390 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



borne on strong, upright, hairy stalks Gin. to 12in. long, have their barren 

 portion 1ft. or more long and 2in. to 4in. broad. This portion is oblong- 

 spear-shaped, and its lower half is about of equal breadth throughout: it 

 consists of twenty or more pairs of pinna (leaflets), the extremity of which 

 is narrowed, but scarcely pointed ; their edge is finely serrulate (toothed like 

 a saw), and the base of their upper side runs parallel with the stalk, while 

 their lower base is obliquely truncate (terminating abruptly in an oblique 

 direction), or sometimes auriculate (eared), ljin. long, and entire. The leaflets 

 are of almost leathery texture, and their rachis (stalk of the leafy portion) 

 and both their surfaces are finely hairy. The fertile portion of the frond, 

 situated at the base of the barren one, is composed of contracted segments 

 disposed in a panicle of a very compound (closely-set) nature, Sin. to 4in. 

 long, and borne on a footstalk 5in. to 6in. long. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, 

 p. 432. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 73. 



A. mexicana — mex-ic-a'-na (Mexican), Klotzsch. 



This truly Mexican, stove species, found on shady river cliff's near 

 New Braunfels, Texas, at Medina, in Western Texas, and, according to 

 Eaton, in a rocky " arroyo " at the mouth of the River Pecos, is a compara- 

 tively robust grower. In general aspect, it much resembles the popular 

 A. Pliyllitidis, though its fronds, borne on firm, naked, slender, and straw- 

 coloured stipes (stalks) Gin. to 12in. long, instead of being produced from 

 a single crown, arise from a slowly-creeping rhizome (prostrate stem) covered 

 with narrow, curled, blackish-brown hairs. Their barren portion, Gin. to 9 in. 

 long and 4in. to Gin. broad, between triangular and egg-shaped, consists of 

 a large terminal leaflet and from four to six pairs of lateral ones, the lowest 

 the largest, all distinctly stalked, 2in. to Sin. long and Jin. to fin. broad. 

 The lowest leaflets are distinctly cordate (heart-shaped) at the base, the others 

 are rounded on both sides at the base, and all have their edge slightly toothed. 

 These leaflets are of a coriaceous (leathery) texture, light green above, 

 paler beneath, and their surfaces are quite naked : their general shape is 

 between ovate and lanceolate (egg-shaped and spear-shaped), and the well- 

 marked midvein, distinct to their extremity, as well as the closely-placed, 

 forking veins on each side of it, which give the surface a striated appearance, 

 make this Anemia one of the most conspicuous of all the known species. 



