OPHIOGLOSSUM. 



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ones, which are borne on a slender stalk lin. to ljin. long, consist of 

 a slender spike Jin. long. Both are produced from a slightly tuberous 

 rhizome (prostrate stem). — Hooker, Icones Plantarum, t. 263. 



O. bulbosum — bul-bo'-sum (bulbous), Michaux. 



A half-hardy species, also known as 0. opacum of R. Brown and 

 0. tuberosum of Hooker and Arnott. It is one of the smallest of the North 

 American species, and is found growing in old fields and low, sandy grounds, 

 from South Carolina and Florida to Louisiana ; it has also been found in 

 Chili. From four to six of its curiously- shaped fronds are produced during 

 one season from a solid, tuberous rootstock, nearly Jin. thick and furnished 

 with only a few fleshy, descending roots. These fronds, 2in. to 4in. long 

 including the stalk, have their fertile portion placed considerably below the 

 middle. This fertile spike, about Jin. long, is borne on a stalk lfin. to 2in. 

 long when fully developed. The texture of the barren portion is stouter than 

 in 0. vidgatum, which this species somewhat resembles in general appearance. 

 After the spores have been discharged, the spike is said, by Walter, to bear 

 some resemblance in miniature to the rattle of a rattlesnake. — Hooker and 

 Greville, Icones Filicum, t. 50. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 499. 

 Eaton, Ferns of North America, ii., t. 81. 



O. (Ophioderma) intermedium — Oph-I-od-er'-ma ; in-ter-med'-i-um 

 (intermediate) , Hooker. 

 This stove species, native of Borneo, and by some authorities considered 

 as a mere form of 0. pendulum, has fronds erect, 6in. to Sin. long, their 

 flattened stem gradually passing into the leafy part, which is Jin. broad 

 not far from the point. They are of a fleshy texture, and the fertile spike, 

 ljin. long and erect, is borne on a stalk which about equals it in length 

 and just reaches to the point of the barren segment. — Hooker, Icones 

 Plantarum, t. 995. 



O. lusitanicum — lu-sit-a'-nic-um (Portuguese), Linnoeus. 



A half-hardy species, of medium dimensions, native of Portugal, Spain, 

 Italy, France, Madeira, Teneriffe, and the Azores ; it is also found on the 

 shores of the Mediterranean, and as far north as Guernsey, where it was 



