226 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



P. tetragonum — tet-rag-o'-num (four-angled). A garden synonym of 

 P. androgynum. 



P. Thwaitesii— Thwaites'-i-i (Thwaites's), Beddome. 



This small-growing, stove species is of botanical interest only, its some- 

 what spear-shaped, blunt, leathery fronds, of a dull green colour, being seldom 

 more than 4in. in length. It is a native of Ceylon.— Beddome, Ferns of 

 British India, t. 188. Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 508. 



P. (Goniophlebium) thyssanolepis— Go-ni-oph-leb'-I-um ; thys-san- 

 oF-ep-is (having fringed scales), A. Brongniart. 

 A small-growing, stove species, native of Mexico and Peru, provided with 

 a slender yet firm, wide-creeping rhizome, from which the fronds, borne on 

 stiff, erect stalks 3in. to 12in. long and of a scaly nature, are produced. These 

 fronds are 3in. to 9in. long, 2in. to 4in. broad, and only once divided to the 

 midrib, with blunt, ascending, strap -shaped leaflets, all except the lowest 

 enlarged at the base ; they are of a thick and somewhat leathery texture, dull 

 green, and nearly naked on their upper surface, while their under- side is 

 densely clothed with small, distinctly-fringed scales. The spore masses are 

 disposed in a single series near the midveins. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, 

 p. 512. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iii., p. 194. 



P. (Goniopteris) tomentosum — Go-ni-op'-ter-is ; to-men-to'-sum 

 (downy), Bory. 



This distinct, stove species, native of Madagascar, produces fronds 1ft. 

 long and 6in. to 9in. broad, on rather slender, erect, short stalks of a densely 

 hairy nature. The lowest leaflets, which are the largest, are distinctly stalked, 

 3in. to 4in. long, about fin. broad, and have their edge nearly entire or 

 slightly lobed. The fronds are of a soft though rather thick texture, and 

 clothed on botK surfaces with soft, brown hairs. The small and abundant 

 spore masses are scattered over the whole of the under-surface. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, v., p. 14. 



P. tOYarense — to-va-ren'-se (from Tovar, Colombia), Klotzsch. 



A stove species, of medium dimensions, with fronds of a flaccid nature, 

 borne on very short, wiry, naked stalks. These fronds are 4in. to 12in. long, 



