P ELLA? A. 



(37 



Jin. to lin. broad, spear -shaped, entire, bluntish at the apex, and heart-shaped 

 or roundish at the base. The fronds are of a leathery texture and naked on 

 both surfaces, but the rachis is slightly woolly. The spore masses, disposed 

 in a marginal line, soon hide the involucre. — Hooker, Species Filicum, 

 11., p. 135, t. 111a i Filices Exoticw, t. 21, Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, iii., p. 67. 



P. (Cheiloplecton) Pearcei — Cheil-op4ec'-ton ; Pear'-ce-i (Pearce's), 

 Baker. 



A greenhouse species, native of the Andes of Peru, where it occurs at 

 6000ft. elevation. It is closely allied to P. Breweri, but has leaflets more 

 compound, and stalks devoid of scales at the base. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, 

 p. 476. 



P. (Allosorus) pectiniformis—All-os-o'-rus ; pec-tin-if-or'-mis (comb- 

 shaped), Baker. 



This is a robust, free-growing, stove species, native of Natal, Angola, 

 and the Mascarene Islands. Its spear-shaped fronds, 6in. to 12in. long, 2in. 

 to 3in. broad, and produced from a stout, short- creeping rhizome, are borne 

 on round, black stalks Sin. to 6in. long and slightly scaly at the base. These 

 fronds are simply pinnate (only once divided to the midrib), being furnished 

 with narrow, strap-shaped, entire leaflets with revolute margins, blunt at the 

 apex, and heart-shaped at the base. They are of a rigidly leathery texture, 

 green and smooth on both surfaces, and their spore masses are provided with 

 a smooth, pale, firm involucre. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 147. 



P. (Cheiloplecton) pilosa— Cheil-op-lec'-ton ; pil -o'-sa (hairy), Hooker. 



This stove species, native of Bourbon, is a plant of very distinct 

 appearance. Its barren and fertile fronds, borne on strong, wiry, brownish- 

 black stalks 6in. to 9in. long and more or less clothed with small, narrow 

 scales throughout, are totally different. The barren ones, in form of the 

 Greek delta, A, and l£in. each way, are cut down to within Jin. of the rachis ; 

 their lowest leaflets, much the largest, are deeply lobed, with the lobes again 

 notched on the under- side ; their lower surface is densely hairy, and their 

 midrib scaly like the stalks. The fertile fronds are larger, and are cut down 

 quite to the rachis, with narrower, longer, and more deeply-divided leaflets j 



p 2 



