ASPLENIUM. 



631 



nearly to the midrib), and furnished with numerous imbricated pinnae 

 (overlapping leaflets), the lowest of which are quite 1ft. long and 4in. broad, 

 of a thin, papery texture and bright green in colour. The pinnae are divided 

 and subdivided, their ultimate segments being linear (long and narrow), |in. 

 to Jin. long, and -g^m. broad. The solitary sori (spore masses) are small, 

 linear-oblong, and disposed very close to the margin of the segments. — 

 Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 224. 



A. (Euasplenium) praemorsum — Eu-as-ple'-ni-um ; prae-mor'-sum 

 (bitten), Swartz. 



This is a very variable, greenhouse species, found wild in the West 

 Indies, Australia, TenerifFe, and the Canary Islands. From its good 

 constitution and also on account of its general appearance it is a popular 

 favourite, for its beautifully-arching fronds, sometimes 3ft. long, are among 

 the most decorative of the genus ; they are produced from a slightly- creeping 

 rhizome, bipinnate (twice divided to the midrib), and furnished with 

 elongated leaflets of a leathery texture and dark green in colour, narrowing 

 to a point and divided into pinnules (leafits) with a sharply-toothed margin. 

 The sori (spore masses) are disposed in narrow, oblique lines extending 

 from the midvein to very near the edge of the pinnules. — Lowe, Ferns 

 British and Exotic, v., t. 7. 



A. prolongatum — pro4on-ga'-tum (prolonged), Hooker. 



This is a variety of A. rutcefolium, from which it essentially differs 

 through its fronds terminating in a long, tail-like process bearing a solitary 

 bulbil at its extremity. 



A. (Euasplenium) pulchellum — Eu-as-ple'-ni-um ; pul-cher-lum (pretty), 

 Raddi. 



A very elegant, stove species, of small dimensions, native of Tropical 

 America, from Columbia to Peru and Rio Janeiro. Its fronds, 4in. to Bin. 

 long, lin. to l|in. broad, and borne on slender, naked, greenish stalks lin. 

 to 2in. long, are furnished with twelve to eighteen pairs of leaflets, of thin, 

 papery texture, about Jin. long, bluntish at their extremity and narrowed 

 suddenly at their base. The sori (spore masses), of a bright reddish-brown 



