POLYPODIUM. 



141 



P. (Niphobolus) Gardneri — Mph-ob'-ol-us ; Gard'-ner-i (Gardner's), 

 Mettenius. 



A stove species, of medium dimensions, native of Ceylon. It is provided 

 with a short-creeping rhizome clothed with rigid, spear-shaped, black scales, 

 with a brown border. The entire (undivided) fronds produced from these 

 rhizomes are 1ft. to ljft. long, lin. to l£ih. broad, very gradually narrowed 

 towards both ends, and borne on firm, naked stalks oin. to 4in. long ; they 

 are of a leathery texture, and, while their upper surface is naked, the lower 

 one is densely matted with a woolly substance of a grey colour. The sori 

 (spore masses) are disposed in close rows of about four between the main 

 veins. — Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p. 51 ; Filiees Exotica?, t. 68. Beddome, 

 Ferns of Souther?! India, t. 241. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, 

 iii., p. 189. 



P. (Phymatodes) geminatum — Phy-mat-o'-des ; gem-in-a'-tum (in pairs), 

 Schrader. 



This greenhouse species, of small dimensions, native of Brazil, is of very 

 distinct appearance on account of its almost stalkless, uniform, entire fronds, 

 Sin. to 6in. long, Jin. to lin. broad, and narrowed towards both ends, being 

 usually disposed in distant pairs ; they are of a leathery texture and naked 

 on both sides, and are produced from a stout, very wide-creeping rhizome of 

 a scaly nature. The spore masses are disposed in a row midway between the 

 midrib and the edge, and are distinctly immersed. — Hooker, Species Filicum, 

 v., p. 36. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iii., p. 189. 



P. (Goniopteris) Ghiesbreghtii — Go-m-op'-tor-is ; Ghies-bregh'-ti-i 

 (Ghiesbreght's), Linden. 

 This is a very distinct, stove species, native of South Mexico. Its fronds, 

 borne on firm, erect stalks 1ft. or more in length and densely hairy, are 

 usually 1ft. to l^ft. long and consist of a terminal pinna (leaflet) 6in. to Oin. 

 long, l.fin. to 2in. broad, and slightly lobed at the edge, and of three to six 

 similar ones on each side. They are of a soft, papery texture ; their upper 

 surface is slightly and their under-side densely hairy. The spore masses are 

 disposed in dense rows close to the midvein. — Hooker, Filiees Exotica?, t. 84. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, hi., p. 189. 



