CHAPTER IX 
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SPECIES 
(Technical terms and contractions for the names of botanists or books 
are explained in the Glossary at the end.) 
COHORT I. FILICALES. 
Division I. Filicales Leptosporangiatae. 
ORDER I. FILICES. FERNS. 
Sub-Order I. Hymenophyllaceae. 
Genus i. Trichomanes Linn. 
Rhizome creeping, slender, matted or branched, and bearing 
pellucid tender fronds, similar in habit and texture to the 
Hymenophylla. Sori terminal on a pinnule, or sunk into its 
apex. Involucre tubular with a rim, or two-lipped at the 
mouth, but not deeply divided, and having the end of the vein 
prolonged as a central receptacle, bearing capsules as far as 
enclosed in the involucre, but often having a filiform point 
without capsules extending beyond. The Trichomanes are 
delicate little plants, requiring abundant moisture but easily 
cultivated where that is obtainable. 
The genus is closely allied to Hymenophyllum , and has 
about 227 species; widely distributed in the warmer regions, 
and some extending into the temperate zone. 
Key to the species : 
1. T. rigidum. Frond three to four-pinnatifid, three to eight inches 
long ; rachis not winged, or winged only at the summit. 
2. T. ft yxidiferum. Frond three-pinnatifid, one to four inches long; 
rachis winged above. 
(T. digitatum. Frond stalked, pinnatifid into long linear ciliated 
segments; involucre sunk in the frond.) 
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