POLYPODIUM. 



217 



P. (Phegopteris) splendidum — Phe-gop'-ter-is ; splen'-did-um 

 (splendid), Kaulfuss. 

 A stove species, of large dimensions and somewhat arborescent habit, 

 native of Brazil, where it is said to be common. Its ample and much-divided 

 fronds, 4ft. to 6ft. long, borne on strong, smooth stalks 2ft. or more in 

 length, have their lower leaflets 1ft. to ljft. long, 6in. to Sin. broad, and 

 furnished with distinct leafits, which are again divided into numerous blunt, 

 entire lobes of a soft, papery texture, and slightly hairy underneath. The 

 spore masses are disposed in a row on each side of and close to the midrib. 

 — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 312. 



P. sporadocarpum — spor-ad-oc-ar'-pum (spore-fruited). This is a variety 

 of P. aureum. 



P. sporadolepis — spor-ad-ol'-ep-is (having scaly spores), Kunze. 



This is a stove species, native of Colombia and Ecuador, closely 

 resembling P. plebeium, but of a slenderer habit, and furnished with narrower, 

 distant leaflets and an ebeneous (blackish) rachis. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, 

 p. 336. 



P. Sprucei — Spru'-ce-i (Spruce's), Hooker. 



A stove species, of botanical interest only, with entire fronds, seldom 

 more than 2in. high and very hairy on both sides. It is a native of Eastern 

 Peru. — Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 172. 



P. (Goniophlebium) squamatum — Go-ni-oph-leb'-i-um ; squa-ma'-tum 

 (scaly), Linnaeus. 



This stove species, native of the West Indies, Mexico, and Peru, is 

 provided with a stout, wide-creeping rhizome clothed with spear-shaped scales, 

 from which its fronds, borne on rigid stalks Gin. to 12in. long and of a scaly 

 nature, are produced. These fronds are 6in. to 12in. long, 2in. to 4in. broad, 

 and cut down nearly or quite to the rachis into bluntish leaflets lin. to 2in. 

 long, dilated and often united at the base. The under- surface is densely 

 coated with minute scales of a rough nature, and the large and copious spore 

 masses are disposed in one row on each side of the midvein. — Hooker, Species 

 Filicum, iv., p. 209. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, hi., p. 193. 



