A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
185 
CHKll^ANTllKS— continued. 
colour of the scales of the lower surface gradually hecomes 
deeper. The whole under-surface is densely clothed with 
imbricated/ ferruginous scales. The outer margin of the 
segments is so revolute as to make them appear almost 
pouch-like. The sori, disposed a few to the margin of each 
pinnule, are entirely hidden beneath the scaly and woolly 
covering. 
C. microphylla. 
This very elegant, delicate-looking, greenhouse species 
is popularly known in North America as Plumier's Lip 
Fern — after its discoverer, the Rev. 0. Plumier. It 
has a very extensive range. Its fronds, produced 
from a slightly - creeping rhizome, and borne on 
slender, wiry, flexuous stalks 2in. to 6in. long, of 
a dark chestnut-brown colour and woolly below when 
young, are Sin. to 9in. long, 2in. to' Sin. broad, spear- 
shaped and bi- or tripinnatifid. The numerous leaflets are 
disposed in opposite pairs; the loAvest, lin. to 2in. long, 
are divided into linear-oblong, somewhat leathery, pinnules, 
and cut down to the stalk below. Both surfaces are green 
and smooth. The roundish or elongated sori are covered 
with narrow involucres of a pale colour. 
This species is extremely variable in the form and 
composition of the frond, abundance or scantiness of the 
pubescence, and continuity of the involucres; consequently, 
several varieties are recorded, G. m. micromera being the 
best known. 
C. myriophylla. 
Undoubtedly this is one of the prettiest species of the 
genus, and popularly known as the Lace Fern. It is usually 
cultivated under the name of G. elegans, a name preferred 
by Mettenius, who says that the specimens of G, elegans 
and of G. myriophylla, both of Desvaux, are exactly alike. 
It certainly is the most extensively-grown species, and suc- 
ceeds well either in the greenhouse or in the stove, being a 
native of Tropical America. Its delicate-looking, brittle 
fronds, 4in. to Gin. long, l^in. to 2in. broad, and borne on 
densely-tufted, wiry, erect stalks, Sin. to Gin. long, thickly 
clothed with pale, woolly down, are somewhat spear-shaped 
and three or four times divided half-way to the midrib. 
The lower leaflets, about lin. long, ^in. broad, and broadly 
spear-shaped, are cut down to the rachis on both sides into 
numerous narrow-oblong letafits, which are again slightly 
branched at the base, and further divided into very small 
roundish, bead-like segments, the margin of which is so 
much incurved as to make these organs appear pouch- or 
