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Na tiv e of tlie Cape of Good H o p e , Ja v a , Brazil, and Organ
Mountains.
In tro d u c ed into tlie Ilo y a l Gardens, K ew , in 1845, b y M r.
Zeyber.
T h e fronds, w bicb are glabrous, are ovate-lanceolate iu form,
and trip lic a to -p in n a te ; pinna; lanceolate, acuminate, profoundly
pinnatifid, (almost to the b a se ;) segments acute, falcate, membranaceous,
and se rrated.
Stipes scaly at th e b ase; racbis spa ringly scaly.
F ro n d s te rmina l, adh e ren t to an erect arbore scent caudex,
which rises to tbe h e ig h t of twelve or fourteen feet.
Veins u sua lly simple, in ra re cases fo rk ed ; and d a rk coloured.
Sori cylindric al, mucb elevated, mostly solitary, and situated
at tb e base of th e lowest vein on th e u p p e r p a rt of the
segment.
L e n g th of frond from forty to forty-five inches; colour lig h t
ifl
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4^ery freq u en tly th e pinna; u ndergo a remarkable change on
th e lower p a rt of th e stipes, forming abortive pinnce, b rie f, (from
th re e to four inches long,) many times multifid, with n arrow
membranaceous hyaline segments, having a rig id costa, and
so resembling a Trichomanes growing parasitically on th e A l sophila,
th a t Kaulfuss named it Trichomanes? cormophyllum.
T h e re is a varie ty known as var. p o lya n th a , which h ears from
four to six sori on each segment.
F o r fronds my thanks are due to Mr. G. N o rm an , of H u ll,
and to IMr. Smith, C u ra to r o f th e Iloyal Gard en s, Kew.
I t may be p ro cu re d o f Messrs. Ve itch , of th e F x o tic N u rs e ry ,
Chelsea, and of M r. 11. Sim, of F o o t’s Cray.
T h e illustration is from Mr. N o rm an ’s fronds.
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