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Nature-printed British Ferns: Athyrium to Ophioglossum. Genus. VI-XIX
Natureprinted British Ferns Athyrium to Ophioglossum Genus VIXIX Author:Thomas Moore Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Fronds from two to six inches high, numerous, deep green, coriaceous; sometimes simple, and then either entire, or with a few distant marginal subulate teeth app... more »earing as if split away from the main portion, or divided into two or three narrow-linear alternate ascending lobes; sometimes forked, with the two divisions either simple, toothed, or lobed on the same plan as the simple fronds. The simple fronds are narrow, linear, tapering towards both ends; the forked ones are indefinite in form, and apparently one-sided, one of the divisions being smaller than the other, and looking like a lateral branch, without a balancing branch from the opposite side of the rachis. The lobes are sometimes so much separated as to look like distinct pinnae. Venation consisting of two or three series of furcate divisions of the vein which enters from the base, one of the venules extending to each of the teeth, there being no cosfa or midvcin. Fructification on the back of the frond. Son linear, elongate, on the inner side of two or three of the few venules, and opening towards the centre: towards the apices they are often opposite and contiguous almost as in Scolopendrium, in consequence of the narrowness of the parts; and being crowded with numerous spore-cases, they sometimes become confluent, and when old appear to be universal as in Acrostichum; but these are mere similarities. Indmium linear, entire. Spore-cases roundish-obovate, dark-brown. Spores roundish-oblong, slightly muriculate. Duration. The caudex is perennial. The fronds are persistent; the plant is, therefore, an evergreen. This species may be distinguished at first sight by its tufted grassy aspect. From its ally Asplenium germ'anicum, which some botanists would consider a variety of it, the Forked Spleenwort may be known...« less