462 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



A. (Euaspidium) membranaeeum— Eu-as-pid'-I-um ; mern-bra-na'- 

 ce-um (parchment-like), Hooker. 

 This fair representative of the true Aspidium, of rather large dimensions, 

 is a native of Ceylon, Java, the Philippine Islands, Western China, and 

 Formosa. Its fronds, of a thin, papery texture and pale green colour, lift, 

 to 2ft. long and 1ft. broad, are borne on tufted stipes (stalks) lft. long and 

 furnished with only a few spreading, narrow scales below. The lowest pinnse 

 (leaflets), which are much the largest, are Gin. to 8in. long by 3in. to 4in. 

 broad, and are subdivided into pinnules (leafits) having the appearance of 

 small, oblong, sinuated (uneven) lobes. The copious sori (spore masses), 

 which are covered by an involucre that is peltate (attached to the frond by 

 its centre), are disposed principally on the margins of the lobes. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, v., p. 105. 



A. (Cyclodium) menlscioides — Cy-ckZ-di-um • me-nis-ci-o-i'-des 

 (Menisicum-like), Willdenow. 

 A stove species, native of the West Indies, Brazil, and Peru. Its fronds 

 are simply pinnate (once only divided to their midrib), 2ft. to 3ft. long and 

 lft. or more broad, and are borne on stipes (stalks) lft. to 2ft. long and scaly 

 below. The barren leaflets, which are sessile (stalkless), measure from Gin. to 

 9in. in length and ljin. to Sin. in breadth, while the fertile ones are much 

 smaller. Both are of a coriaceous (leathery) texture and naked on both 

 surfaces. The sori (spore masses) are disposed in two close rows between 

 the main veins. This species is also known as A. confertum. — Hooker, Species 

 Filicum, iv., p. 36. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 127. 



A. (Polystichum) mohrloides — Pol-ys'-tich-um ; moh-ri-o-i / -des (Mohria- 

 like), Bory. 



This singular and pretty, greenhouse Fern, which has the appearance 

 of a stout but reduced form of A. aculeatum lobatum, less the sharp-pointed, 

 spiny teeth of its leaflets, has a very wide range of habitat, for it was first 

 known as a native of Patagonia and the Cordilleras of Chili ; later on it was 

 gathered on Marion Island by Mr. Moseley, the botanist attached to the 

 "Challenger" expedition. In North America, where it is commonly called 

 the " Falkland Islands Shield Fern," A. mohrioides is found on the mountains 



