172 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



P. (Dictyopteris) megalocarpum— Dic-ty-op'-ter-is ; meg-al-oc-ar'-pum 



(large-fruited), Hooker. 

 This stove species, native of Java, somewhat resembles P. difforme in 

 general habit. Its fronds, 2ft. to 3ft. long and 1ft. or more in breadth, have 

 their upper part deeply pinnatiud, with spear-shaped, pinnatifid lobes ; below 

 this there are five or six pairs of distinct leaflets, the lowest 6in. to 9in. long 

 and Sin. broad, with entire, blunt, oblong lobes £in. broad. They are of 

 a somewhat leathery texture, and the large and prominent spore masses are 

 disposed in two distinct rows. — Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p. 102. 



P. melanopus— mel-an'-op-us (black-footed), Hooker and Greville. 



A very dictinct, stove species, native of the Andes of Ecuador, with fronds 

 borne on slender, black, naked stalks 3in. to 4in. long, and bent so that the 

 fronds hang clown. These fronds are 7m. to ' Sin. long, 2in. to Bin. broad, and 

 cut down to the rachis into narrow, bluntish, slightly-notched leaflets of a 

 somewhat leathery texture, naked on both sides, and upon which the spore 

 masses are disposed in two long rows. — Hooker, Species Filicum, if., p. 200. 



P. (Phymatodes) Melleri— Phy-mat-o'-des ; Mel'-ler-i (Dr. Meller's), Baker. 



A small-growing, stove species, of purely botanical interest, native of 

 Madagascar. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 359. 



P. (Phymatodes) membranaceum — Phy-mat-o'-des ; mem-bra-na'-ce-um 

 (membranous), Don. 

 This stove species, native of India, is easily recognised through the peculiar 

 thin texture of its fronds. It is said to be found at various elevations up to 

 6000ft., and, according to Beddome, it occurs in the Xeilgherries and Anamallay 

 Mountains, Wynad, Coorg, South Canara Ghats, and other mountainous tracts, 

 where it grows on trees from 2000ft. elevation upwards. The fronds are 

 produced from a stout rhizome clothed with egg-shaped scales, transparent, 

 and of a lurid green colour ; they are borne on firm, erect stalks lin. to 

 4in. long, and measure from 1ft. to 3ft. long and 2in. to 6in. broad in their 

 centre, being gradually narrowed to both ends. The texture is very thin, 

 and the spore masses are disj^osed in two rather irregular rows near the 

 main veins. — Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p.' 70. Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, iii., p. 191. Beddome, Ferns of Southern hidia, t. 177. 



