190 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



fronds of small dimensions, seldom exceeding 6in. long by l^in. broad, borne 

 on firm, erect stipes (stalksj Sin. to 6in. long, and densely clothed with large 

 scales of a pale brown colour. These barren fronds are very blunt at the 

 point and rounded at the base ; they are of a coriaceous (leathery) texture, 

 and are covered on both sides with scales of a furfuraceous or mealy nature. 

 The fertile fronds, which are borne on longer stalks than the barren ones, 

 are much narrower, but, like them, are produced from a rhizome (prostrate 

 stem) of a woody nature, and are densely covered with linear (long and very 

 narrow), glossy scales of a reddish-brown colour.— Hooker, Species Filicum, v., 

 p. 236. 



A. (Chrysodium) bicuspe— Chry-so'-di-um ; bic-us'-pe (having two 

 points), Hooker. 



In this very curious stove species, native of Java, Formosa, and the Loo- 

 Choo Islands, the barren and fertile fronds are produced from a woody, short- 

 creeping rhizome (prostrate stem), densely clothed with yellowish, silky hairs. 

 They are of coriaceous or leathery texture, and differ from each other 

 inasmuch as the barren ones, borne on firm, naked stems, 1ft. long, are 

 rounded at the base, their apex consisting of two broad, divaricated (branching 

 off at a high angle, and spreading irregularly in various directions), acuminate 

 (ending in a long taper-point) lobes, with a broad, rounded sinus (depression) 

 between them, and frequently measure 6in. in their entire portion ; whereas 

 the fertile ones, borne on stipes (stalks) ljffc. or more high, though from 

 6in. to 9in. long, are barely Jin. broad, and narrowed at both ends, with two 

 or three nearly parallel ribs extending from the apex to the base. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, v., p. 271. 



A. (Polybotrya) bifurcatum — Pol-yb-ot'-ry-a ; bif-ur-ca'-tum (twice 

 forked), Swartz. 



The fronds of this greenhouse species, native of St. Helena, are borne on 

 dense, tufted, slender, naked stipes (stalks), 2in. to 4in. long, and seldom 

 exceed 4in. in length. The barren ones, of herbaceous (soft or succulent) 

 texture, have their lower pinnse usually two- or three-cleft, with linear divi- 

 sions, and naked on both sides. — Hooker, Species Filicum, p. 209. Nicholson, 

 Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 19. 



