ASPLENIUM. 



537 



and nearly naked. The fronds are simply pinnate (divided only once to 

 the midrib) and furnished with from nine to fifteen pairs of leaflets Sin. to 

 4in. long, fin. broad, of a sub-coriaceous (almost leathery) texture, and with 

 their edges slightly lobed and notched. The sori (spore masses) radiate from 

 the mid vein and fall short of the edge. — Hooker, Species Filicum, hi., p. 162. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 129. Loice, Ferns British and 

 Exotic, v., p. 25. 



A. (Anisogonium) esculentum — An-is-og-o'-ni-um ; es-cul-en'-tum 

 (edible), Presl. 



This robust-growing, stove species, native of Hong-Kong, Formosa, the 

 Malay Islands, &c, is one of the few known Aspleniums with an arborescent 

 caudex (upright stem) forming a sort of miniature Tree Fern. Its gigantic 

 fronds, 4ft. to 6ft. long and fully 3ft. broad at the base, are borne on strong, 

 erect stipites (stalks) 1ft. to 2ft. long ; they are occasionally simply pinnate 

 (only once divided to the midrib), but are usually bipinnate (twice divided 

 to the midrib). The pinnae (leaflets) are very large, the lower ones 

 measuring from 1ft. to l^ft. in length and from 6in. to Sin. in breadth. 

 When the frond is bipinnate these leaflets are divided into pinnules (leafits) 

 of a sub-coriaceous (almost leathery) texture, 3in. to 6in. long and lin. or 

 more broad, with a long, tapering point, their edge being more or less deeply 

 lobed and their base suddenly narrowed and often auricled (eared). The 

 sori (spore masses) are usually disposed on lines situated on all the lateral 

 veinlets, which unite at a short distance from the midvein, there being 

 usually from six to ten veinlets on each lobe. — Hooker, Species Filicum, iii., 

 p. 268. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 129. 



A. (Euasplenium) extensum — Eu-as-ple'-ni-uni ; ex-ten'-sum 

 (extended), Fee. 



This rare and very pretty, greenhouse species, allied to our A. Tricho- 

 manes, is a native of the Andes of Columbia and Peru. Its very elegant 

 fronds are simply pinnate (only once divided to the midrib), 1ft. to 2ft. long 

 and about lin. broad, and are borne on blackish, polished stipites (stalks) 

 4in. to 6in. long ; they are composed of from twenty to forty pairs of sessile 

 pinnae (stalkless leaflets), which differ from those of A. Trichomanes, inasmuch 



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