Oleandra . ] 
FILICE8. 
498 
1. O. articulata, Gav. ; Hook . and Baker , i^7. 302. Boot- 
stock stiff, slender, woody, wide-creeping, clothed with adpressed linear 
reddish-brown scales. Stipes 1-2 in. long, naked, jointed above the 
base. Frond simple, lanceolate, membranous, glabrous, 9-15 in. long, 
1-lf in. broad at the middle, narrowed gradually to both ends. Veins 
fine, transverse, simple or forked. Sori small, forming a single irregular 
row some distance from the midrib. Involucre membranous, glabrous, 
persistent. Aspidium articulatum, Sw. ; Bojer, Hort. Maur. 389. 
Mauritius and Seychelles, frequent in woods. Also Madagascar, Bourbon, 
Tropical Africa and Natal. 
20. NEPHROLEPIS, Schott. 
Capsules stalked, splitting transversely, with an incomplete vertical 
ring. Sori round, placed near the margin of the segments at the end 
of a vein, covered with a reniform superior involucre. — Fronds simply 
pinnate ; pinnae articulated at the base, very deciduous in dried speci- 
mens ; veins free. Disteib. Warmer zones of both hemispheres. 
Species 6. 
Involucre with a broad open basal sinus 1. N. cordifolia. 
Involucre with a deep narrow basal sinus 2. N. exaltata. 
1. ]XT. cordifolia, Brest ; Hook, and Baker , Syn. Fil. 300. Hoot- 
stock erect, sending out long wiry stolons, which bear globose scaly 
tubers ; scales small, linear, pale reddish-brown. Stipes tufted, 2-3 
in. long, glossy, naked. Frond lanceolate, membranous, glabrous, 
simply pinnate, 1-2 feet long, 1J-2 in. broad ; rachis furfuraceous. 
Pinnae crowded, sessile, lanceolate, obtuse, | in. broad, obscurely 
toothed, with an auricle imbricating over the rachis on the upper side at 
the base. Veins erecto-patent, fine, immersed, forked. Sori in a long 
row, almost transverse as regards the pinnae. Involucre firm in tex- 
ture, with a broad open basal sinus. Aspidium tuberosum, Bory ; 
Bojer , Hort. Maur. 390. Nephrodium imbricatum, Bojer , Hort. 
Maur. 392. 
Mauritius and Seychelles, on trees in the hill-forests. Cosmopolitan in the 
tropical zone. 
2. N. exaltata, Schott ; Hook, and Baker, Syn. Fit. 301. Boot- 
stock erect, the wiry stolons not bearing tubers ; scales small, linear, 
reddish-brown. Stipes tufted, 3-4 in. long, usually naked. Frond 
lanceolate, membranous, glabrous, simply pinnate, 1-2 feet long, 4-6 in. 
broad ; rachis more or less densely furfuraceous. Pinnae crow ded, sessile, 
acute, about \ in. broad, crenate towards the tip, truncate at the base. 
Veins erecto-patent, fine, immersed, forked. Sori placed obliquely as 
regards the pinnae, in a long row a little within the margin. Involucre 
thinner than in N. cordifolia, witli a deep narrow basal sinus. 
Var. N. BiSERBATA, Schott. Frond broader, with pinnae reaching 
a length of 5 or 6 inches, more acuminate and more distinctly toothed. 
