, as well as both surfaces of their fronds, are densely clothed 

 with whitish or rusty-brown hairs, which, though copious, are not matted. 

 The abundant brownish sori (spore masses) are disposed right along the 

 margin of the lobes. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 373. 



N. canariensis — can-a'-ri-en'-sis (from the Canary Islands). 



The lovely Fern found in gardens and in most catalogues under this 

 name (for which we can find no authority) is a native of Teneriffe and the 

 Cape de Yerde Islands. Its fronds, 12in. to 20in. long, including the stalks, 

 are abundantly produced from a thick and fleshy rhizome (prostrate stem), 

 remaining well above the surface of the ground and entirely covered with 

 large, silky scales of a light brown or reddish colour. They are broadly 

 spear-shaped and bipinnate (twice divided to the midrib), with blunt pinnules 

 (leafits) closely set together. The uj^per surface is of a dull green colour, 

 while the under-side, the stalks, and the rachis are densely clothed with long, 

 reddish-brown hairs, under which the sori (spore masses), although very 

 abundant and intensely black, are scarcely perceptible. 



N. (Cincinalis) Candida — Cin-cin-a'-lis ; can'-did-a (white), Mettenius. 



By the authors of the " Synopsis Filicum " this is considered only as 

 a variety of N. sulphurea. In his excellent and exhaustive work on " Ferns 

 of North America," however, Eaton, who gives it as N. Candida of Hooker, 

 accords it specific rank, and states that it is found in a natural state growing 

 in crevices of rocks, often in places much exposed to the direct rays of the 

 sun, from Western Texas and New Mexico to San Diego County, California, 

 and southward to Peru. He adds that the Collectors of the Mexican Boundary 

 Survey found it in Lower Rio Grande and on the Pecos of the San Pedro, 

 In general aspect it resembles some of the Cheilanthes, as the margin of its 



