ALSOPHILA. 



349 



A. chimborazensis — chim-bor-az-en'-sis (from Chimborazo), Hooker. 



This very distinct, gigantic, stove species, native of Chimborazo, where 

 it is found at between 3000ft. and 4000ft. elevation, has, like A. m.elanopus, 

 the general aspect of Cyathea divergens, but the sori (spore masses) are 

 clearly those of Alsophila. Its trunk, which is strongly aculeate (prickly), 

 is remarkably slender, for — according to Spruce, who discovered the plant — 

 although 15ft. in height, it only measures 4in. in diameter. The fronds — 

 or rather their leafy portion — of a sub- coriaceous (almost leathery) texture, 

 9ft. to 10ft. in length and 5ft. in breadth, are borne on very stout stipes 

 (stalks) 3ft. to 4ft. long, of a dirty brown colour and very rough nature, 

 thickly furnished with very sharp, strong spines, and chaffy with large, dark 

 brown, glossy scales. The primary pinnae (principal leaflets), 2-Jft. long and 

 lft. broad, have their pinnules (leafits), which are provided with distinct foot- 

 stalks, rather distant, horizontal, and deeply pinnatifid (divided almost to the 

 midrib). The nearly sickle-shaped, entire lobes have their margins a little 

 recurved, and the sori (spore masses) are situated at the forking of the veins 

 and close to the midrib. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 37. 



A. Colensoi — Col-en'-so-i (Colenso's), Hooker. 



A greenhouse species, of comparatively small dimensions, native of New 

 Zealand and Otago. Contrary to the majority of Alsophilas, its trunk, only 

 4ft. to 5ft. high, is totally devoid of spines, and the fronds, slightly hairy, 

 2ft. to 4ft. long and lft. or more broad, are borne on short stalks densely 

 clothed with silvery-white scales lin. long, and with copious dark brown ones 

 of smaller dimensions. The primary pinnas (principal leaflets) are 12in. to 

 14in. long, oblong, and acuminate (terminating in a long, tapering point) ; their 

 pinnules (leafits) are 2in. long and 4in. to Sin. broad, deeply pinnatifid, 

 being divided nearly to the midrib. The lobes, only two to three lines long, 

 are strongly serrated (toothed like a saw), and the small and round sori 

 (spore masses) are disposed nearer the midrib than the margin of the 

 fertile segments. — Hooker, Flora of Neiv Zealand, ii., p. 8, t. 73. 



A. COmosa — coni-o'-sa (furnished with hair), Hooker. 



A spineless, stove species, known also as A. squamulata, native of 

 Singapore and the Malay Islands. Its fronds are of soft texture, yellowish- 



