232 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



are simply pinnate, 3ft. to 5ft. long and l£ft. to lift, broad, and have on 

 each side twenty to thirty pinnae 6in. to 12in. long and about l|in. broad, 

 terminating into a sharp point, and with their edge thickened and toothed ; 

 they are of a coriaceous (leathery) texture, glossy on both sides, and are 

 borne on firm, upright, naked stipes (stalks) 4in. to 6in. long, produced from 

 a wide-scandent or long-trailing rhizome (prostrate stem) of a woody nature, 

 and slightly scaly. — Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p. 250. Nicholson, Dictionary 

 of Gardening, i., p. 20. 



A. (Elaphoglossumj tomentosum — El-aph-og-los'-sum • to-men-to'-sum 

 (woolly), Bory. 



A stove species, native of the Bourbon Islands, somewhat resembling 

 A. Sieberi in texture and general habit, but differing from it, as from many 

 other kinds, in the peculiar nature of the scales with which its stalks and 

 fronds are densely clothed : these scales are narrow, ending in short hairs, 

 and the upper ones are quite white, while the lower ones are black in the 

 middle. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 411. 



A. (Chrysodium) tricuspe— Chry-so'-di-um « tric-us'-pe (having three 

 points), Hooker. 



This greenhouse species, native of Sikkim, is very singular. Its barren 

 fronds, borne on firm, naked stipes (stalks) nearly lft. long, are formed of 

 three entire or undivided lobes, the terminal one 6in. long and 2in. broad, 

 the lateral ones rather smaller ; they are of a coriaceous (leathery) texture, 

 and naked on both surfaces. The fructification is generally confined to the 

 upper half of the central lobe of the fertile fronds, which is lin. to 3in. long 

 and Jin. broad ; but it sometimes extends to the same portion of the lateral 

 ones, which part is then contracted and soriferous (covered with spore-cases). 

 — Hooker, Species Filicum, v., p. 272, t. 304. 



A. (Gymnopteris) Yariabile — Gym-nop'-ter-is ; var-i-a'-bil-e (variable), 

 Hooker. 



A stove species, of botanical interest only, native of the "Himalayas (where 

 it is found growing up to 3000ft. elevation), to Ceylon and Java. — Hooker, 

 Synopsis Filicum, p. 417. 



