ALSOPHILA. 



353 



other. The trunk and stalks are spineless, and the fronds, of a thin texture, 

 bipinnate (twice divided to the midrib) above and three times divided in 

 their other parts, are sparingly covered with long, white hairs on both sides, 

 chiefly on the costules (small ribs) and veins. The primary pinnse (principal 

 leaflets), oblong and terminating in a long, tapering point, are from 1ft. 

 to ljft. long and 6in. broad, and are subdivided into secondary pinnae of 

 the same shape, 2in. to oin. long ; these are in their turn divided into 

 pinnules (leafits) |1n. to Jin. long and Jin. broad. The lobes thus produced 

 are egg-shaped, and either with entire margins or with one or two teeth. 

 The sori (spore masses) are disposed one to each lobe in few lax capsules. 

 — Hooker, Species Filicum, i., p. 51. 



A. elegans — e'-leg-ans (elegant), Martins. 



This stove species, native of Brazil, is apparently rare. Its fronds, of 

 a thick yet leathery texture and bipinnate (twice divided to the midrib), are 

 borne on strong and conspicuously spiny stipes (stalks) ; the pinnules 

 (leafits), disposed far apart and borne on short footstalks, are 2in. to 2 Jin. 

 long, narrowly spear-shaped, obtuse at their base, and slightly covered on 

 their under-surface with a woolly substance of a rusty colour. The sori 

 (spore masses) form a more or less interrupted series nearer the midrib than 

 the margin of the fertile lobes. — Hooker, Species Filicum, i., p. 36. 



The variety crenata of Kunze is distinguished from the type by having 

 its pinnules distinctly notched. 



A. elongata — e-long-a'-ta (elongated), Hooker. 



A very robust species, native of Columbia and Central America, peculiar 

 through the sharply-spiny nature of the stalks of its fronds, which are 

 bipinnate (twice divided to the midrib), and whose primary pinna3 (principal 

 leaflets), 2ft. to 3ft. long and only Sin. broad, are furnished with spear-shaped 

 and much-lengthened pinnules (leafits) 6in. or more long, terminating in 

 a lsmg, narrow, serrated (dented like a saw), caudate (tail-like) process. 

 The lobes, five to six lines long, are somewhat pointed, stiff, and have their 

 margins recurved (turned back) and serrated. The sori (spore masses) 

 are ' numerous, and cover the entire segments with the exception of their 

 extremity. — Hooker, Species Filicum, i., p. 43. 



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