POLYPODIUM. 



225 



P. tenellum — ten-el'-lum (very tender), Forster. 



This very distinct, greenhouse species, native of Australia, New Zealand, 

 and New Caledonia, is provided with a wide-climbing rhizome of a woody 

 nature, from which the fronds, borne on firm, nearly naked stalks 2in. 

 to 3in. long and jointed near the base, are produced. These fronds are, 

 when fully developed, of a naturally drooping habit, 

 lft. to 2ft. long, 2in. to 4in. broad, and furnished 

 with entire or slightly-notched leaflets 2in. to Sin. 

 long, narrowed to both ends, of a soft, papery 

 texture, and naked on both sides. The spore masses 

 are disposed in rows near the edge. P. Filipes is 

 a name applied to this plant when in a young state 

 (Fig. 64). — Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 217. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, hi., p. 194. 



Fig. 64. Rhizome, with Fronds, of 

 Polypodium tenellum, in a 

 young state 



(much reduced), 



P. (Dictyopteris) tenerifrons — Dic-ty-op'- 

 ter-is; ten-er'-if-rons (tender-frondecl), Hooker. 

 A distinct-looking, stove species, native of Moul- 

 mein and West Tropical Africa, with fronds deltoid 



(in shape of the Greek delta, A), produced from a small, creeping rhizome of 

 a fragile nature, and borne on tender stalks Sin. to 12in. long. They are 6in. 

 to 12in. each way, distinctly pinnate in their lower part, and pinnatifid only 

 in their upper portion ; their texture is very thin and their colour bright 

 green. The spore masses are disposed in rows near the main veins. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, v., p. 104. Beddome, Ferns of British India, t. 4. 



P. tenuifolium— ten-u-if-or-i-um (slender-fronded), Humboldt, Bonpland, 

 and Kunth. 



The distinctly-pinnate fronds of this stove species, native of the West 

 Indies and Colombia, are produced from a stout rhizome clothed with reddish - 

 brown scales, and borne on slender, naked, erect stalks 2in. to 3in. long ; 

 they are Sin. to 12in. long, ljin. to 2in. broad, and cut down to the rachis 

 into distant, narrow leaflets of a soft, papery texture and naked on both sides. 

 The slightly-immersed spore masses are disposed in two rows of six to ten 

 each to a leaflet. P. Otites is identical with this species. — Hooker, Species 

 Filicum, iv., p. 192. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, hi., p. 194. 



