PELL^A. 



61 



Its fertile and barren fronds, which are quite distinct in appearance, and borne 

 on slender, straw-coloured, polished stalks 2in. to Sin. long, are produced from 

 a very slender rootstock, scarcely more than ^$m. in thickness and sometimes 

 2in. to oin. long, and so hidden in the crevices of the rocks that it is seldom 

 secured by collectors. Both kinds of fronds are of a thin, papery texture and 

 pinnate, with the lower leaflets sometimes again slightly divided. In the 

 barren fronds, which are shortest, being seldom more than 3in. long and ljin. 

 broad, the segments of the leaflets, plainly attached to the secondary midrib, 

 are roundish in shape and more or less lobed and toothed on their margins ; 

 in the fertile fronds, which are taller than the barren ones, the segments are 

 more distinct, longer, and narrower. The terminal leaflet of the fronds and 

 the terminal segment of the leaflets are considerably longer than the others. 

 The sori (spore masses) are covered by a broad, continuous involucre of 

 a softer nature even than the frond itself. — Hooker, Species Filicum, ii., p. 138, 

 t. 133b. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iii., p. 67. Eaton, Ferns of 

 North America, ii., t. 54. 



P. (Allosorus) Greggii — All-os-o'-rus ; Greg'-gi-i (Dr. Gregg's), Mettenius. 



A greenhouse species, of small dimensions, native of Mexico, with broadly 

 egg-shaped fronds 2in. to 3in. long, produced from a short- creeping rhizome 

 densely clothed with black-brown, toothed scales, and borne on reddish, opaque 

 stalks lin. to 3in. long and slightly scaly. These fronds are twice or three 

 times divided to the midrib and furnished with short- stalked leaflets and 

 stalkless leafits narrowed at the base and of a leathery texture ; their stalkless 

 ultimate segments are oblong and blunt, and have revolute edges, under 

 which the sori (spore masses) are completely hidden. — Hooker, Synopsis 

 Filicum, p. 477. 



P. (Platyloma) hastata — Plat-yl-o'-ma ; has-ta'-ta (halbert- shaped), Link. 



This highly decorative, strong-growing, greenhouse Fern, more generally 

 found in. gardens under the name of Pteris hastata, and said by Lowe to have 

 been introduced into England before the year 1822, has a somewhat extensive 

 range of habitat, being found from Cape Colony northward to Natal, Zambesi 

 Land, the Mascarene and the Cape de Verde Islands, and Abyssinia. The fronds, 

 lft. to 2ft. long, are borne on wiry, erect, dark chestnut-brown, highly -polished 



