ASPIDIUM. 



447 



plant used for his illustration was gathered in a wild state. The fronds, of 

 a coriaceous (leathery) texture, 1-Jft. to 2ft. long and 6in. to Din. broad, 

 are borne on firm, erect stipes (stalks) 1ft. long, stramineous (straw- 

 coloured) and scaly in the lower portion. They are simply pinnate (only 

 once divided to the midrib), and furnished on each side with numerous 

 stalked, spear-shaped leaflets 4in. to Gin. long and ljin. broad, which 

 terminate in a long, tapering point. The edges are almost entire or more 

 or less deeply lobed, sometimes down to the rachis (stalk of the leafy 

 portion) below. The midrib is often covered beneath with small scales. The 

 particularly large sori (spore masses) are disposed in one or two rows 

 on each side of the midvein of the pinnse (leaflets). — Hooker, Species 

 Filicum, iv., p. 39. Beddome, Ferns of British India, t. 45. 



A. (Euaspidium) caespitosum — Eu-as-pid'-I-um ; coes-pit-o'-sum 

 (tufted), Wallich. 



A greenhouse species, plentiful in North India, especially on the 

 Himalayas, where it is found at various elevations between 4000ft. and 

 10,000ft. ; also in Nepaul, Simla, &c. It is of comparatively dwarf habit, as 

 its fronds, seldom more than Sin. long, are borne on stems 4in. to Gin. long; 

 smooth, except at their base, which, like the short, thick rhizome (prostrate 

 stem) from which they are produced, is clothed with ciliated (fringed) 

 scales of a light brown colour. — Beddome, Ferns of British India, t. 33. 



A. (Euaspidium) calcareum — Eu-as-pid'-i-um ; cal-ca'-re-um (cal- 

 careous or limy), Presl. 

 This stove species, native of the Philippine Islands, is of medium 

 dimensions, its fronds, 1ft. long and 6in. to 9in. broad, being borne on tufted, 

 naked stalks 4in. to Gin. long only ; their upper portion is pinnatifid (divided 

 half-way to the midrib), but their lower portion is furnished with four to six 

 stalked pinnaa (leaflets) on each side of the midrib. The lowest leaflets are 

 cut down to the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion) into stalked, spear-shaped, 

 pointed, deeply and bluntly-lobed pinnules (leafits) of a somewhat leathery 

 texture. The sori (spore masses), disposed in two rows on each side of the 

 midvein, are provided with an orbicular involucre (globular covering). — 

 Hooker, Species Filicum, iv., p. 46. 



