634 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



pinnules (leafits) sharply toothed on the outer edge and sometimes deeply cleft, 

 on which the sori (spore masses), oblong in shape, are solitary. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, iii., p. 194. 



A. (Euasplenium) resectum— Eu-as-ple'-nl-um ; res-ec'-tum (cut or 

 pared), Smith. 



This greenhouse species, of Indian origin, is widely distributed. On the 

 Himalayas it is found up to 8000ft. elevation, and, according to Beddome, 

 it is also found on the Neilgherries, Anamallays, and Pulnies, where it is very 

 common at elevations of 3000ft. to 5000ft. Its fronds, 6in. to 15in. long, 

 2in. to 4in. broad, and lanceolate-oblong in shape, have a very peculiar 

 appearance through the almost stalkless, horizontal leaflets with which they are 

 furnished being almost dimidiate (two-thirds of the lower side being entirely 

 cut away). They have their point bluntish and are of a thin, papery texture. 

 The sori (spore masses) do not reach either the midrib or the edge. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, hi., p. 130. Nicholson, Dictionary of -Gardening, i., p. 133. 

 Beddome, Ferns of Southern India, t. 132. 



A. (Euasplenium) rhizophorum — Eu-as-ple'-ni-um ; rhi-zoph'-or-um 



(root-bearing), Linnaius. 



This very handsome, stove species, native of Tropical America, where it 

 is found from Mexico and the West Indies southward to Peru, is exceedingly 

 variable in cutting, and may be best recognised by its elongated rachis bearing 

 a solitary bulbil at its extremity. The typical species is a plant with fronds 

 lft. to 2ft. long, 4in. to 6m. broad, borne on naked, firm, erect stipes (stalks) 

 4in. to 8in. long and of a chestnut-brown colour. These are furnished with 

 from twelve to thirty pairs of simple pinnse (undivided leaflets) ljin. to 2in. 

 long, about Jin. broad, spreading horizontally, of a papery texture, and with 

 the two sides unequal, the upper side eared and narrowed, the lower one 

 obliquely wedge-shaped (Fig. 123). The sori (spore masses) do not reach 

 either the midrib or the edge. — Hooker, Species Filicum, iii., p. 122, t. 187a. 

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



As an illustration of the variability of this species, we may here note 

 that the varieties A. cyrtopteron and A. flabellatum of Kunze have their 

 leaflets deeply lobed and pinnatificl (cut nearly to the midrib), especially 



