G50 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



A. (Euasplenium) tenuifolium — Eu-as-ple'-m-um ; ten-u-if-oF-i-um 

 (small-leaved), Don. 

 A pretty, greenhouse species, native of the Himalayas and the Neilgherries, 

 and, according to Beddome, common in Sholas on the banks of streams at 

 Ootacamund and at the Avalanche Bungalow on the Anamallay Mountains. 

 Its oblong- spear- shaped fronds, 6in. to 12m. long, Sin. to 5in. broad, and 

 borne on slender, naked stalks 3in. to 6in. long, are furnished with numerous 

 leaflets of a thin, papery texture, divided into pinnules (leafits) which in their 

 turn are cut down to a narrowly-winged stalk into spoon-shaped segments 

 sharply cleft on the outer edge. The sori (spore masses) are disposed one 

 or two to each segment and placed on each side of the midvein. — Hooker, 

 Species Filicum, hi., p. 193. Beddome, Ferns of Southern India, t. 130. 



A. (Athyrium) thelypteroides — Ath-yr'-i-um ; the-lyp-ter-o-F-des 

 ( Thelypteris-like) , Michaux. 

 This handsome, greenhouse species, which is easily distinguished by its 

 long sori (spore masses) disposed in regular rows, is a native of Sikkim and 

 the Himalayas, where it is found up to 10,000ft. elevation. It also grows 

 in a wild state in North America, where, according to Eaton, it is one of the 

 most conspicuous Ferns in the forests of the Northern States, and is most 

 frequently found where a rivulet trickles through deep forests on the lower 

 slopes of a mountain, keeping the earth at all times moist. It occurs princi- 

 pally in such positions from North Brunswick and Canada to Central Alabama 

 and westward to Wisconsin. Its fronds, 1ft. to 2ft. long and 6in. to 12in. 

 broad, are spear-shaped and borne on upright stalks, Gin. long, that are chaffy 

 when very young but nearly smooth when mature (the stalk shown in Fig. 128 

 is rather shorter than usual). The numerous spreading leaflets are 4in. to 

 Gin. long, and are cut down to a broadly-winged stalk into small pinnules 

 (leafits) of a thin, papery texture. The oblong sori are disposed in close, 

 regular rows reaching nearly from the midrib to the edge, slightly curved, 

 the lower ones often double. — Hooker, Species Filicum, hi., p. 226. Eaton, 

 Ferns of North America, ii., t. 50. Beddome, Ferns of British India, t. 68. 



A. (Darea (Thunbergii — Da'-re-a ; Thun-berg'-i-i (Thunberg's). This 

 is synonymous with A. auriculatum. 



