A Dictionary of Choice Ferns. 
291 
PKLtLiJE, A— continued. 
a broiad line along the margin of tlie leafits, soon hide the 
narrow, thin, and transparent involucre. This species is a 
native of Cape Colony, Zambesi Land, &c. 
P. cordata. 
Mexico land the Andes of Peru lare the habitat of this 
handsome greenhouse species. Its broadly speiar-shiaped 
fronds, 1ft. or more in length and 4in. to 6in. broad, are 
borne on strong, erect, straw-coloured stalks Gin. to 9in. 
long, polished, but clothed below with small, pale, spear- 
shaped scales when young. The leaflets, of the same shape 
as the fronds, are provided with a straight rachis, the lower 
ones being slightly branched at the base ; their short-stalked 
segments, oblong or egg-shaped, rounded or heart-shaped tat 
the base, ^in. to lin. long, land half as broad, are of a some- 
what leathery texture, and blunt at the extremity. The 
sori are disposed in broad, marginal lines, which soon hide 
the involucre. 
P. c. flexuosa. 
In gardens, this North American variety is usually 
found under the name of Platyloma flexuosa. The hand- 
some fronds, produced from a rather slender rootstock 
clothed with narrow, brown scales, are borne on stalks 
several inches long, more or less furrowed along the front, 
gradually passing into a more or less zigzag stalk. 
P. falcata. 
This decorative, greenhouse species is found in Tropical 
Hindostan, the Malayan Peninsula, Australia, New Zealand, 
Tasmania, &c. The fronds, produced from a wide-creeping, 
slender, underground rhizome, and borne on strong, erect 
stalks Sin. to 6in. long, more or less hairy and scaly, 
are oblong-spear-shaped, 6in. to 18in. long, lin. to 
2in. broad, and only once divided to the midrib. They 
are formed of twelve to thirty or more pairs of stalkless, 
or nearly stalkless leaflets, ^in. to lin. long and Jin. 
to ^in. broad, and usually a larger terminal one; all 
are spear-shaped or oblong- spear -shaped, usually ^ ter- 
minating in a sharp point, and often slightly sickle- 
shaped, wedge-shaped, enlarged, or heart-shapecl at the 
base; their texture is leathery, and their colour a dark, 
dull green above, paler beneath. The sori are disposed ^*n 
a continuous, broad, marginal line extending from the base 
nearly to the summit of each fertile leaflet, and soon hide 
their narrow involucre. 
P. hastata. 
More generally found in gardens under the name of 
Pteris hastata, this highly-decomtive, strong-growing, 
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