164 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



P. L. Heteractis— He-ter-ac'-tis (Heteractis), Mettenius. 



This is a Himalayan form, and differs from the typical Japanese Lingua 

 principally by its broader oblong- spear- shaped fronds (Fig. 48), which are 



also of a more fleshy texture ; farther, 

 their under-side is covered with a much 

 thicker coating of creamy-coloured down, 

 which gives them a more mealy appear- 

 ance. — Hooker, Synojjsis Filicum, p. 512. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iii., 

 p. 190. 



Fig. 48. Polypoclium Lingua Heteractis 

 (J nat. size). 



P. (Drynaria) Linnaei— Dryn-a'-ri-a ; 

 Lin-nae'-i (Linnaeus'), Bory. 

 A stove species, much in the way of 

 the better-known P. quercifolium, and a 

 native of Ceylon, Queensland, and the 

 Solomon and Fiji Islands. Its barren 

 and fertile fronds, produced from a stout 

 rhizome, are totally different ; the former being stalkless, brown, rigid, and 

 bluntly lobed, while the fertile ones, which are 

 long-stalked and usually measure- 2ft. to 3ft. in 

 length and Gin. to 12in. in breadth, are cut down 

 nearly to the rachis into entire, spear-shaped lobes 

 of a rigid texture and naked on both sides. The 

 small and abundant son (spore masses) are scat- 

 tered over the whole of their under-side. — Hooker, 

 Synopsis Filicum, p. 368. Beddome, Ferns of 

 British India, t. 315. 



P. (Dipteris) Lobbianum — Dip'-ter-is • 

 Lob-bi-a'-num (Lobb's), Hooker. 

 This stove species, also known under the 

 name of P. bifurcatum, is a native of Mount 

 Ophir, Malaysia, Sarawak, and Borneo. Its fronds, 1ft. long and 1ft. broad, 

 have their main lobes, which reach clown to the base, three or four times 



Fig, 49. Polypoclium Lobbianum 

 (\ nat. size). 



