P ELLA? A. 



55 



each way and vary in contour from blunt-heart- shaped to triangular-halbert- 

 shaped, and with the two sides often unequal at the base. The texture 

 of the fronds is leathery, and they are smooth and of a lovely glaucous (bluish- 

 green) colour on both surfaces. The sori (spore masses), disposed in a broad 

 line along the margin of the leafits, soon hide the narrow, thin, and transparent 

 involucre. This species is a native of Cape Colony (Avhere it occurs at 4000ft. 

 elevation), Zambesi Land, Angola, and Abyssinia. It is also reported from 

 the Himalayas at an elevation of 6000ft. — Hooker, Species Filicum, ii., p. 140. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, hi., p. 66. Botanical Magazine, t. 4769. 

 Lowe, Ferns British and Exotic, iii., t. 26. 



P. (Allosorus) COnsobrina — All-os-o'-rus ; con-so-bri'-na (related), 

 Hooker. 



A greenhouse species, of large dimensions, native of Cape Colony, Kaffraria, 

 Natal, Abyssinia, &c. Its fronds, 6in. to 12in. long and 4in. to 9in. broad, 

 are borne on strong, erect, naked, polished, dark brown stalks 6in. to 12in. 

 long ; they are deltoid (in shape of the Greek delta, A), and three or four 

 times divided nearly to the midrib. The lowest leaflets, also deltoid, have 

 their pinnules (leafits) of the lower side larger than the others ; and all are 

 usually cut down into several spear-shaped or deltoid segments of a leathery 

 texture and naked on both surfaces. The sori (spore masses), disposed in a 

 continuous line along the margins, are covered by a moderately broad, thin, 

 transparent involucre, and the edge of the segments is often enrolled. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, ii., p. 145, t. 117a. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, 

 hi., p. 66. 



P. (Platyloma) COrdata— Plat-yl-o'-ma ; cor-da'-ta (heart-shaped), /. Smith. 



This very handsome, greenhouse species is a native of Mexico and the 

 Andes of Peru. Its broadly spear-shaped fronds, 1ft. or more in length and 

 4in. to Gin. broad, are borne on strong, erect, straw-coloured stalks 6in. to 

 9in. long, polished, but clothed below with small, pale, spear-shaped scales 

 when young. The leaflets, of the same shape as the fronds, are provided with 

 a straight rachis, the lower ones being slightly branched at the base ; their 

 short-stalked segments, oblong or egg-shaped, rounded or heart-shaped at the 

 base, Jin. to lin. long, and half as broad, are of a somewhat leathery texture 



