102 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



the surface of the ground and clothed with spear-shaped scales of a brown 

 colour and of a deciduous nature. These fronds are 1ft. to ljft. long and 

 usually -Jin. broad (though narrower in the variety ensifolium of Willdenow), 

 quite entire, pointed at their extremity, but with the lower part very gradually 

 narrowed into a short stalk ; their texture is leathery and they are naked on 

 both sides, with their edges often rolled under. The sori (spore masses) are 

 disposed in from one to four rows between the midrib and the edge. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, v., p. 40. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, hi., p. 187. 

 Lowe, Ferns British and Exotic, i., t. 48. 



P. apiculatum — ap-ic-ul-a'-tum (sharp-pointed), Kunze. 



A stove species, of medium dimensions, native of Columbia, Guiana, and 

 Brazil, with spear-shaped fronds terminating in a sharp, tail-like point. The 

 fronds are produced from a stout, short- creeping rhizome of a woody nature, 

 and borne on rigid, upright stalks lin. to 2in. long and of a grey colour ; 

 they are seldom more than Sin. long and IJin. broad, and are cut down to 

 the midrib into narrow, sharp-pointed -leaflets of moderately firm texture, 

 dull green and naked on both surfaces. The sori (spore masses) fill up the 

 space between the midrib and the edge. — Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 185. 



P. (Phegopteris) appendiculatum — Phe-gop'-ter-is ; ap-pen-dic-ul-a 7 - 

 tum (having appendages ?), Wallich. 

 This stove species, native of East Himalayas and Penang, is not the 

 P. appendiculatum. usually met with in gardens, and which is merely a form 

 of P. plesiosorum. Its broadly-spear-shaped fronds, ljft. to 2ft. long and 8in. 

 to lOin. broad, are borne on tufted stalks about 1ft. long ; they are furnished 

 with leaflets Sin. to Sin. long, fin. to lin. broad, and cut down nearly to the 

 midrib into narrow -oblong, sickle-shaped lobes of a soft, papery texture. The 

 lower leaflets have a small gland at the base. The spore masses are disposed 

 close to the midrib. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 306. Beddome, Ferns of 

 British India, t. 256. 



P. (Phegopteris) aquilinum— Phe-gop'-ter-is ; aq-uil-i'-num (eagle-like), 

 Thouars. 



This strong-growing, stove species, native of Tristan d'Acunha, has the 

 general habit of the common Bracken {Pteris aquilina). Its ample and much- 



