ASPLENIUM. 



523 



are simply pinnate (only once divided to the midrib), oblong-spear-shaped, 

 and composed of from ten to twenty pairs of sessile pinnas (stalkless leaflets) 

 4in. to 6in, long, lin. broad, bluntish at the point, slightly toothed, and often 

 proliferous (bud-bearing) all over their upper surface ; the upper pinn« are 

 decurrent (running down) upon the stout, compressed, fleshy stalk, the 

 upper side being narrowed suddenly at about a right angle and the lower 

 one obliquely truncate (Fig. 86). The broad and distant sori (spore masses) 

 do not reach either the midrib or the edge. — Hooker, Species Filicum, hi., 

 p. 121. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 129. Lowe, Ferns British 

 and Exotic, v., t. 16. 



A. (Euasplenium) COXltigUUm— Eu-as-ple'-ni-mn ; con-tig'-u-mn (con- 

 tiguous), Kaulfuss. 

 A greenhouse species, in the way of A. falcatum, native of the Sandwich 

 and Philippine Islands, also of the Anamallay Hills and the Neilgherries, 

 where, according to Beddome, it grows at elevations of 3000ft. and 7000ft. 

 It is a distinct and very interesting Fern, with fronds 1ft. to lift, long, 4in. 

 to 6in. broad, borne on firm, erect, smooth stalks of a peculiar chestnut- 

 brown colour and 6in. to 9in. long. The pinna? (leaflets), from twenty 

 to thirty on each side of the rachis, are sub-falcate (almost sickle -shaped), 

 terminating in a long, tapering point, and with the edge more or less, some- 

 times deeply, cut and slightly lobed, the base being narrowed suddenly and 

 sometimes auricled (eared) on their upper side ; they are of a sub -coriaceous 

 (almost leathery) texture, and their basal lobes are wedge-shaped and 

 unequally toothed at their extremity. The closely-set and abundant sori 

 (spore masses) fall considerably short of the margin ; in fact, they are 

 contiguous and disposed parallel with the midrib. — Hooker, Species Filicum,, 

 iii., p. 156, t. 194. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 129. Lowe, 

 New and Rare Ferns, t. 16. Beddome, Ferns of Southern India, t. 140. 



A. (AniSOgOllium) COrdifolium— An-is-og-o'-ni-mn ; cor-dif-ol'-i-um 

 (having heart-shaped fronds), Mettenius. 

 A stove species, of small dimensions, native of the Philippine and Malay 

 Islands, with fronds Sin. to 12in. long, Sin. to 4in. broad, and of a singular 

 shape for an Asplenium : they are entire (uncut) and heart-shaped at 



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