A flora of Manila - Rainforestation

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A FLORA OF MANILA
segments which are very variable in size, a few mm to 1 cm or more in
lenjifth.
Commonly cultivated for ornamental purposes, not spontaneous. A
native of the Malay Archipelago, introduced here.
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4. N. biserrata (Sw.) Schott (N. acuta Presl).
Rootstock short, erect, stout, with scaly prop-roots, sending out long
stolons, the scales brown, often dense, entire or irregularly ciliate. Fronds
erect, or if epiphytic, then pendulous, tufted, the stipes .30 to 60 cm long,
nearly glabrous except at the scaly base, .the fronds 0.6 to 2 m long or
more, 20 to 40 cm wide; pinnae very numerous, linear-lanceolate to lan-
ceolate, usually separated by less than their own breadth, acute or acuminate,
entire to slightly toothed or crenate, 1.2 to 2.5 cm wide, the base
abruptly narrowed to subtruncate, slightly inequilateral, not auricled, or
auricled only on the upper side, glabrous or nearly so. Sori prominent,
numerous, distant from the margin, about 2 mm in diameter, the indusium
subreniform.
Occasional about boulders and cliffs, in thickets, Masambong to Guada-
lupe, also commonly cultivated; throughout the Philippines. All tropical
countries.
*Var. FURCANS Hort.
Similar to the species, but the pinnae forked or twice-forked above the
middle, the lobes spreading.
Commonly cultivated, not spontaneous; an introduced form here. Cultivated
in all tropical countries.
5. N. hirsutula (Forst.) Presl.
Rootstock erect, stout, densely covered with appressed, dark-brown
scales, stoloniferous, also with few prop-roots. Stipes tufted, 10 to 40
cm long, scaly at the base, more or less villous above, becoming nearly
glabrous. Fronds 30 to 120 cm long, 8 to 15 cm wide; pinnae numerous,
rather close but not at all imbricate, 8 to 14 cm wide, somewhat falcate,
acute or acuminate, subentire, toothed or somewhat crenate, the base
rounded on the lower side, prominently auricled on the upper side, more
or less villous on both surfaces, becoming subglabrous, the sterile pinnae
shorter than the fertile ones. Sori marginal or submarginal, about 1
mm in diameter, the indusium peltate or subreniform.
In dry thickets, Santa Mesa, El Deposito, etc., also sometimes cultivated;
widely distributed in the Philippines. All tropical countries.
3. DAVALLIA Smith
Mostly epiphytic ferns, usually finely divided, the rootstock creeping,
densely covered with narrow, brown, usually chaffy scales. Stipes not
jointed to the rootstocks. Fronds ovate to deltoid in outline, in most
species at least tripinnate. Sori at or very near the margins, the indusium
elongated, attached at the base and side. (In honor of E. Davall.)
Species about 70, in all tropical countries, 10 in the Philippines.
1. D. denticulata (Burm.) Mett. {D. elegans Sw.).
Rootstock stout, creeping, densely clothed with brown, elongated, very
narrow, somewhat flexuous scales. Stipes glabrous, brown, 15 to 40 cm
long. Fronds ovate to deltoid, 20 to 60 cm long, the lower pinnae sometimes
25 cm in length, 3- or 4-pinnatifid, the rachis margined toward