A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 229 
foliage, in whicli case the most efficacious treatment 
consists in a dip in a slight solution of lemon oil. 
The plants are readily propagated from spores, which 
germinate freely, and also by means of the young 
plants which most species produce at the base and 
at the notches of the segments of the fronds. These 
should be firmly laid on a surface of the soil 
recommended above. 
H. cordata. 
This very distinct^ stove species (Fig. 96)^ native of 
Ceylon, Moulmein, the Philippines^ and also of various parts 
of Peninsular India, is so very unlike any other known Fern 
in general outline, that it forms a striking contrast with 
its associates wherever it is introduced. Its fronds, which 
are produced from an underground, creeping rhizome, are 
of two kinds. The barren ones, 2in. to 3in. each way, 
heart-shaped, bluntish at the point, and with rounded basal 
lobes and a deep notch between them, are borne on dark 
chestnut-brown, glossy stalks 2in. to 4in. long. The fertile 
fronds have their lobes much siharper, the whole leafy por- 
tion being nearly triangular; these are borne on stalks 
similar to those of the barren fronds, but often 1ft. long. 
Both kinds are of a somewhat leathery texture, smooth and 
dark green on the upper surface, whereas their under-side, 
which is slightly hairy and of a paler colour, is completely 
covered with sori, that are narrow at first, but eventually 
become confluent. The barren fronds are proliferous at 
their base, where one or several little bulbils are produced, 
and by means of these the species may easily be propagated. 
H. palmata. 
This dwarf-growing and thoroughly distinct, stove 
species, native of the West Indies and Mexico, is generally 
known by the appropriate name of ''Ivy-leaved Fern,'' its 
palmate fronds, 2in. to Gin. each way, being composed of 
five nearly equal divisions ; but there the comparison ends, 
for they are covered on both sides with rusty-coloured hairs, 
which extend all along the stalks. The fertile fronds, 
which have their divisions more sharply defined, are borne 
on glossy, dark chestnut-brown stalks Gin. to 12in. long 
and upright; whereas the barren ones, with lobes shorter, 
blunter, and less divided, are borne on similar stalks, but 
only 2in. to 4in. long, and their habit is horizontal: both 
kinds are of a soft, papery texture and pale green in colour. 
The narrow sori are disposed all along the veins, and are 
so copious as eventually to become confluent. Fig. 29, p. 40. 
HYMENODIUM. See Acrostichum. 
