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THE GENERA AND SPECIES OF CULTIVATED FERNS. 
Fig. 39. 
Fig. 40 re- 
i 
m 
as forming the transition from the free veins of true Pteris to the reticulated form that characterizes Litobrochia, 
Fig. 39 represents a portion of a pinna of C. biaurita, (med. size). 
1. C. biaurita, J. Smith : Linna?us. — An ornamental evergreen stove Fern, 
native of the West Indies. Fronds glabrous, triangularly elongate, three to four 
feet long, light green, pinnate ; pinnae lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid, petiolulate, 
with the apex caudate and entire ; lower pair bipartite ; segments linear, obtuse, 
sub-falcate. Stipes half the length of the frond, with a few scattered scales near 
their base ; terminal, adherent to an crcet fasciculate rhizome. 
in allusion to the ap- 
WjjTERIS, Liiinieus. — Name derived from pteron, a wing; 
j\ pearanee of the fronds. 
Sori linear, continuous or interrupted, usually occuping the sides of the seg- 
ments only. Indusium plane, linear, its base often sporangiferous. Veins forked; 
venules direct, their apices combined by a sporangiferous receptacle. Fronds 
from one to eight or ten feet high, pinnate, bipinnatifid or decompound, glabrous, 
or pilose. — This genus, as originally characterized, contained nearly 200 species, 
amongst which were collected a variety of plants, widely differing in habit, 
aspect, texture, and circumscription of fronds ; by being divested of all forms 
possessing a reticulated venation, it is considerably reduced, although it now 
contains a large number of species which, with few exceptions, are tall coarse- 
growing plants. Its nearest affinity is 
with Platyloma, from which the most 
obvious distinction is, its narrow sporangiferous receptacle, 
presents a pinna of P. felosma (med. size). 
1. P. longijolia, Linnaeus. — An ornamental evergreen stove Fem, 
native of Nepal, the Philippine Islands, and the West Indies. Fronds 
broadly lanceolate, two to two and a half feet long, pinnate, of a dull 
green ; pinna? linear, narrow, often seven inches long, petiolulate, base 
auriculate ; margin of the sterile pinna? serrate. Sori continuous, inter- 
mixed with hairs ; indusium plane. Stipes densely covered with narrow 
light-coloured scales, and some scattered throughout the racbis. Fronds 
terminal, adherent to a creeping rhizome. 
2. P. cretica, Linnasus. — An evergreen stove or greenhouse Fern, hav- 
ing an extensive geographical range, being found in the East and West 
Indies, Mexico, China, and the south of Europe. Fronds glabrous, from 
one to one and a half foot long, of a lively green, pinnate ; pinnae of the 
sterile fronds linear-lanceolate, lower pair bipartite, petiolulate, with the 
margin serrate ; fertile segments linear, narrow, often six inches long, 
and serrate at the apex. ltachis and stipes of a straw colour, especially 
when dry. Fronds lateral or terminal, adherent to a short creeping 
rhizome. 
— $. heterodactylon. — This variety is distinguishable from the common 
form by the piunce being all bipartite, the fronds arranged round a scaly 
crown, and the stipes and raclus being of a purplish brown colour. It is 
a native of India. 
3. P. serrulate, Linna?us.— A dwarf evergreen stove species, from (lie 
East Indies. Fronds glabrous, slender, a foot or more long, of a light 
green, pinnate ; pinna? linear, somewhat pendulous ; the lower pair or 
more bipartite or bipinnatifid and petiolulate ; the upper ones adnate, and 
docurrcnt at their inferior baso; segments of the fertile fronds linear, 
narrow. Sterile fronds serrate at the margin. This is one of the com- 
monest Ferns in cultivation; the fronds arc nearly all fertile, and are 
lateral or terminal, adherent to a short creeping rhizome. 
— P. minor. — A dwarf evergreen stove Fern, with a peculiar rugose 
aspect. For specimens of this singular little Fern, as well as for living 
plants t" tin- Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, we are indebted to Mr Hender- 
son, gardener at Wontworth House, Yorkshire, who kindly communicated them, accompanied » ith ;i note, which 
we cannot do bettor than here introduce :—" The spores from which this little plant was raised I received from 
Professor Ilcnslow, who said that the plant was collected in the islands of the Indian Sea ; it lias the appearance 
of a pigmy variety of P. scrrulata, but it presei res its character when raised from spores." It has been in culti- 
vation several years, and seldom attains more than the height of three in. Ins. 
4. /'. umirosa, li. Drown. — An ornamental evergreen greenhouse Fern, from Now South Wales. Fronds 
Fig. in. 
£ 
5^/- 
