A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
129 
ALSOPHILA —continued. 
touch and aro covered at their base with dark brown, chaffy 
scales ; the foliage is also altogether of a more leathery 
texture than that of most other Tree Ferns. The small, 
round sori are disposed from one to four at the basal portion 
of the fertile pinnules. 
A. Colensoi. 
Of comparatively small dimensions, this species is a 
native of New Zealand and Otago. Unlike most Alsophilas, 
its trunk, only 4ft. to 5ft. high, is totally devoid of spines, 
and the fronds, slightly hairy, 2ft. to 4ft. long and 1ft. or 
more broad, are borne on short stalks densely clothed with 
silvery-white scales lin. long, and with copious dark brown 
ones of smaller dimensions. The principal leaflets are 12in. 
to 14in. long, oblong, and terminate in a long, tapering 
point; their leafits are 2in. long and 4in. to 5in. broad, 
deeply pinnatifid, being divided nearly to the midrib. The 
lobes, only two to three lines long, are strongly toothed, and 
the small and round sori are disposed nearer the midrib than 
the margin of the fertile segments. 
A. Cooper!. 
From Queensland hails this handsome species, which is 
in the way of the better-known A. excelsa, but of smaller 
dimensions : it thrives equally well under either stove or 
greenhouse treatment. The ample fronds are tripinnate, and 
have their rachis densely clothed at the base with large pale 
brown scales. Their somewhat spear-shaped leaflets are l^ft. 
to 2ft. long, and are furnished with strap-shaped leafits 4in. 
to 5in. long and fin. to lin. broad, the segments of which, 
equally strap-shaped, are Jin. to Jin. broad and bright green 
on both sides. The small sori are disposed almost on the 
midrib of the fertile segments. 
A, excelsa, 
Norfolk Island is the home of this splendid greenhouse 
species which proves nearly hardy in the neighbourhood of 
Cornwall, and is a very rapid grower. In its native habitat it 
is said to have trunks from 60ft. to 80ft. high. Its ample 
fronds, of a dark green above and paler green beneath, are 
borne on stalks of a rough nature, and their principal 
leaflets, IJft. to 2ft. long and Gin. to lOin. broad, are, when 
young, densely clothed with rusty-coloured hairs intermixed 
with small scales of a darker colour. The numerous leafits 
are set close together, oblong-spear-shaped, acuminate, and 
so deeply pinnatifid that they are frequently cut down to 
their midrib ; the segments which are thus formed are 
narrow, sickle-shaped, and have their margins recurved and 
toothed like a saw, those of the barren fronds being larger 
K 
