78 



THE FERN BULLETIN 



Indies, and the rest found in the tropical . America. 

 The well-known star fern, (H. palmata) is probably 

 most commonly found in collections. 



The species we have chosen for illustration, H. ari- 

 folia, is one of the Old World species, and was col- 

 lected by D. Le Roy Topping at San Juan del Monte 

 in Luzon one of the Philippines. As in most of 

 this group there is in this species a slight distinction 

 between the fertile and sterile fronds both in the shape 

 and habit. The latter spreading out near the surface 

 of the ground while the fertile rise up om longer stipes, 

 apparently for the purpose of better shedding their 

 spores. A general resemblance to heart-shape is seen 

 in all the fronds, but as the mature fertile fronds ap- 

 pear they take on more or less of the arrow-head shape. 

 This doubtless accounts for the fact that this species 

 also goes by the name of H. cordifolia and H. sagit- 

 tata. 



As a general thing the species of this genus are 

 confined to open sunny places. Their fronds are us- 

 ually rather small, seldom more than two inches across 

 and 1 rather thick in texture. They are usually more or 

 less hairy, and the fertile fronds have the under sur- 

 face thickly reticulated with heavy lines of spore cases 

 which follow the numerous veins. The species 

 we have been discussing is the Philippine ana- 

 logue of the west Indian star fern and while not 

 as attractive in the shape of its fronds as the better 

 known species, is a most interesting plant. An ac- 

 count of the star fern was published in this magazine 

 for July, 1904 and may be referred to for comparison. 



