626 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



like .the one above described will eventually start and produce young plants 

 in their turn. The fronds of A. obtusilobum, about 6in. long and 2in. broad, 

 are borne on greenish, naked, tufted stalks about 2in. long. They are 

 furnished with from nine to twelve pairs of leaflets of a papery texture and 

 bright shining-green colour • the largest leaflets are about lin. long and 

 fin. broad, divided into pinnules (leafits), the lowest of which are flabellately 

 cut into three to five linear lobes. The sori (spore masses) are regularly 

 disposed on the margin of the leaflets. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 221. 

 Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, i., p. 133. 



A. odontites — od-on-ti'-tes (toothed). A common garden appellation for 



A. flaccidum. 



A. (Athyrium) oxyphyllum — Ath-yr'-i-um ; ox-yph-yl'-luin (sharp- 

 leaved), Hooker. 



This variable, greenhouse species has a very wide range of habitat, being 

 a native of Java and Japan, also of Nepaul, Assam, Bhotan, and the Eastern 

 Himalayas, where it is found up to 7000ft. elevation. Its spear-shaped 

 fronds, 1ft. to 2ft. long and 6in. to 12in. broad, are borne on firm, erect, 

 straw-coloured stalks 6in. to 12in. long, clothed at the base with large, 

 spear-shaped, sharp-pointed, reddish-brown scales. They are furnished with 

 distant leaflets, of a leathery texture, 4in. to Sin. long, lin. to 2in. broad, 

 divided into spear-shaped pinnules (leafits) which are sometimes auricled 

 (eared) on their upper side and deeply notched. The sori (spore masses), 

 which are provided with an involucre (covering) of oblong-kidney shape, 

 are disposed in two rows on the leaflets, midway between the midrib and 

 the edge.— Hooker, Species Filicum, iii., p. 221. Nicholson, Dictionary of 

 Gardening, i., p. 133. Beddome, Ferns of British India, t. 67. 



A. (Euasplenium) paleaceum— Eu-as-ple'-ni-um • pal-e-a'-ce-um (scaly), 

 JR. Brown. 



A pretty little, stove species, native of Tropical Australia, with fronds 

 6in. to 9in. long, l£in. to 2in. broad, and borne on spreading, densely scaly 

 stipes (stalks) lin. to 3in. long. These fronds, which have a somewhat 

 drooping habit and are frequently proliferous at their extremity, are furnished 

 on each side of their midrib with from twelve to twenty sub-sessile pinn* 



