524 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



the base, and their apex ends in a long, tapering point. They are of 

 a coriaceous (leathery) texture and borne on firm, erect stalks 6in. to 12in. 

 long and scaly below. The sori (spore masses) extend from the midrib to 

 the edge. — Hooker, Species Filicum, iii., p. 267. 



A. (Euasplenium) coriaceum — Eu-as-ple'-m-um ; cor-i-a'-ce-um 



(leathery), Baker. 



A stove species, of small dimensions, native of the Cameroon Mountains. 

 Its fronds, 9in. to 12in. long and l^in. broad, have a firm, compressed, 

 winged rachis (stalk of the leafy portion) 2in. to Sin. long and gradually 

 narrowed below into the winged stalk ; their texture is very coriaceous 

 (leathery) and their edge is nearly entire or smooth. The sori (spore 

 masses) are generally Jin. long, are situated a little apart from one another, 

 and occupy a very oblique position.— Booher, Synopsis Filicum, p. 192. 



A. (Athyrium) crenatum— Ath-yr'-i-um ; cre-na'-tum (having convex, 

 flat teeth), Ruprecht. 

 This is a greenhouse species, native of Scandinavia, Siberia, and Japan. 

 Its fronds, 9in. to loin, long and of about equal breadth, are borne on firm, 

 erect, straw-coloured stipes (stalks) 6in. to 12in. long and clothed towards 

 the base with large, ovate (egg-shaped) scales of a peculiar dark brown 

 colour. The leafy portion is deltoid (in form of the Greek delta, A), tri- or 

 quadripinnatifid (three or four times divided half-way to the midrib), and 

 provided with from nine to twelve leaflets on each side of the stalk, the 

 lowest of which are much the largest ; these leaflets are divided into 

 lanceolate pinnules (spear-shaped leafits), which in their turn are cut down 

 nearly to the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion), except towards the point, 

 on each side into four to six blunt, oblong segments, of a soft, papery 

 texture and bluntly toothed. The sori (spore masses), two to six to each 

 fertile segment, are oblong, usually nearly straight, and often double.— Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, iii., p. 226. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 129. 



A. (Diplazium) erenulatum— Dip-laz'-i-urn ; cre-nu-la'-tum (having 

 small, convex teeth), Baker. 

 A strong-growing, stove species, of nearly arborescent habit, native of 

 Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, and Ecuador. The fronds, which are produced from 



