POLYPODIUM. 



Ill 



distinct characters. The barren ones, Sin. to 4in. long, lin. broad, and 

 stalkless, are elliptical, being narrowed at both ends, with blunt lobes, which 

 reach nearly half-way down. The fertile ones, 4in. to Gin. long, are short- 

 stalked, entire, of a soft, papery texture, and naked on both sides. The large, 

 oblong sori (spore masses) are placed end to end in a row on each side close 

 to the midrib. — Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p. 78 ; Filices Exotica?, t. 52. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iii., p. 187. 



P. bifurcatum — bif-ur-ca'-tum (twice-forked). A synonym of P. Lobbianum. 



P. (Phymatodes) Billardieri — Phy-mat-o'-des ; Bil-lar-di-e'-ri (Labil- 

 lardiere's), R. Brown. 

 This very useful and highly ornamental, greenhouse species, which, 

 according to Lowe, Avas introduced into the Royal Gardens, Kew, in 1824, 

 by Allan Cunningham, is a native of New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, 

 and the neighbouring islands. It is a very handsome Fern, provided with 

 wide-creeping rhizomes of a woody nature, densely clothed with dark-coloured 

 and glossy scales, from which the fronds are produced. These fronds usually 

 stand upright and are borne on firm, erect, glossy stalks 4in. to Sin. long ; 

 they vary in shape from oblong- spear- shaped and quite entire, to l^ft. long 

 and half as broad and deeply pinnatifid (cut nearly down to the midrib). In 

 young or freshly-divided plants the simple fronds predominate, whilst in 

 old-established ones they are nearly all pinnatifid, being composed of narrow- 

 spear-shaped leaflets of a leathery texture, deep green in colour, and naked 

 on both sides. The large, round sori (spore masses) are disposed in single 

 rows close to the mid vein, and are so distinctly immersed in the frond as to 

 form protuberances on the upper side. — Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p. 82. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, hi., p. 187. Loire, Ferns British and 

 Exotic, i., t. 47. 



This species is a particularly shallow-rooting plant ; it flourishes best in 

 a flower-pan, in a mixture in which fibrous peat predominates. 



P. (Phegopteris) biseriale — Phe-gop'-ter-is ; bis-er-i-a'-le (in two series), 

 Baker. 



A strong-growing, stove species, native of the Andes of Peru and 

 Ecuador, with much-divided fronds 2ft. to 3ft. long, 1ft. or more in breadth, 



