ASP ID I UM. 



443 



A. (Euaspidium) angulatum — Eu-as-pid'-i-um ; ang-ul-a'-tum (angular), 

 John Smith {not Hooker). 

 A stove species, native of the Malayan Islands, with fronds of a soft, 

 papery texture, 1ft. to 2ft. long, sometimes simple (undivided), usually with 

 one large, heart-shaped, entire terminal pinna (leaflet) and one or two lateral 

 ones on each side of the midrib. The lowest of these, 6in. to lOin. long 

 and 2in. to 4in. broad, are often forked at the base. The stipes (stalks) on 

 which the fronds are borne are 1ft. to 2ft. long, ebeneous, glossy above and 

 scaly below ; the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion) is of similar nature, and 

 the very abundant sori (spore masses) are small and scattered over the whole 

 of the under-side of the frond. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 258. 



A. (Polystichum) anomalum — Pol-ys'-tieh-um ; an-o'-mal-um (ano- 

 malous), Hooker and Arnott. 

 A very robust, greenhouse species-, native of Ceylon, where, according to 

 Beddome, it grows at from 5000ft. to 6000ft. elevation. It produces fronds 

 2ft. to 3ft, long and 1ft. or more broad, borne on stout, upright stalks, 1ft. 

 to 2ft. long, that are densely clothed, especially in their lower part, with large, 

 spear-shaped scales of a peculiarly light brown colour. The lower pinna? 

 (leaflets) are 6in. to 9in. long and 2in. to 3in. broad, and the leathery leafits, 

 with blunt or slightly pointed teeth, are spear-shaped in the upper part 

 of the pinna?, but cut down below into oblong segments. Both surfaces 

 are naked, and the sori (spore masses) are often borne on the upper surface 

 and sometimes quite destitute of an involucre (covering). Of this curious plant 

 Beddome says : " Except in the extraordinary fact of its bearing its 

 sori on the upper side of the frond, it hardly differs from some form of 

 the variable A. aculeatum, and is probably an abnormal form of that species." 

 — Hooker, Sjjecies Filicum, iv., p. 27. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, 

 i., p. 126. Beddome, Ferns of British India, t. 219. 



A. argutum — ar-gu'-tum (sharply-toothed). A variety of A. aculeatum. 



A. (Polystichum) aristatum — Pol-ys'-tich-um ; ar-is-ta'-tum (awned), 

 Sivartz. 



This handsome and robust, greenhouse species, better known perhaps 

 under the name of Lastrea aristata, is a native of Japan, the Himalayas, 



