290 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
P E L L -/C A —continued. 
P. alabamensis. 
Gheilanthes alabamensis (Kunze) is another name for 
this very pretty North American greenhouse species. The 
broadly egg-shiaped frooids^ borne on wiry, polished, blackish 
stalks 2in. to 4in. long, and covered at the base with fine 
woolly scales of a reddish-brown colour, are produced from 
a short-creeping and branched rootstock, which is covered 
with similar scales. Ihey are 4in. to Sin. long, l^in. to 
2in. broad, bi- or tripinnatifid, and furnished with numerous 
leaflets of a somewhat leathery texture. The leaflets are 
closely placed, and cut down nearly to the midrib into 
numerous narrow-oblong segments, most of which are entire, 
but the lowest are sometimes again pinnatifid; they are 
naked on both surfaces, and the sori are covered by a rather 
broad involucre of a parchment-like texture. 
P. Breweri. 
A remarkably pretty, greenhouse Fern, native of North 
America. The delicate little fronds, 2in. to Sin. long, 
scarcely lin. broad, narrow-oblong, simply pinnate, borne on 
tufted, round, very fragile, chestnut-brown stalks 2in. to 
Sin. long, and chaffy only at the base, are produced from a 
short, stout, ascending rootstock, densely clothed with 
narrow, light brown scales. The leaflets are usually oppo- 
site, the upper ones egg-shaped, undivided and stalkless, the 
lower ones cleft down the centre nearly to the base into two 
unequal parts, of which the lower is the smaller, each the 
same shape as the upper leaflets, and not toothed or further 
divided, the larger part being about ^in. long and ^in. 
broad. The fronds are of a thick but scarcely leathery tex- 
ture, pale green, and naked on both surfaces. The sori, 
disposed in a continuous, marginal line, are covered by a 
broad, thin, and nearly transparent involucre. 
P. calomelanos. 
To the dark brown colour of its strong, tufted, upright, 
polished stalks, which are 4in. to 6in. long and slightly 
scaly towards the base, this beautiful greenhouse species 
owes its name. The fronds, 4in. to Sin. long and Sin. to 
Gin. broad, are somewhat deltoid, and twice or thrice divided 
to the midrib. The rigid, spreading leaflets are sometimes 
simply pinnate, but frequently are twice pinnate; their 
leafits, borne on rigid, though slender, black, shining stalks, 
are ^in. to fin. each way, and vary in contour from blunt- 
heart-shaped to triangular-halbert-shaped, and, with the 
two sides often unequal at the base. The texture of the 
fronds is leathery, and they are smooth and of a lovely 
bluish-green in colour on both surfaces. The sori, disposed in 
