CHAPTER XVIII. 



TODEA, Willdenow. 

 (To'-de-a.) 

 Crape Ferns. 



HE plants comprised in this small genus (which is dedicated to 

 the memory of Henry Julius Tode, an experienced mycologist 

 living in Mecklenburg in the latter part of the eighteenth 

 century) vary greatly in appearance and texture, some having 

 leathery foliage of a very resisting nature, while that of most 

 species is finely divided, very fragile, and transparent. Todea, which in 

 Hooker and Baker's "Synopsis Filicum " forms G-enus 63, is a division of the 

 sub-order Osmundaceos, and is divided into Todea proper, or Eutodea, of which 

 up to this date only one species is known, and Leptopteris, in which section 

 all the species with transparent or filmy foliage are contained. The species 

 are almost confined to the South Temperate zone, and their distinctive 

 character resides in the production and disposition of the spore masses which 

 are contained in capsules, as in Osmunda, but situated on the back of the 

 leafy portion of the frond, while the general habit of the plants is that of 

 the Polypodiacece. 



Culture. 



All Todeas require greenhouse treatment, and, with the exception of 

 T. barbara and its variety, which do not suffer from exposure to air and 

 light, all are much benefited by close confinement. Indeed, condensed 



