iS^\2_ 
THE GENERA AND SPECIES OF CULTIVATED FERNS 
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Lastrea, and the very rigid or coriaceous spinous habit so prevalent among the Polystichums are sometimes pre- 
sent in the same frond, and can therefore hardly be considered as affording discriminative characters. Indeed it 
is found that, although habit may in some cases assist in the definition of generic groups, yet in others it becomes 
of secondary importance. With the exceptions of P. rhizophylhim, coniifolium, and aristatum, species •which can- 
not well be omitted, — the former differing in having no spiny teeth to the pinna?, and in their not being auricu- 
late, and the two latter in having reniform indusia, — the whole of the species enumerated below have the common 
characters of round sori with a peltate indusium, and coriaceous spinulose fronds, together with a great uniformity 
of aspect and habit. Fig. 63 represents a small portion of a frond of 
P. capensis (nat. size). 
1. P. rJiizopliylliwi, Presl (Aspidium, Swart;). —A dwarf evergreen 
stove species, from Jamaica. Fronds pubescent, lanceolate, pinnate, 
eight or ten inches long, light green ; pinna; roundish ovate, petiolate, 
sub-crenate at the margin, confluent at the apex, elongated, and rooting 
at the point. Stipes short, scaly ; terminal, adherent to a tufted rhizome. 
2. P. faleinelliim, Presl (Aspidium, Swartz ; A. aurieulatum, of 
gardens). — An ornamental evergreen warm greenhouse Fern, from 
Madeira. Fronds oblong-lanceolate, pinnate, one to one and a half foot 
long, bright green ; pinnce linear-oblong, acute, petiolate, auriculate on 
the superior base, inferior obliquely truncate, the margin doubly-serrate. 
Eachis and stipes scaly ; terminal, adherent to a fasciculate tufted 
rhizome. 
3. P. acrostichoides, Schott (Aspidium, Swartz). — A hardy evergreen 
species, from North America. Fronds lanceolate, pinnate, dull green, 
two feet high, contracted on the apex, where it is soriferous; pinna; 
oblong-linear-acute, petiolate, upper base auriculate, lower obliquely 
truncate, the margin ciliato-serrate, with long spinulose hairs. Sori 
confluent. Eachis and stipes scaly ; terminal, adherent to a tufted 
rhizome. 
4. P. Lonchitis, Eoth. — A hardy evergreen Fern, indigenous to 
Britain, and found in various other parts of Europe. Fronds rigid, linear- 
lanceolate, pinnate, deep green, a foot or more high; pinna? short, 
crowded, acute, sub-imbricate, falcate, acutely auricled on the upper base, 
lower euneate, the margin ciliate-serrate, with spiny teeth. Eachis and 
stipes chaffy ; terminal, adherent to a tufted rhizome. 
5. P. mucronalum, Presl (Aspidium, Swartz). — A rather close-growing 
evergreen stove species, from Jamaica. Fronds linear-lanceolate, pinnate, 
a foot or more long, deep green ; pinna; petiolate, oblong-ovate, mucro- 
nate, lower ones sub-hastate, auriculate on the superior base, inferior 
obliquely euneate, the margin serrate, with long spiny teeth. Eachis 
and stipes chaffy ; terminal, adherent to a tufted rhizome. 
6. P. aculeatum, Eoth (Aspidium, Swartz). — A hardy evergreen Fern, 
indigenous to Britain, and found almost all over Europe, in Asia, Africa, 
and North America. Fronds broadly lanceolate, bipinnate, dark green, 
two feet high ; pinnules rigid, attached by their wedge-shaped base, ovate, 
acute, sub-lunate, nristate, auriculate at the base on the upper side, obliquely truncate on the lower, the margin 
spinulose-serrate ; the one next the rachis is usually larger than the rest. Sori copious on the upper half of the 
frond. Eachis and stipes densely covered with large brown scales ; terminal, adherent to a tufted rhizome. 
P. aculeatum /8. obtusion. — Fronds lanceolate, bipinnate, a foot and a half long, dark green, thick, but not 
rigid in texture ; pinnules oblong obtuse, terminated by an aristatc tooth, broadly wedge-shaped at the base, and 
somewhat auricled, the margin crenate-serrate, with spinulose teeth. Eachis and stipes chaffy ; terminal, 
adherent to a tufted rhizome. 
P. aculeatum y Uibatum (P. lobatum, Presl).— Fronds narrow lanceolate, sub-bipinnate, dark green, very 
rigid, one to one and a half foot long ; pinnules convex, ovate-acuminate, obliquely decurrent and euneate at the 
base, with more or less prickly spinulose teeth on the margin ; the one next the rachis on the upper side much 
larger than the rest. Eachis and stipes chaffy; terminal, adherent to a tufted rhizome. This form is widely 
distributed, and insensibly connected with the typical plant. In its ordinary slate, it is narrower and less divided. 
7. P. angulare, Presl (Aspidium, Kitaihcl : Willdtnow). — A hardy evergreen Fern, indigenous to Britain, and 
found also in Hungary. Fronds lax, drooping, broadly lanceolate, bipinnate, lightish green, about two feet long, pin- 
nules ovate, obtuse, rather membranous, aristatc, petiolate, and blunt angled at the base, with a large auricle on the 
upper side, spinulose serrate on the margin. The pinnules vary from ovate obtuse with a serrate margin, to ovate 
lanceolate willi (lie margin deeply pinnatilid. l'achis and Btipcs very chaff) ; terminal, adherent to a tufted rhizome. 
8. P. pungcus, Presl (Aspidium, Kaulfiiss). — An ornamental evergreen warm greenhouse Fern, from the Cape 
Fin. 63. 
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