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I 
THE GENERA AND SrECIES OF CULTIVATED FERNS. 
THE GENEBA AND SPECIES OE CULTIVATED FERNS. 
IS 
By Me. J. HOULSTON, Royal Botanic Garden, Kew ; and Mr. T. MOORE, F.L.S., &o. 
Sub-Order — Polypodiaceje : Tribe — Aspidie.e [contijiued) . 
Sect. II. Orthophlebiea?. — Veins free. 
¥OODSIA, it. Brown. — Name commemorative of Joseph "Woods, a British botanist, author of a monograph of 
the British Roses and of the Tourist's Flora. 
Sori round, terminal or medial, distinct in an early stage, but subsequently becoming more or less confluent. 
Indusium calyciform, nearly entire, or deeply laciniated, the latinise usually terminating in long hairs which 
involve the spore cases. Veins simple or forked, free. Fronds bi-tri-pihnatifid, from two inches to a foot or more 
long, glabrous, pilose, or squamiferous. — A few hardy, or half-hardy, rather low-growing, deciduous Ferns 
constitute this genus, and among them are two of our indigenous species. Their 
fronds being hairy or scaly, and thus retentive of moisture, and being somewhat 
delicate in texture, they are usually shy under cultivation. A shady situation suits 
them best, and they should have very little water sprinkled on the fronds at any 
time, and none during winter, the soil being then kept moderately dry. They are 
distinguished from other genera by their inferior, or calyciform, laciniated fimbriate 
indusium. In one of the species ( W. mollis), of which the indusium is cup-shaped 
and nearly entire, there is indeed an approach to the genus Cyathea, (tropical or sub- 
tropical tree Ferns), yet to these the "Woodsias are not only quite opposed in habit, 
but are also abundantly distinct in not having, as the Cyatheas have, compressed 
spore-cases, with an elevated soriferous receptacle. Fig. 60 represents a frond of 
W. hyperborea (full size), with a magnified pinna shewing the position of the sori 
and venation. 
1. W. hyperborea, R. Brown (Polypodium, Swartz ; "W. alpina, Newman). — A 
dwarf hardy or frame species, indigenous to Britain, found sparingly in the north of 
Europe and North America. Fronds narrow lanceolate, pinnate, two to six inches 
long, dullish green, with a few narrow scales beneath ; pinna; triangular, pinnatifid, 
slightly cordate at the base, with rounded very obtuse segments. Sori medial, at 
first distinct, subsequently confluent. Indusium deeply laciniated, terminating in 
capillary articulated segments. Stipes with an articulation near the middle, the 
upper part falling away when mature, and the basal portion remaining adherent to a 
somewhat tufted rhizome. 
2. W. ilvensis, R. Brown (Polypodium, Sioartz). — A low growing hardy or 
frame species, indigenous to Britain, and found in Germany, Italy, and the most 
northern parts of the northern hemisphere as far as Greenland. Fronds lanceolate, 
pinnate, palish green, three to six inches long, covered with hairy or narrow chaffy 
scales especially beneath ; pinnae oblong, deeply pinnatifid, with oblong-obtuse or 
■*"'■ 60- bluntly ovate sometimes crenated lobes. Sori sub-terminal. Indusium deeply 
laciniated, terminating in jointed hairs. Stipes articulated at some distance from the rhizome, which is slightly 
tufted. These two native species are plants of no particular beauty, but are prized as rarities among collections 
of cultivated Ferns. 
3. W. mollis, J. Smith (Physematium molle, Eaulfuss). — An ornamental half hardy or greenhouse deciduous 
Fern, from Mexico. Fronds hairy, lanceolate, one to one and a half foot long, bipinnate ; pinnae oblong-lanceolate, 
rather obtuse ; pinnules oblong, sessile, round at the apex and crenate at the margin. Sori sub-terminal, with 
2-3 spore-cases in each sorus. Indusium cup-shaped, fringed on the margin, and scattered over with glandulose 
hairs. Fronds terminal, adherent to a somewhat tufted rhizome. 
4. W. obtusa, Hooker (Aspidium, Willdenow; W. Perriniana, Hooker et Greville). — A hardy or half-hardy 
deciduous Fern, from North America. Fronds lanceolate, about a foot long, sub-tripinnate, yellowish green, 
and covered beneath with glandulose hairs ; pinnae triangularly-elongate ; pinnules oblong, round at the apex, 
crenately cut at the margin. Sori terminal. Indusium deeply laciniated, with fringed segments. Fronds 
terminal, adherent to a somewhat tufted rhhzome. 
(71YSTOPTERIS, Bernhardt. — Name derived from kystos, a bladder, and pteris, a fern; alluding to the inflated 
(y indusia. 
Sori round, very small, medial, often becoming confluent. Indusium lateral, oblong, semi-calyciform, 
inflated, cucullate, attached across the vein by its broad base beneath the sori, becoming reflected, its free margin 
or apex dentate or fimbriate, and directed towards the apex of the segment. Yeins forked ; venules simple, free. 
Fronds glabrous, slender, from a few inches to a foot or more long. Ehizome tufted or creeping. — The few 
species of this genus are of a very delicate texture ; they are hardy or half-hardy deciduous species, admirably 
adapted for cultivating on artificial rockwork, or for enlivening old walls or ruins during summer ; but the fronds 
being fragile, and very tender, are destroyed by the first frosts in autumn. They have a very extensive geogra- 
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