266 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



P. (Doryopteris) collina — Dor-y-op'-ter-is ; col-lf-na (hill-1 oving) . 

 Synonymous with P. palmata. 



P. (Litobrochia) comans— Li-tob-roch'-i-a ; com'-ans (hairy), Forster. 



This stove species, with ample and distinctly-bipinnate fronds, borne on 

 erect, naked stalks 1ft. or more in length and of a glossy nature, is a native 

 of Juan Fernandez, Norfolk Island, New Zealand, and Tasmania. The leafy 

 portion of its fronds is composed of a terminal leaflet 1ft. or more in length, 

 cut down nearly to the rachis into long, narrow lobes, which are sometimes 

 4in. long and Jin. broad, and bluntly toothed when barren. There are also 

 a few opposite pairs of lateral leaflets, sometimes lift, long and 6in. broad, 

 the lowest sometimes slightly compound at the base. The fronds are of 

 a soft, thin, papery texture and naked on both sides, and the spore masses 

 do not extend quite to the summit of the segments. — Hooker, Species Filicum, 

 ii., p. 219. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, hi., p. 241. 



P. C. Endlicheriana— End-lich-e-rT-a'-na (Endlicher's), Agardh. 



In this variety the fronds, which usually are much larger than in the 

 species, have smaller lobes, with undulated margins ; their lower leaflets are 

 very compound, and their leafits, 6in. to 9in. long, show numerous deeply-cleft, 

 spear-shaped segments on both sides. — Hooker, Icones Plantarum, t. 973. 



P. concinna — con-cin'-na (neat). A variety of P. mutilata. 



P. COriacea — cor-i-a'-ce-a (leathery), Desvaux. 



A stove species, of robust habit, native of Tropical America, from 

 Venezuela along the Andes to Peru. Its fronds, 2ft. or more in length and 

 deltoid (in shape of the Greek delta, A), are borne on erect, straw-coloured 

 stalks 1ft. to 2ft. long and of a rough nature. The terminal leaflet is 

 Gin. to 9in. long, with numerous sickle-shaped lobes on each side j the lower 

 lateral ones are slightly compound below, the lowest pair being nearly as 

 large as the central portion of the frond ; all are of a leathery texture, and 

 their rachises (midribs) are densely clothed with minute prickles, which extend 

 also along the midribs of the ultimate divisions beneath. The spore masses 

 reach nearly to the extremity of the segments or lobes. — Hooker, Species 

 Filicum, ii., p. 192, t. 124a. 



