138 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



and borne on firm, erect stalks 4in. to 6in. long and woolly upwards, are 6in. 

 to 18m. long, lin. to IJin. broad, and very gradually narrowed to the apex. 

 They are of a leathery texture, naked on their upper surface, but densely 

 clothed underneath with a woolly substance of a somewhat rusty-brown colour. 

 The small, bright-coloured sori (spore masses) are disposed in straight diagonal 



rows from midrib to edge and occupy the central 

 portion of the frond. Fig. 42 is reduced from Col. 

 Beddome's "Ferns of British India," by the kind 

 permission of the author. — Hooker, Species Filicum, 

 v., p. 49. Beddome, Ferns of British India, t. 162. 



P. (Phegopteris) formosum— Phe-gop'-ter-is ; 

 for-mo'-sum. (beautiful), Raddi. 

 This very handsome, stove species is a native 

 of Brazil. Its fronds, of a rich, dark shining green 

 colour, are produced from an upright caudex (stem) 

 densely covered with scales of a dark reddish-brown 

 colour. They are l^ft. to Ifffc. long, and are once 

 divided to the midrib into narrow-spear-shaped 

 leaflets, which are short-stalked and furnished with 

 rounded pinnules (leafits). The stalks of the fronds 

 are about lOin. long and scaly, especially near the base. The sori (spore 

 masses) cover the whole under-side of the fronds. — Lowe, Ferns British and 

 Exotic, ii., t. 53. 



Fig. 42. Polypoclium flocculosum 



(much reduced). 



P. (Drynaria) Fortunei— Dryn-a'-ri-a ; For-tu'-ne-i (Fortune's), Kunze. 



A singular, greenhouse species, native of South China, where it is said 

 to be found both on the coast and in the interior. The fronds, which are 

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

 thoroughly distinct forms: the barren ones are seldom more than 2in. to 3in. 

 long and lin. to l^in. broad ; while the fertile ones are 1ft. to ljft. long, 

 4in. to Gin. broad, and cut down nearly or quite to the rachis into spear- 

 shaped, bluntish lobes of a somewhat leathery texture and 2in. to 4in. long. 

 The sori (spore masses) are disposed in single rows between the main veins. 

 — Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p. 95. 



