FILICES EXOTICA.

FILICES EXOTICA;
Or

COLOURED FIGURES AND DESCRIPTIONS
or

EXOTIC FERNS,
Cfrieflg of tmfy m nxz mlixauUb in % l^gal fcirwrs of |k*to;

By

SIR WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, K.H.,
D.C.L.

OXON.,

F.R.A. & L.S.,

ETC. ETC.,

CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OP SCIENCES OP THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE OP FBANCE,
AND DIRECTOR OP THE ROYAL GARDENS OP KEW

THE DRAWINGS EXECUTED B T MB. FITCH.

LONDON:
LOVELL REEVE, 5, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1859.

PEINTED BY
JOHN EDWAED TAYLOE, LITTLE QUEEN STEEET,
LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, LONDON.

TO THE

RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD JOHN MANNERS,
firstcommissionerofhermajesty'sworksandpublicbuildings
UNDER WHOSE AUSPICES, AND THOSE OF HIS PREDECESSORS,

THE

ROYAL GARDENS OF KEW

HAVE ATTAINED

THEIR

UNRIVALLED

STATE OF

EXCELLENCE,

THE PRESENT VOLUME OF

FIGURES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME OF THE RARE FERNS
CULTIVATED IN THE ESTABLISHMENT

WITH SENTIMENTS OF THE HIGHEST REGARD AND RESPECT,

BY HIS FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,

W. J. HOOKER, Director.

ROYAL GARDENS, KEW,

January 1, 1859.

Matt I

."FiUii OaL.ttlai.

Vincent Snooks I m p .

Under our Plate L,

ANEMIA COLLINA,

first of the specific, a

very careless error occurs. The word " Eutrichomanes " should
be Euanemia, and our Subscribers are requested to correct it
with a pen or pencil.

PLATE I.

ANEMIA COLLINA, Radd.
Hill Anemia.

ANEMIA (§ Eutrichomanes) collina, Eaddi; pedalis et ultra, rhizomate subnullo, frondibus oblongis subattenuatis pinnatis, pinnis oblongis vel ovali-oblongis cultratis subfalcatis obtusis denticulatis raro sublobatis hirtis basisuperne subauriculatis oblique cuneatis, venis creberrimis dichotomo-ramosis, costa
distincta nulla, rachibus stipite pedunculisque villis ferrugineis lanatis tectis.
ANEMIA collina. Eaddi, Syn. ML Brasil. n. 24. ML JBrasiL p. 71. £.12. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 31.
Link, Sort. JBer. v. 2. p. 143. Martens et Gal. ML Meoc.p. 20. Presl, Snppl. Tent, pterid. p. 86.
Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 1675.
ANEMIA vellea. Schrad. Goett. Gel. Anz. 1824, p. 865.
ANEMIA Phyllitidis. Mart. Serb. Ml. Bras. n. 361.
HAB. Hills in the vicinity of Eio, Brazil, apparently common, whence most of our herbarium specimens
have been derived, gathered by Baddi (the original discoverer and describer), Martins, Sellow, Tweedie,
JEJdmonstone, etc.; Bahia, Martins; Serra do Mar, Prince of Neuwied; in mountain regions of Mexico,
towards the Pacific Ocean, Galeotti. Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. Root a dense tuft of branching fibres, scarcely exhibiting any caudex or rhizome.
Fronds tufted, many together, springing directly from the root; sterile ones a span to a foot and more
long (including the stipes), oblong in outline, pinnated. Pinnae, the lower ones nearly opposite, the rest
alternate, all more or less approximate, and even imbricated, oblong, cultrato-subfalcate, very obtuse,
somewhat auriculated at the base above, sometimes a little lobed in the superior margin, denticulate,
pubescenti-hirsute, the base obliquely cuneated, sessile, upper terminal one irregularly rhomboid or
three-lobed; their length an inch or an inch and a half, their breadth from half to three-quarters of
an inch; the lower pairs often deflected and a little shorter than the rest; there is no distinct costa
or midrib ; a vein indeed passes through the centre, from which the rest of the veinlets are subradiate,
dichotomously divided, compact, slender, terminating a little within the margin. Stipes rather short
and stout, four to five inches long, shaggy with spreading or sometimes deflexed, long, fulvous, woolly
hairs, and which are continued through the rachis among the pinnae. Fertile frond smaller than the
sterile, but with a much longer stipes, equally shaggy with that of the barren stipes, pinnated with the
same shaped pinnules. The peduncle, arising from the same tufted root as the fertile, is twice or thrice
as long and equally shaggy, with the same fulvous, spreading hairs; from the summit of this, and at
the very base of this frond, arise two peduncles, erect, moderately slender, very villous, varying in
length according to the size and vigour of the plant, which bear the long, compound, narrow spike
of fructifications peculiar to this genus of Ferns. The spike is, in the first instance, pinnated very
much in the same way as the fronds, but the pinnae are erect and appressed, and each pinna is very
much and compoundly divided into narrow linear segments, bearing the beautifully formed capsules,
quite exposed, in two lines. Each capsule is large in proportion to those of ordinary Ferns, ovate,
pale orange-brown, reticulated, opening vertically on the exterior side, and crowned with the dark
annulus or ring of an orange-colour, and beautifully jointed. Seeds or spores globose, three-lobed,
and echinated.

The present species of this handsome genus has been long cultivated in the stove of the Royal
Gardens, although by some accident it has been omitted in the recently published c Catalogue of the
Ferns' of that establishment by Mr. J. Smith. It appears to be a local species, chiefly confined to
Brazil and to the hills about Rio Janeiro. It may be reckoned among the handsomest of this very
handsome genus,—a genus confounded with Osmunda by the older authors. It is among the largest
of the species, though varying much in size, and is remarkable for the long, shaggy, fulvous or rufous
hairs with which the stipites are clothed. Very few kinds of Anemia are yet in cultivation in our
collections.
Presl enumerates thirty-seven species of the genus, independent of Anemidictyon, J. Sm,, which
differs only in the anastomosing of the veins, and they are chiefly natives of South America and the
West Indies. But many of these supposed species, we are convinced, will, on careful study, prove to
be but varieties of others, as in Anemidictyon, which, though according to Presl reckoning seven
species, we fear will, when they shall be better known, be found to merge into one.

Fig. 1. Pinna, slightly magnified, exhibiting the venation. 2. Portion of the fructification.
4. Spore:—all more or less magnified.

3. Capsule.

Mate II

ftich kl rt...lith

Ifinccat, ISrooks Imp.

PLATE

II.

TRICHOMANES RENIFORME, Font.
Kidney-shaped Bristle-Fern.

TRICHOMANES (§ Eutrichomanes) reniforme; frondibus carnoso-membranaceis subpellucidis olivaceo-viridibus siccitate subcoriaceis orbiculari-reniformibus sinu profundo ad basin in stipitem elongatum paululum decurrentibus, involucris marginalibus copiosis continuis approximatis singulam fere venulam
terminantibus cuneato-obovatis, columella longe exserta clavata ad apicem usque capsulifera, caudice
repente.
TRICHOMANES reniforme. Forst. Frodr. p. 84. n. 462. Hedw. Fil. 1.16. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 141. Willd. Sp.
PI. v. 5.p. 498. Sehkuhr, Fil 1.134. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 31. Hook. Gen. et Sp. Fil. v. 1. p. 115.
Hook. fil. Fl. Nov. Zel. v. 2. p. 16. Brackenr. Fil. of the JJ. S. Fxpl. Fxped.p. 249.
ETAB. A native exclusively, as far as yet known, of New Zealand, and there apparently exceedingly abundant on trunks of trees and moist rocks, Banks and Solander, Forster, and all voyagers. Cultivated
at Kew, etc.

DESCR. From a long, firm, slender, creeping wiry caudex, scarcely thicker than a blackbird's
quill, there descend many branching, fibrous roots from the lower side, while from the upper side there
rise, at more distant intervals, simple (undivided) stipitate fronds, from two inches to three aiid a
half inches in diameter, of the most regular form and beautiful texture imaginable, orhiculari-reniform, everywhere glabrous, the margin entire, the sterile ones slightly thickened there, the sinus
moderately broad but deep, the base itself a little decurrent on the stipes; the texture is peculiar,
between membranaceous and fleshy (in the living state), when dry more coriaceous or almost horny,
the colour dark olivaceous-green, semipellucid when held between the eye and the light, and marked
with the copious dichotomous veins running nearly parallel with each other, but radiating from the
top of the stipes almost to the margin, in the sterile fronds, in the most regular manner (flabellate),
the ultimate veins or veinlets clavate. I n some specimens the veins have been observed occasionally
to anastomose. Fertile fronds usually the longest, and of a firmer texture than the sterile, generally,
except at the base, beautifully margined all round with closely-placed almost coadunate sort.
The involucres are cup-shaped, but having an obovatev form, of the same texture as the fronds,
terminating the veinlets, and as it were sunk into the margin of the frond, the slightly curved
edges of the involucres only rising above the margin, like so many blunt teeth or small lobes.
Columella rather thick, clavate, much exserted beyond the involucre, and clothed with capsules
from near its base to the summit, never prolonged into the long seta beyond the capsules, as in
many of the species of Trichomanes, and which has given rise to the English name of the genus,
Bristle-Fern.
The capsules are moderately numerous, closely compacted, almost imbricated over
the columella, globose, with a broad, oblique, entire ring, and attached by a point near, but not at,
the base. Stipes three to five and six inches high, erect, wiry, moderately slender, slightly winged
upwards.
Few exotic Ferns are more sought after by cultivators of this favourite tribe of plants than the
one now under consideration. The fact of its being a native of one small group of islands in the
opposite extremity of the globe, the difficulty of importing it from such a distance in a living state,
and, we may add, the difficulty of continuing it in a state of cultivation, together with its great deli-

cacy and beauty, all conspire to render it an object of acquirement. In the Royal Gardens of Kew
it is most successfully (for failures often occur) reared under a bell-glass in a shady position, and
where it can have a nearly uniform degree both of heat and moisture. But it has been frequently
observed by cultivators that Ferns with hard, wiry caudices are much more difficult to import and to
preserve alive than those with thick and fleshy caudices or rhizomes.

Fig. 1. Portion of the sterile frond, showing the slightly thickened margin and the venation, together
with the clavate venules, terminating just within the margin. 2. Portion of a fertile frond with the perfect
sori, one with a portion of an involucre removed to exhibit a perfect sorus, another so removed as to exhibit
a columella where the capsules had been attached. 3. Capsules :—all more or less magnified.

Plate JE.

Titch. dd.etlith..

l&aceut Ikooks Imp.

PLATE

III.

ASPIDIUM DEPARIOIDES, Hook.
Deparioid Aspidium.

(§ Nephrolepis) deparioides; fronde circum scrip ti one ovato-acuminata membranacea glabra
bipinnata, pinnis primariis late lanceolatis caudato-acuminatis, pinnis secundariis seu pinnulis remotiusculis rhombeo-ovatis sublaneeolatisve laciniato-pinnatifidis basi oblique cuneatis sessilibus superiore auriculatis laciniis dentiformibus soriferis, soris in apice venulse simplicis vel venulae superioris
furcatse dente multo majoribus, involucro cordiformi-convexo, stipite elongato gracili fusco-viridi
nitido basi squamis amplis laxis subulato-lanceolatis fuscis nitidis paleaceo.

ASPIDITJM

DICLTSODO^

deparioides.# Moore, Index Fil. p. xcvi.

odontosorum. Hook. Herb.
HAB. Ceylon, G.R.K. Thwaites, Esq. (Herb, specimen marked " C. P. 3062.")
in Europe.

ASPIDITJM

Not yet in cultivation

DESCR. Of this remarkable Fern the caudex and root are both unknown to me. My solitary
specimen is rather more than two feet long (including the stipes) : everywhere glabrous, membranaceous, and of a pale-green colour. Frond about two feet long, in circumscription (or outline)
ovate, acuminate, bipinnate. Primary pinnae lanceolate, caudato-acuminate; the longest of them
five to six inches in length: secondary ones, or pinnules, rather remote, but gradually becoming
closer and confluent towards the apex of the primary pinna; the longest of them scarcely an inch
long, ovato-lanceolate, somewhat rhomboid, obliquely cuneate at the base, auricled at the superior
basal angle, sometimes slightly falcate, more or less acuminate, laciniato-pinnatifid; segments dentiform, quite plane, soriferous : veins pinnated, veinlets simple or forked, terminating within the margin
(or tooth); the apex slightly clavate: at this point the sorus is attached on the simple veinlets, or on
the superior branch of a forked veinlet. Involucre orbiculari-cordate, pale greenish-brown, with
rather a deep sinus at the point of attachment, convex, covering completely, and larger than, the
sorus, the margin entire or slightly erose. Sort orbicular, of several (not very numerous) capsules,
larger than the tooth of the pinnule that bears them. Stipes slender, almost as long as the frond,
glabrous, pale-coloured, very paleaceous at the base, the scales almost half an inch long, lanceolatosubulate, lax, brown, glossy. Rachises compressed, slightly winged, furrowed on one side.
Besides figuring in this work Ferns already known in our gardens and deserving of general cultivation, we shall, from time to time, represent such as are as yet quite unknown in living collections,
or worthy of being introduced; and this introduction is easily accomplished in the case of a Fern
#

Since the above is in type, Mr. J. Smith has referred me, in the work above quoted, to a new Ceylon
genus of Mr. Moore, Diclisodon, which appears clearly to be this plant, and I willingly yield to Mr. Moore
the right of priority in regard to the specific name; but we differ toto cosh as to the nature of the fructification. There is surely no "bivalved indusium:" the tooth or segment of the frond bears the ordinary
Aspidioid, single-valved involucre, and has undergone no change whatever, so as to approximate it to the
valve of an indusium or involucre. It cannot be referred to the " DICKS OSTIEJE ; indusium distinctly
2-valved."

accurately figured and described, and of which the native country is known. Our present plant will
come under this head, and we are very much mistaken if this very curious species will not soon be
an inmate of our stoves. W e owe our only specimen to our excellent friend M r . Thwaites, of the
Botanic Garden of Peradenia. At first sight, and without looking minutely at the structure and
position of the fructification, there are few who would not pronounce it to be of the Davallia-growp
of Ferns. But our friend in his letter points out its Aspidioid character, yet with the sori so placed
as to render it extremely doubtful to what section or genus of Aspidiece this should be referred. I n
the wider sense of the genus Aspidium, as described by Swartz, this would unquestionably be there
located; but since the days of Swartz, the genus having undergone various modifications, the name
has been given to different sets or groups, according to the various views of authors. The learned
Brown refers to it such as have an " involucrum orbiculare, peltatum " (Polystichum, etc., of more
recent authors) ; Schott and Presl comprehended under that name, only such as have orbiculari-peltate involucres and anastomosing venation, with free veins in the areoles (Aspidium trifoliatum, Sw.,
etc.). M . Fee's idea of Aspidium of Swartz "emendatum"
is to have the "sori dorsal, rarely apicular,
free veins, a reniform involucre." This corresponds with Lastrea, Presl, and other more recent
authors, only that an exclusively dorsal sorus is required.
I n referring our plant provisionally to Aspidium, I wish it to be taken in the sense of the Aspidium of Fee, without pledging myself to the propriety of preserving it in that genus. B u t then our
plant has a peculiarity which, as far as I know, is to be found only in a genus with which this plant
has at first sight little or no close affinity. H e r e the fructifications are placed at t h e very apex of a
tooth or segment of the frond, as well as from the very apex of the vein, and this occurs in a species
of Aspidium (§ Nephrolepis) davallioides,* Sw., and of us, Ic. Plant, t. 395 and 396 (identical, I
believe, with the A. floccigerum, Bl.), from Java. Moreover in Nephrolepis the venation and the position of the sori exactly correspond with our p l a n t ; the latter are terminal, and, when on a forked
branch or vein, on the upper veinlet (not on the lower anterior venules as in Moore's definition,
Index Fil. p. lxxxix). I am aware that in Nephrolepis the hitherto described species are only pinnated ; no instance is known of a bipinnate frond, and the pinnae are (always ?) articulated upon the
rachis. B u t if in every instance a structure of that kind is itself to constitute a generic character,
the amount of genera will have yet to be greatly increased. Time, however, and an increased knowledge of the structure of Ferns (which knowledge is yet in its infancy) will tend to modify, or to
establish, the present views of the validity of the Genera of Ferns.

Tig. 1. Pinnae seen from the upper side with sori. 2. Tooth or segment of a pinnule, with a sorus,
seen from beneath. 3. Two segments of ditto, ditto, one with the involucre and most of the capsules removed; seen from above:—all more or less magnified.

* This, the Nephrolepis davallioides of J. Sm., that author considers to be the same as Leptopleuria,
yet the involucre is quite different in the two.

Pr.;

Hate

Btck del* Ml,.

IT.

"V5ncen."t ^Brooks I m p .

PLATE IV.

POLYPODIUM IRIOIDES, Poir.
Iris-leaved Polypodium.
POLYPODIUM (§ Microsoriura) irioides, Poir.; caudice elongato crasso carnoso, frondibus lanceolatoligulatis elongatis subcoriaceo-carnosis (siccitate submembranaceis) acutis obtusisve integerrimis
sinuatisve grosse costatis basi sessilibus vel magis minusve stipitatis basi latis vel in petiolum articulatum nunc longum magis minusve decurrentibus, venis primariis rectiusculis sterilibus omnibus
anastomosantibus, areolis irregularibus oblongis subquadratisve venulis ultimis in areolis liberis,
soris numerosissimis rotundatis sparsis parvis.
POLYPODIUM irioides. Poir. in Lam. Fncycl. JBot. v. 5. p. 513. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 48. Sieb. Fl.
Maurit. n. 287, et Syn. Fil. n. 38. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 125. Blume, Fil. Jav.p. 169. t. 77.
Metten. Hort. Fil. Lips. p. 38. t. 20. / . 7 (venation); ejusd. Polypod. p. 119.
POLYPODIUM polycephalum. Wall. Cat. n. 273.
POLYPODIUM glabrum. Mooch. Wall. Cat. 281.
POLYPODIUM sessile. Kaulf. in Sieb. Syn. Ml. n. 31.
ASPIDIUM microcarpum. Blume, En. Fil. Jav. p. 142.
PHYMATODES irioides. Fresl, Tent. FJiytogr.p. 198.
PHYMATODES sessilis. Fresl, I. c.p. 198.
MIOROSOEIUM irregulare. Link, Fil. Hort. Beg. Berol.p. 135.
MICROSORIUM irioides, Pee (et J. Sm. Cult. Perns, p. 11) ;—M. irregulare, and M. sessile of Fee {Cuming,
n. 21), are probably all one and the same species.
DRYNAEIA irioides. J. Sm. Fnum. Fhilipp. in Hook. Journ. of Bot. v. 3. p. 398.
DRYNAEIA longissima. J. Sm. I. c. p. 397.

PLEOPELTIS irioides et P. sessilis. Moore, Ind. Fil. p. Ixxviii.
H A B . This species has a very extensive range in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World. The
following localities are almost wholly selected from my own herbarium. East Indies: Sylhet,
Wallich, Hooker and Thomson; about Calcutta, Seouler; Bengal generally, Hooker and Thomson;
Nilghiri, G. Thomson; Bootan, Booth; Moulmein, Amherst and Martaban, Wallich,
Griffith;
Penang and Malacca, Griffith, Sir William JVbrris; Java, Blume, Thomas Lobb; Philippine Isles,
Cuming; Bourbon, Bernier; Mauritius (Lamarck), Sieber, Bojer, and others. China (Herb.
Nostr.) : Chusan, Alexander.
Australia: Moreton Bay, Allan Cunningham, F. Mueller; Society
Islands, Bidwill, Mathews; Isle of Pines, Feejee, Solomon Group, and adjacent Islands, M'Gillivray,
Milne; New Caledonia, C. Moore. Africa, tropical west, Curror; Liberia and Fernando Po, Vogel,
Baikie and Barter (Niger Expeditions). South Africa: Natal, Sanderson. Trinidad (J. Smith), etc.
Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. Our figure represents what may be considered t h e ordinary or normal state of the
species. Caudex elongated, creeping, rather thick and fleshy or between fleshy and woody, terete,
partially paleaceous, with small, appressed, subulate scales, throwing out woolly branching fibres
beneath, and, above, several rather closely placed fronds arising from a swelling, upon which t h e stipes

is jointed. Fronds varying exceedingly in length and breadth and outline; from one to three and more
feet long, and in diameter in the widest part one to four inches, elongato-lanceolate, sometimes loriform
or strap-shaped, obtuse or acute or even acuminated, still more variable in the base even than the
apex of this frond; the normal character may be considered as rather suddenly tapering into a very
short petiole, or even none, quite sessile; at other times, besides being sessile, the base of the frond is
very broad, so that such a frond is almost narrow and elongato-panduriform. The margin of the
frond is usually entire, sometimes irregularly sinuato-lobate, frequently, according to Link and others,
pinnatifid at the apex in a state of cultivation (a monstrosity), a character I do not find in any of
my numerous specimens in the herbarium. Texture in the recent state, firm, but somewhat fleshy.
Costa very stout and conspicuous. Venation internal, best seen in a dry state; the primary veins
are obliquely patent, pinnated, slender, extending from the costa nearly to the margin, and these
are always destitute of sori, but united by transverse zigzag ones, and the interstices are filled up
with anastomosing veinlets, which form square or oblong, angular areoles, having the ultimate
veinlets free (appendiculate), simple or forked. Sori small, partially sunk, globose, scattered in
very great numbers and without order upon the anastomosing venation. Capsules not very numerous in each sorus, on rather long pedicels. The stipes is often obsolete; sometimes 2 or 3 or more
inches long, and when this is the case, in luxuriant species the frond is for several inches gradually
decurrent into thin elongated stipules.
This fine species, with its several varieties, considered by some as distinct species, was long
referred to Drynaria of Bory (Phymatodes of Presl), a genus mainly characterized by the peculiar
anastomosing of the veins. Link in 1822 formed of it the genus Microsorium; but except in the
very small and numerous* sori I scarcely see what distinguishing character it possesses: "Frons
simplex aut pinnatifida; sori inter nervos laterales internos seriatim et sparsim distributi," Lk.
Nor do I find any more tangible character given by Fee, or J. Smith, while Moore refers it to
Pleopeltis.

Plant of POLYPODIUM
2. Capsule :—magnified.

IRIOIDES,

nat. size. Fig. 1. Fertile portion of a frond, showing the vernation.

* Fee reckoned that an ordinary-sized frond might have 7500 sori or clusters of capsules. A more
curious estimate is given in a recent number of the, now, well-conducted ' Phytologist,' New Series, vol. ii.
p. 191, respecting the produce of petals and seeds of the fine Wistaria Sinensis of the Horticultural Society's
garden at Chiswick, which measures 180 feet in length and covers about 1800 square feet of wall. " The
number of branches was estimated at 9000, and of flowers 675,000. Each flower consisting of 5 petals, the
number of these was 3,375,000. Each flower contained 10 stamens, or the whole mass of flowers 6,750,000.
Each ovary contained about 7 ovules, so that preparation was made for the production of 4,050,000 seeds,
for the purpose of fertilizing which the anthers, if perfect, would have contained about 27,000,000,000
pollen-grains. Had all the petals been placed end to end, they would have extended to the distance of
more than thirty-four miles."

Mate V

Tiuih asl.et.Mi.

Ifincent Brooks Imp.

PLATE V.

GYMNOGRAMME RUTiEFOLIA, Hook, et Grev.
Hue-leaved Oymnogramme.

G-YMNOGRAMME (§ Eugymnogramme) rutcefolia, Hook.; humilis caespitosa, pilis undique longe villosa, frondibus lineari-oblongis obtusis pinnatis submembranaceis, pinnis remotis alternis trapezoideo-ovatis
obovatis flabellatisve basi oblique cuneatis brevissime petiolatis integris lobatisve crenatis superioribus confluentibus, soris oblongis discretis, stipitibus herbaceis gracilibus, caudice perbrevi obliquo
radicante.
Y A E . 1. Australasica;

robustior, pilis plerisque glandulosis. (TAB. NOSTB. Y.)

GTMNOGBAMME rutaefolia. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 90. Lehm. Fl. Freiss. v. 2. p. 110.
Kew, p. 1 ; ejusd. Cult. Ferns, p. 19. Hook. fil. Fl. Nov. Zel. v. 2. p. 45.

J. Sm. Ferns of

G-EAMMITIS rutaefolia. Br. Frodr. p. 146.
PLEUEOSOETJS rutaefolius. Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 180.

CETEEACH rutsefolium. Metten. Hort. Fil. Lips. p. 80.
Var. pinnis omnibus pinnatifidis pilis brevioribus glandulosis.
G-YMNOGEAMME subglandulosa. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 9.
PLEUEOSOETJS cuneatus. Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 180.

V A E . 2. Hispanica;

frondibus tenuioribus magis herbaceis, pilis tenuissimis eglandulosis.

G-YMNOGEAMME rutaefolia, var. Hispanica. Hook. Ic. Flant. t. 935.
HEEMIONITIS Pozoi. Lagasca, Gen. et Sp. Fl. Nov. p. 33.
GEAMMITIS Hispanica. Gosson, Notes sur quelques Flantes Nouv. du Midi de VFspagne, p. 48.
CETEEACH Hispanicum. Metten. Hort. Fil. Lips. p. 80.
H A B . Y A E . 1. Tasmania, Brown, B. Gunn, abundant, J. D. Hooker. New South Wales and South Australia,
Fraser, F. Mueller, F. Adamson, Bobinson (in clefts of the trap-rocks, Yictoria), J. JD. Hooker.
Tropical N. Holl., Mitchell.
Swan Eiver, Jas. JDrumniond. New Zealand: Northern Island, East
Coast, Golenso.—YAE. 2. Spain, Province of Biscay (" Cantabria " ) , D. J. del Fozo, (Lagasca, 1816;)
Puerto del Yiento, in the Sierra Nevada, in clefts of rocks at Cortijo de la Yibora, 1851, Bourgeau,
Boissier, and Beuter.—Cultivated at Kew, from Australia.

DESCE. A very short indistinct caudex or rhizome sends down copious fibrous tufted roots and a •
dense tuft of fronds from above, which vary in length from two or three inches to a span. These
fronds are oblong or linear-oblong in circumscription, obtuse, submembranaceous, of a dark or dirty
green, pinnate, everywhere pilose with long hairs, which are often glandular at the apex. Pinnce
alternate, rather remote, subrhomboidal or obovate or subflabelliform, more or less lobed and crenato-serrated, obliquely cuneate at the base, sometimes rather deeply pinnatifid, shortly petiolate,
uppermost ones coadunate at their base. Veins subflabellate, rather closely placed, conspicuous, free,
several times dichotomous. Sort oblong, prominent, moderately large, arising from the branch of a
vein, distinct (not confluent), situated near the middle, on t h e disc, of the pinna. Stipites sometimes

as long as, sometimes shorter than, the fronds, and, as well as the rachises, herbaceous, and villous,
like the pinnse, with spreading hairs. The form or variety found in Spain in no way diflPers from the
Australian plant, save in being smaller, more tender and herbaceous in texture, paler green, and
our specimens have the hairs longer and more delicate, not terminated with a gland.
We believe this very distinct species of Gymnogramme is still rare in our collections. We received it from Australia from Mr. C. Moore, of the Sydney Botanical Gardens, and cultivated it
successfully in the greenhouse. Tasmania and Australia were long considered to be its only native
country, and it was a matter of no little surprise that it should prove to be found also in New Zealand. When it was recently detected in Spain, it was not suspected to be the Australian Gymnogramme rutafolia; still less was it suspected to be known and published as a native of that country
thirty-three years before, and Dr. Mettenius has no doubt correctly referred the Hemionitis Pozoi of
Lagasca to that species.

GYMNOGRAMME BUT^FOLIA, nat. size. Fig. 1, upper, and f. 2, under side, of a fertile pinna, showing
the venation, 3. Capsules :—more or less magnified.

Plate VI.

m

it

I ft

iC

\\ \ \

fcfeiC
>

- * »

V,

/ 1
i

"Etch aal.etlith.

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/

PLATE VI.

ACROSTICHUM CRINITUM, Sw.
Shaggy Acrostichum.
ACROSTICHUM (§ Hymenodium) crinitum, Sw.; caudice perbrevi densissime tomentoso-squamoso, frondibus
amplis ellipticis simplicibus coriaceo-carnosis undulatis marginatis squamis longissimis subulatis
atro-purpureis basi ventricosis patentissimis ubique tectis, fertilibus minoribus basi magis acutis
subtus costa excepta esquamosis, stipitibus dense csespitosis villosissimo-squamosis, venis reticulatis.
ACKOSTICHTTM crinitum. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1523. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 11. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 108.
et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 1. J. Sm. Gen. of Ferns in Hook. Journ. of Bot. v. 4. p. 142. Griseb.
Carib.p. 133.
HYMENODIUM crinitum. Fee, Acrostich. p. 90.
Moore, Ind. Fil. p. xix.

Hook,
Plant.

J. Sm. Cat. Ferns of Kew, p. 3, and Cult. Ferns, p. 26.

n>iCTT0GL0SsuM crinitum. J. Sm. in Bot. Mag. Comp. v. 72.p. 18. n. 26.
OLEEBSIA crinita. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 234.
CHRYSODITTM crinitum. Mettenius, Rort. Fil. Lips. p. 21.
ANETIUM crinitum. Presl, Epimel. Bot. p. 176.
Lingua cervina villosa amplis foliis subrotundis. Plum. Fil. p. 109. t. 125.
H A B . Trunks of trees and on rocks in shady woods in various of the West Indian Islands, Martinique,
Gi-uadaloupe, St. Vincent, Jamaica {Purdie) ; Dominica (Dr. Imray), etc.; and near Vera Cruz, in
Mexico (Galeotti).
Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. Caudex short, thick, forming, in old specimens, a knotted, irregular rhizome, throwing
out a few fibres, and densely clothed with woolly, brown scales.
F r o m this arise several stout,
more or less flexuose, stipites, tufted and crowded, a span to a foot and more in length, erect, but
more or less flexuose, terete, or only slightly grooved on the upper side, densely clothed with very
long, subulate, spreading or deflexed scales, dilated and ventricose at the base, and there reticulated,
of a dark purple colour. Fronds varying in size from a few inches to nearly sixteen inches in length
in our largest specimen, usually of an elliptical form, scarcely subcordate at the base, the apex
obtuse, the margin thickened, clothed with the same long patent subulate (or crinite) scales as those
of the stipites; the costa stout towards the base, prominent beneath; the veins everywhere anastomosing, with elongated hexagonal areoles; the texture is thick, fleshy, yet approaching to coriaceous.
The fertile frond is always smaller than the sterile, more ovate and acute at the base, its under side
entirely clothed with the dark brown mass of fructification (save on the costa), and destitute of the
crinite scales.
I n the Fern-stove of the Eoyal Gardens this constitutes one of the handsomest and most
striking species of the Acrostichum family. I t is still a rare species in our collection, especially wellgrown specimens; nor does it appear to be a general inhabitant of the W e s t Indian Islands. I t
seems to affect the volcanic mountain regions. Only one station is recorded for it on the continent
of America.

If the anastomosing veins of the frond entitle this plant to the rank of a genus distinct from
Acrostichum (though unfortunately Botanists are not agreed as to what should be referred to Aerostichum, taken in its limited sense), we cannot but approve of Mr. J. Smith's referring it to the
same group in the genus as the well-known Acrostichum aureum, as he has done in the c Journal of
Botany' above quoted. But afterwards it occurred to Mr. J. Smith, as to M. Fee, that a pinnatifid
Fern and a simple-fronded Fern must constitute different genera, and he at length adopted M. Fee's
genus Hymenodium for Acrosticha with simple fronds and anastomosing venation. Mettenius comprises the two groups under Chrysodium. Presl, who at first, strangely enough, referred our plant
to Olfersia, more recently united it with Anetium (Acrostichum citrifolium, Linn.), equally a simplefronded Fern, making of it however a subgenus. Our Acrostichum aureo-nitens from the Galapagos
(Ic. Plant. Ear. v. 10. t. 933) has a venation similar to the present plant, but its sterile fronds are
simple, and its fertile ones pinnate. Does not this exhibit a connecting link between the wholly
pinnated and the wholly entire-fronded species ?
In its most restricted form the genus (or section) Hymenodium comprises three species: H. crinitum, H. Kunzeanum, Fee (Acrostichum pachyphyllum, Kze.), and H. crassifolium, Fee (Acrostichum,
Gaud.); but the two last have nothing of the singularly crinite character of our present species.

Our figure represents a portion of a moderate-sized tuft of Acrostichum crinitum of the natural size,
sterile and fertile fronds. Fig. 1. Portion of sterile frond. 2. Scales from the frond. 3, 4. Capsules and
spores. 5. Portion of a fertile frond:—all more or less magnified.

Mate

Etch aflLetlith,

V/l

"Vincent Bxoojta - Imp.

PLATE

VII.

WOODWARDIA HARLANDII, Hook.
Dr. Harland's Woodwardia.

(§ Euwoodwardia) Harlandii, Hook.; fronde simplici vel tripartita plerumque pinnatifida
basi subpinnata laciniis paucis 5-7 lanceolato-elongatis acuminatis integris marginibus parte sterili
praecipue serrulatis, soris costalibus continuis oblongis nunc confluentibus, stipite elongato, caudice
repente squamoso.

WOODWARDIA

HAB. Hongkong, Dr. Harland. Not yet known in cultivation.

DESCR. The frond of the largest of our specimens is 10 inches long, in circumscription broadovate or subrhomboid, in texture between coriaceous and membranaceous, glabrous, deeply pinnatifid
(subpinnate below), cut into 5-7 elongato-lanceolate distant spreading segments, 5-6 inches and
more long, three-quarters of an inch or nearly an inch broad in the widest part, acuminate, the
margin minutely margined, rarely sinuato-sublobate and finely serrulate, chiefly in the sterile portions,
terminal segment the longest; sometimes the frond is tripartite, occasionally quite simple, as in our
figures. Sori close to the main costa and parallel with it on each side, sometimes branching off at
nearly right angles, oblong or linear-oblong, occasionally (and in one specimen now before me wholly)
confluent, and even the involucres confluent and continuous too. Involucres of the same size and
form as the sori, opening towards the costa. Stipes generally longer than the frond, moderately
stout, pale greenish-brown, dark chestnut at the base, and there bearing a few scattered narrowsubulate scales. Caudex elongated, creeping, rather stout, shaggy with narrow, subulate, brown
scales, rooting here and there on the under side.
We would recommend Fern-collectors who have friends in Hongkong to use their endeavours
to introduce to our greenhouse Ferneries this very handsome and distinct species of Woodwardia;
of which the only specimens known to me are several very perfect ones recently brought home by
Dr. Harland. North China and Japan indeed are known to possess two other species of Woodwardia,
equally worthy of a place in our collections, viz. W. Japonica of Thunberg's Fl. Japonica, tab. 35,
and W. prolifer, Hook, and Arn. Bot. of Beechey's Voy. tab. 56. They have both entirely pinnated
fronds; the first has pinnae with short and blunted lobes, the second with long, narrow, acuminated
lobes, which are copiously viviparous; and, in both, the sori run along the secondary costa or primary vein, as in W. radicans, never along the main costa, as in W. Harlandii. Our present plant
will be seen to be extremely different from those, and it is still more so from the well-known and
extensively (geographically) distributed W. radicans.
It seems to be the opinion of more recent Fern-authors (Presl, Fee, Moore, etc.), that Doodia of
Brown should be united with Woodwardia, notwithstanding the very great difference in habit and the
copiously anastomosing venation in Woodwardia, while in Doodia the anastomosing is very partial,
and only caused by the presence of soriferous branches. The two former authors and J. Smith separate, as it appears to me, on much slighter grounds, Woodwardia Virginica, Sw., under the name
of Anchistea, Pr., and Woodwardia onocleoides, Willd., under that of Lorinsoria, Pr. Moore, with
more justice, unites them all.

WOODWARDIA HARLANDII in three different forms, nat. size. Fig. 1. Sterile portion of frond. 2. Fertile portion of ditto:-—magnified.

Mate YM.

TSucerct 3 r o o k s Imp.

PLATE

VIII.

ADIANTUM RENIFORME, L.
Beniform Adiantum.
(§ Euadiantum) reniforme, L.; frondibus submembranaceis tenuibus nitidis reniformibus sinu
lato lobis remotis ad insertionem petioli penicellatis, stipitibus gracilibus atro-ebeneis nitidis basi
caudiceque brevi fusco paleaceo-villosis.

ADIANTUM

reniforme. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1556. Sw. Syn. Fit. p. 120. Willd. Sp. Plant, v. 5. p. 427. Spreng.
Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 110 (inpart). Hook. Fxot. Fl. 1.104 ; Gen. et Sp. Ml. t. 71 A. Webb, FJiytogr.
Ganar. v. 3. p. 451. J. Sm. Oat. of Kew Ferns, p. 4; Cult. Ferns, p. 33.

ADIANTTJM

HAB. AS far as yet known, exclusively confined to the Islands of Madeira and Canary.
Kew, etc.

Cultivated at

DESCR. Caudex creeping, but short, stout, woody, clothed with rather copious subulate scales, sending down a quantity of very woolly, branching fibres from beneath, bearing numerous crowded and tufted
fronds above. The very young fronds, while in the circinate state, are densely clothed with long pale
or ferruginous wool, which gradually disappears, save at the summit of the stipes, when evolution is
completed. Perfect fronds, all on long stipites, reniform or reniformi-suborbicular, 2 inches or %\
inches in diameter, rather thin, membranous, subpellucid, pale green, glossy, having a broad shallow
sinus at the base, so that the two lobes formed by this sinus are spreading (never approximate and
overlapping), the margin (most visible in the sterile plant) thickened, but always of a pale colour.
Venation extremely beautiful, commencing at the summit of the stipes, and radiating in every direction towards the margin; veins very slender, close-placed, two or three times dichotomous, extending
into the involucres. Sori copious, marginal, approximate, extending all round the edge, except in
the sinus. Involucres lunulate, close-pressed, coriaceous (never becoming reflexed in age), convex,
with a pale flattened edge, quite concealing the capsules, which are all attached to the inner side of
the involucre. Stipites from three or four inches to a span long, slender, dark brown or black, very
glossy and ebeneous, at the base having a few scattered, subulate, brown, nearly erect scales, and
at the summit a delicate tuft of hairs.
Our plant, the true Adiantum reniforme of Linnseus, is only known as a native of Madeira and
the Canary Isles. There it is copious enough, and in the latter countries known to the natives
by the name of Yerva tastonera or tostonera, according to Mr. Webb; so called, no doubt, on
account of the very parched and arid character of the plant, particularly in dry seasons. It is however not a little remarkable that two islands off the opposite coast of Africa should be known to produce a similar Fern, and equally unlike any other Adiantum. I allude to Mauritius and Bourbon,
where M. Bory de St. Vincent detected it, and where it has since been found by many others, so like
the present one indeed that Bory speaks of it as " cette charmante Fougere, Adiantum reniforme,
que nous avons vue aux Canaries, et qui habite ici plusieurs endroits de la riviere de la Plaine des
Chicots" (Isle de Bourbon). Though however he so called it in his cVoyage dans les quatre
principales lies des Mers d'Afrique/ yet in his letter to Willdenow he calls it "A. orientate;" and
Willdenow most properly describes it as new, under the name of A. asarifolium. Most authors
however ignore the plant as a distinct species, relying perhaps on the imperfect description of

Willdenow, or from not having seen the copious specimens from both countries, which we are so
fortunate as to possess, and which have enabled us to point out the difference in the f Gen. et Sp.
Fil/ We shall take an early opportunity of explaining the distinctive characters more fully in the
present work, and of illustrating the species with a coloured figure. We are not aware whether or
not the Ad. asarifolium of Bourbon and Mauritius be yet in cultivation in our Ferneries: we should
be glad to be informed by any of our friends.

ADIANTTTM EENIEOEME,

2. Capsules»:—magnified.

nat. size.

Fig. 1. Fertile portion of a frond, showing also the venation.

PLATE

IX.

OSMUNDA BIPINNATA, Hook.
Bipinnate Osmunda.

(§ Plenasium) bipvnnata; bipinnata subcoriacea glabra, pumis lanceolatis, pinnulis oblongoovatis obtusiusculis sessilibus superioribus basi inferne decurrentibus terminali maxima elongatolanceolata integris vel subshmato-lobatis, pinnis fertilibus lateralibus pinnulis linearibus pinnatifidis.

OSMUNDA.

HAB. Hongkong, Dr. Harland.

JSTot in cultivation in Europe.

DESCR. Our specimens of this new and very distinct Osmunda are a foot and a half to two feet
and more long, broad-lanceolate in circumscription, rather closely bipinnate, the apex excepted, which
is simply pinnate, subeoriaceous, when dry of a brownish-green colour, destitute of gloss. Pinnce
moderately patent, 4-6 inches long, shortly petiolate, oblong-lanceolate; pinnules about | of an inch
long, oblong-ovate approaching to oval, moderately obtuse, entire, sessile, the superior ones decurrent
at the inferior base; veins forked from near the base; terminal pinna much the longest, elongatolanceolate, entire or below sinuato-lobate, the base confluent with the superior pairs of pinnules;
its veins, and those of the entire pinnae of the apex of the frond, twice dichotomous. The fertile
pinnce occupy one-half or two-thirds of the inferior portion of the frond and are pinnate, with linear
pinnules, which are closely pinnatifid, and each segment is short and covered by the fructifications.
Capsules pedicellate, globose; annulus short, transverse, broad.
The genus Osmunda is appropriately divided by Presl, in his 6 Supplementum Tentaminis Pteridographise/ into two sections:—1. EUOSMUNDA, distinguished by the terminal fructifications; of this the
well-known Osmund Royal is the type, to which are referred nine species: though in our opinion these
might all be referred to the O. regalis. And 2. PLENASIUM, recognized by the lateral fertile pinnae,
comprehending two groups,— (A.) Asiatics, Frondes coriaceae, pinnatae; and (B.) Americance, Frondes
herbaceae, pinnato-pinnatifidae. To neither of these subsections can our present plant be referred.
It is indeed an Asiatic species like the first, and subcoriaceous like them, but it is not a simply
pinnated frond; and it cannot rank with the second subsection, because the pinnae are not pinnatifid,
but clearly and distinctly pinnate, a few of the uppermost pinnae alone excepted. It is therefore an
extremely interesting and new form of this very handsome genus, and very distinct from any known
species, which is more than can be said of the other so-called species of the Asiatic group of Plenasium.
Our own Osmunda Vachellii, Hook. Ic. Plant, v. 1. t. 15, I fear must, along with 0. Presliana of
J. Sm., merge into O. Javanica, Bl. 0. Hcenkeana is unknown to me.
No Asiatic species of the Plenasium group has been known alive in Europe.

Fig. 1. Sterile pinnule. 2. Fertile pinna. 3. Capsules:—magnified.

Plate I.

%g

Irtch del. etlith.

"Vincent Srooks Imp.

PLATE X.

GYMNOGRAMME TRIANGULARIS, Kaulf.
Triangular Gymnogramme.

(§ Eugymnogramme) triangularis; caudicebrevi crasso squamoso,frondibus longe stipitatis
subcoriaceis pedatotriangularibus pinnatis, pinnis pinnatifidis infimis semitriangularibus basi iterum
pinnatis supra glabris subtus flavo-farinosis, venis bi-trifurcatis omnibus soriferis, soris oblongis
confluentibus, stipitibus fronde duplo triplove longioribus raebibusque nigro-badiis nitidissimis rarissime paree squamosis.

GYMNOGRAMME

triangularis. Kaulf, Fnum. Ml. p. 75. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4.p. 39. Brest, Tent. Bterid.
p. 218. Hook, et Orev. Ic. Ml t. 153. Hook, et Am. Bot. of Beech, Voy. p. 161. Brackenr. Ml.
ofBot. of IT. S. Fxpl. Fxped.p. 23,

G-YMSTO GRAMME

ct. frondibus subtus aureo-farinosis.
ft. frondibus subtus sulpbureo-farinosis.

(TAB. JS"OSTR,

X.)

y. frondibus subtus albo-farinosis,
HAB. a. California; San Erancisco, Ghamisso, Sinclair, Coulter (n. 817), Brackenridge. j8. andy. collected
in Lieut. Whipple's Exploration between the Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean, near the 35th
parallel of latitude, Br. J. M. Bigdow. Mount Hood, and about the grand rapids and great falls
of the Columbia, N, "W. America, Douglas, Not yet cultivated in Europe.

DESCR. Prom a short, stout, horizontal, scaly rhizome or caudex, rooting below, there spring
many stipites so close together as to form a tuft. Fronds 4-5 inches long, pedately triangular, of a
subcoriaceous texture, dark-green above, beneath clothed with a cereaceous powdery substance, deep
golden-yellow in general, sometimes, as in var. /3, sulphur-coloured, in 7 white or nearly so; pinnate;
pinnae pinnatifid, lowest pair of pinnae of a semitriangular form, larger than the rest and in the inferior
part again pinnate, the lower pinnae longer than the rest; the segments or lobes are ovate, obtuse,
entire or more or less lobed. Veins twice or thrice dichotomous, much concealed by the farinaceous
substance. Sori on all the branches, oblong, at length confluent, and covering nearly the whole under
surface of the frond. Capsules shortly pedicellate. Stipites twice or thrice the length of the frond,
dark chestnut-brown, highly polished, generally quite free from scales.
Among the phaenogamous plants of late most sought for by horticulturists, are those that are
remarkable for the beautiful and varied colouring of the leaves; and so it is with the Ferns; and
among them those perhaps more especially desired are such as have the under side clothed with a
minute powdery* substance, varying in colour, deep, almost golden, yellow, or sulphur-colour or
#

M. Eee thus describes this peculiar substance :—"L'exudation jaune, blanche ou rose, qui couvre
la lame inferieure de toutes ces piantes, est de nature ceracee, et cette sorte de cire vegetale est soluble
dans l'alcool et Tether. Elle est produite par des glandes en massue, et presente sous le microscope 1'aspect
de petits filaments d'une tenuite extreme. Les sporotheces sont comme perdus" (not in our species) "au
milieu de cette matiere, mais en y regardant de pres, il n'est pas difficile de reconnaitre qu'ils sont lineaires,
assez allonges, quoiqu'ils n'envahissent que le tiers superieur de la nervure sur laquelle ils prennent naissance. L'Amerique seule reunit toutes les especes de ce genre (Ceropteris), et c'est principalement dans
cette partie du monde que vivent les piantes a exudations ceracees."—Fee, Gen. Fil.p. 183.

white. This character is indeed not confined to the plant now under consideration, but exists in
several genera, though in none in so many species as in Gymnogramme, and is here deemed of sufficient consequence by Professor Link to constitute a new genus, Ceropteris, in which he is followed
by Fee, but not by Moore nor by J. Smith. Neither Fee nor Link enumerates our present species
under Ceropteris, probably from not being acquainted with the plant, which seems wholly confined
to the Pacific side of North America, from the latitude of San Francisco to the Columbia
River. It is to be hoped this will be ere long introduced to our collections, where we already possess
equally, or even more beautiful species of Gymnogramme, viz. G. Calomelanos, sulphurea, chrysophylla, etc.

Fig, 1. Sterile lobe of a pinna, seen from beneath. 2. Fertile ditto, ditto. 3. Capsule, magnified.

Mate U.

uncenT jjioofc-: ixri

PLATE XI.

ADIANTUM ASARIFOLIUM, Willd.
Asarabacca-leaved Adiantum.

(§ Euadiantum) asarifolium; frondibus coriaceis nitidis orbicularibus basi bilobis sinu profundo
angusto, lobis approximatis nigro-marginatis ad insertionem petioli subpenicillatis, stipitibus robustis
atro-ebeneis nitidis caudiceque brevi squaniis magnis subulatis membranaceis vestitis.

ADIANTTTM

asarifolium. Willd. Sp. Fl. v. 5. p. 427 {ecccl. the syn. of Schhuhr).
Rook. Gen. et Sp. Ml. v. 2. p. 2. t. 71 B. Fee, Gen. Fil.p. 113.

ADIAOTTTM

Bojer, Hort. Maurit. p. 403.

ADIANTUM

reniforme. Bory, Voy. v. 1. p. 358 {not Willd). Lam. Illust. t. 870./. 2 {ecccl. descr. Fncycl.p. 41).

ADIANTTJM

orientale. Bory, in litt. {Willd.)

HAB. Mauritius and Bourbon, growing on the mountains and in arid regions, Bory, Bojer, Garmichael,
{Herb. Mm. Far.). Not yet cultivated in Europe.

Caudex short, radicant, scaly, bearing a tuft of stipites from its upper extremity.
Fronds from two to four inches in diameter, thick, coriaceous, glossy, almost exactly orbicular,
glabrous, having a slender slightly-thickened blackish margin ; at the base two-lobed, the lobes approximate, not unfrequently overlapping each other and forming a deep and rounded sinus, very different
from that of A. reniforme (see our Plate VIII.). Veins very close and compact, several times dichotomous, beautifully radiating from the sinus to the circumference, and there passing into the involucres of the fertile fronds. Where the petiole or stipes joins the frond, is generally a delicate tuft of
hairs. Sori marginal, copious, approximate, extending round the whole of the frond save in the sinus.
Involucres transversely oblong, hard, coriaceous, close pressed to the frond, bearing on the under side
the copious capsules. Stipites from four to six inches to nearly a foot high, stout and firm, glossy,
ebeneous, clothed for the greater part of the length with long-lanceolate, brown, nearly erect lax scales.
I expressed my intention, under our Plate VIII., Adiantum reniforme, to illustrate, with a good
coloured figure, the Adiantum asarifolium of Willdenow, which has been so frequently confounded by
authors with that Madeiran and Canarian species. I find the two always exhibiting clear and definite
characters. Willdenow has done something to encourage this error by quoting Schkuhr's A. reniforme under this plant (Fil. t. 115), which is assuredly the Madeira plant, exactly as we have represented it at Plate V I I I . The Mauritius and Bourbon plant is probably in few herbaria. It will at
once be seen to differ from reniforme, by its larger size, stouter, more coriaceous and opaque, more
orbicular frond, with a dark, almost black, thickened edge, and the sinus is so deep as to form two
rounded lobes, very little apart, indeed often meeting and overlapping each other. The stipes is
much stouter as well as longer, and clothed for the greater part of its length with scattered, but long,
subulate, almost erect, brown, chaffy scales ; and these differences are not confined to a few specimens
in my herbarium, but extend to all.
DESCR.

Eig. 1. Portion of a sterile frond. 2. Portion of a fertile frond, seen from beneath, with one involucre laid back, to show the sorus:—magnified.

•Fi<'!(••

VfncK.M

AIL

SiOi'Kt •]]•

PLATE

XII.

POLYPODIUM NITIDUM, Kaulf.
Glossy Polypodium.
(§ Campy lone uron) nitidum; caudice repente crasso ramoso radicante, ramis junioribus sparsim paleaceis, frondibus brevi-stipitatis subpedalibus oblongo- seu lineari-lanceolatis crassis coriaceis
acuminatis submarginatis vernicoso-nitidis costatis dimidio superiore prsecipue soriferis, areolis
primariis subbiserialibus omnibus unisoris, soris ante apicem nunc in axillis venularum liberarum
sitis, stipitibus parce minuteque nigro-squamulosis.

POLYPODIUM

POLYPODIUM nitidum. Kaulf. Fnum. Fit.p. 92 {not in Sieb. Syn. Ml.). Kunze, Ind. Ml. Hort. in Linncea,
v. 23. p. 281. Klotzsch, Ml. Am. JEquin. in Linncea, v. 20. p. 398.
nitidum. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 190.
Ferns, p. 1; Cat. of Ferns, p. 13.

CAMPYLONEUBO^

Fee, Gen. Ml. p. 258. J. 8m. Gat. Kew Gard.

nitidum, J. 8m. Gen. Ferns, in Hook. Journ. of Bot. v. 4. p. 58. Brachenr. Fil. U. 8.
Fxpl. Fxp. p. 39.

CYBTOPHLEBITTM

CAMPYLONETTBON

Phyllitidis. H. Berol.partim {fide Kunze).

HAB. Brazil, Chamisso : (St. Catherine, Sellow;) about Bio, Swainson, Lady Calcott, M'Bae (in Herb.
Nostr.) ; Organ Mountains, Brachenridge. (Klotzsch gives Columbia, and Kunze Antilles and
South America; but I have never myself seen it except from Brazil.) Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. Caudex creeping, stout, branched, rooting; the younger shoots or branches scaly.
Fronds rather closely placed, but not tufted, stipitate, from ten inches to a foot and more long, oblongor linear-lanceolate, acuminate, strict or subfalcate, thick and fleshy but firm when living, coriaceous
when dried, pale green, slightly thickened at the margin, peculiarly glossy on both sides as if varnished, costate, costa stout, prominent on the under side. Veins very indistinct in the living state,
more apparent when dry, primary veins distant, parallel but zigzag, not reaching to the margin, these
are united by two curved transverse veinlets, of which the lower one forms a large costal areole,
bearing one free, and generally forked, veinlet, and is soriferous at the axil of the fork; the secondary
areole is divided into lesser subquadrangular areoles; and a third series, of small areoles, is often
divided by a curved veinlet in the axil as it were of the larger curved veins; and each of these areoles
has a solitary undivided free veinlet, bearing the sorus below the apex. Sorus rather small, superficial, hemispherical. Stipites short, 2-3 inches, brownish greenish straw-colour, very glossy, bearing
a few small, deciduous scales.
This is certainly a well-marked Fern, readily distinguished from others of its genus and section
by its small size, succulent habit when fresh, coriaceous when dry, and its remarkably glossy surface
on both sides and on the stipes, and pale bright-green colour. Nevertheless it appears to have been
confounded with P . (§ Campyloneuron) Phyllitidis, L.
Campyloneuron, as a genus, was established by Presl, in 1836, and intended to include those
simple-fronded Polypodia, all natives of South America, which have their primary parallel veins united
by many transverse curved veinlets, and these having two or more soriferous, free veinlets. This
accords in the main with the group of Polypodium to which Mr. Brown gave the subgeneric name of

Cyrtophlebium in the ' Plantse Javanicse Rariores/ we believe long before 1836, but not published
before 1838. Mr. J. Smith at first adopted Mr. Brown's name for the genus, but afterwards PresFs,
and united with it species of Marginaria, Pr. This allows of considerable latitude in the structure
of the venation; but neither in any Marginaria of Presl (Craspedaria, Fee, for the most part included
in Goniophlebium by / . Smith), nor in Campyloneuron, do I find a venation corresponding with that
of the plant now before us. In the arched veins it agrees with Campyloneuron; in the solitary free
soriferous vein in the areole, with Marginaria (Pr.) and Goniophlebium.

"Fig. 1. Section from a dried specimen, showing the venation and sori. 2. Lesser portion of a recent
specimen with indistinct veins and sorus:—magnified.

Plate HE.

Vincent Brooks Imp.

PLATE

XIII.

GYMNOGRAMME TOMENTOSA, Dew.
Soft downy Gymnogramme.

(§ Neurogramme) tomentosa; caudiee brevissimo subnullo, frondibus submembranaceis
caespitosis oblongis ovato-lanceolatisve longe stipitatis utrinque pubescentibus pilosisque, pinnulis
petiolulatis cordato-ovatis acuminatis integris lobatis auriculatisque, venis copiosis approximatis
bi-trifurcatis omnibus soriferis, soris continuis demum pinnularum dorsum omnino obtegentibus,
stipite elongato fusco nitido valido rachibusque omnibus dense pubescenti-hirsutulis.

G-YMNO GRAMME

tomentosa. Desv. Berl. Mag. v. 5. p. 304. Spreng. Sgst. Veg. v. 4. p. 38. J. Sm. Ferns of
Kew, p. 2; Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 18. Moore, Ind. Fil. p. lxii. Mettenius, Fil. Hort. Bot. Lips.
p.42.

GYMNOGRAMME

ISEUROGRAMME
HEMIOKITIS
CETERACH

tomentosa. Link, Fil. Sort. Berol. p. 139. Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 168.

tomentosa. Baddi, Bras. v. 8. t. 19.

barbatum. Presl, Bel. Brag. v. 1. p. 162.

HAB. Brazil, in various localities; first discovered by Baddi: about Bio, abundant, Gardner, Sellow, MiGillivray, Milne (Corcovado mountains), M'Bae, Douglas, etc. Peru, Mathews, in 1815 (the only
instance known to me of a locality out of Brazil). Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. This has no evident caudex, but a very tufted mass of fibrous roots, from which the
csespitose stipites appear immediately to arise. Fronds varying much in size, form, and composition,
from a span to a foot and more long, oblong or lanceolate in the simply pinnated ones, ovate or
subtriangular-ovate in those that are bi- or, in the comparatively rare, tri-pinnate states; in the
pinnated the pinnae also are very variable, ovate, sometimes triangular or even subhastate, obtuse or
acute or acuminate, serrated, more or less lobed, pinnatifid or auriculate and cordate at the base, the
lobes or auricles obtuse or acute, not unfrequently a little falcate, the length from half an inch to an
inch and a half; in the bipinnate state, the pinnules resemble those described as the pinnae of the
pinnate forms, but these are (at least the lower ones on the frond) again subpinnate; all the pinnules,
as well as the pinnae, are petiolate, distinctly so, and sometimes the petioles are a quarter or half an
inch long; ultimate pinnules not unfrequently coadunate : every part of the frond is of a greyish-green
colour, when dry, from the copious, minute pubescence, mixed with rather long hairs, especially arising
from the margin (hence ciliated), or from the veins. These veins spring from the costa of the pinnae
or pinnules, are rather distant, have an oblique direction, twice or thrice or more forked, terminating
within the margin and then a little clavate. Sori on the veins and ramified as they are, not
extending to the apices of the veins, continuous; in age often confluent, brown. Stipes as long as
or longer or shorter than the frond, moderately stout, brown, glossy, and, as well as the rachises, of
the same colour, clothed with minute down intermixed with scattered hairs.
A very peculiar and distinct species, yet not unlikely to be confounded with Gymnogramme rufa,
from which it may be known by the larger size, greener colour, more compound frond, and by the
different shape of the pinnules. Along with that species and G. pedata, Link (Hemionitis, Sw,), it
constitutes the genus Neurogramme of Link and Fee, chiefly distinguished from Gymnogramme by

the downy or hirsute fronds. It may be considered as the connecting link (of Gymnogramme) with
Hemionitis.
For a long time these species were supposed to be peculiar to Brazil; but we possess specimens
certainly gathered in Peru by the late Mr. Mathews. It is easily cultivated m our stoves, and may
be increased by dividing the roots.

Pig. 1. Portion of a fertile pinnule with sori, seen from beneath, magnified. 2. Lesser portion of the
same, more highly magnified.

Mate MV

Bbdh.deL.etMi.

"Vincent Brooks Imp

PLATE

XIV.

ADIANTUM WILSONI, Hook.
Mr. Wilson's Adiantum.
(§ Euadiantum ?) Wilsoni; fronde coriacea ovata pinnata, pinnis paucis (3-7) alternis petiolatis
cordato-ovatis acuminatis integerrimis vel sterilibus argute irregulariter serratis laete-viridibus subtus
pallidioribus subglaucescentibus ad basin utrinque obtusis magis minusve rotundatis inaequalibus
(vix cuneatis), costa distincta ad basin ebenea, venis furcatis hie illic anastomosantibus, soris in
utroque margine continuis ssepe ad apicem, stipite rachique ebeneis glabris.

ADIANTUM

ADIANTUM

Wilsoni. HooJc. Gen. et Sp. Ml. v. 2. p. 6. t. 72 A.

HAB. Shady, rather dry and gravelly places near Bath, Jamaica, Mr. Nathaniel Wilson. Cultivated at
Kew.
DESCR. Caudex elongated, creeping, minutely scaly, fibrous. Fronds, when young, sometimes
quite simple, that is, reduced to a single pinna which is cordato-ovate, acuminate, sharply duplieatoserrate, ovate, when perfect and pinnate; pinna three to seven, large, three to five inches long, petiolate, ovate-acuminate, sterile ones sharply serrated, fructiferous ones entire at the margin, coriaceous,
dark-green above, paler and slightly glaucous beneath, obtuse at the base, the sides unequal, not
cuneate. Costa distinct, ebeneous at the base. Veins numerous, approximate, forked, extending
nearly to the margin, clavate at the free apices, here and there anastomosing. Sori continuous,
uninterrupted often nearly to the apex. Stipes six to eight inches to a foot long, black-ebeneous,
glossy, as are the rachises, and quite destitute of scales.
I have referred this to the Eu- (or true-) Adiantum section with a mark of doubt, for in reality
it exhibits unmistakably a passage from the species of Adiantum with free veins, and the very few
kinds that are known to have exclusively, or almost exclusively, anastomosing veins, and which is
characteristic of the genus (of some authors, J. Smith, Fee, etc.) Hewardia. See our observations
upon Adiantum Hewardia (Gen. et Sp. Fil. v. 2. p. 7): that species and the A. dolosum, Kze., most
assuredly have the veins copiously reticulated. The habit of our plant too is entirely that of the
two species now mentioned, as well as that of A. Phyllitidis, which has invariably free veins. All
have the remarkably continuous sori, which in that respect resemble those of a Pteris rather than
of the present genus, and all are inhabitants of tropical America. The present one is indeed, as
far as we yet know, peculiar to Jamaica, where it was discovered by Mr. N. Wilson, the intelligent
curator of the Bath Botanic Garden, who has sent us both living plants for the stove and dried specimens for the herbarium.

Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile pinna with some anastomosing veins. 2. Portion of a fertile pinna with
veins free: the involucre partially thrown back:—magnified.

Plated

nrli.de] etlilh

PLATE XV.

PELLiEA TERNIFOLIA, Fee.
Ternate-leaved Pellcea.
PELLJEA ternifolia; glabra, spithamsea ad pedalem, caudice brevi tuberiformi squamoso, frondibus coriaceis
lsete-virentibus oblongo-lanceolatis pinnatis, pinnis oppositis trifoliolatisve profunde 3-partitis (pseudoverticillatis) sessilibus, pinnulis linearibus mucronatis uniformibus lateralibus sessilibus terminali
subpetiolulatis, venis immersis obscuris, soris continuis usque ad apicem, involucris textura pinnularum ad margine solummodo submembranaceis, stipitibus rachibusque nigro-ebeneis nitidissimis.
P E L L ^ A ternifolia. Fee, Gen. Ml. p. 129.

J. Sm. Cult. Ferns, p. 32.

Hook. Gen. et Sp. Ml. v. 2. p. 142.

ALLOSOBITS ternifolius. Kunze, in Linncea, v. 23. p. 220.
PLATTLOMA ternifolium. Brachenr. TT. S. Fxpl. Fxp. Ml. p. 94.
PTERIS ternifolia. Gov. Prcel. 1801, on 657.
PTERIS subverticillata. Sw. Syn. Ml. p. 103.

Hook, et Grev. Ic. Ml. t. 126.
Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5, p. 375.

Presl, Beliq. Hcenh. v. 1. p. 57.

PTERIS Peruviana. Poiret {according to Kunze).
H A B . Andes of Peru, Jos. Jussieu {fide Gav.); Purruchucu, Mathews; Baiios, Brachenridge; Huanuco,
Pceppig. Quito, on old walls and buildings, Prof. Jameson. Caraccas, Linden, n. 513. Sierra
Nevada, New Granada, ScMim, n. 848. Sierra de Achira and El Moro, Andes of Chili, Dr. Gillies.
Mexico, Schqffner. New Mexico, Wright. Sandwich Islands*, Menzies, Douglas : on Mouna Loa
and Mouna Kea, elevation 9000 feet, in great luxuriance, Brachenridge.
Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. The caudex is short, thick, horizontal, densely scaly, rooting below; scales subulate.
Fronds a span to a foot or a foot and a half high in a few instances, short-stipitate, narrow oblonglanceolate, pinnate, coriaceous, rigid. Pinnae trifoliolate or rather deeply tripartite, sessile (pseudoverticillate), the six leaflets or segments having at first sight the appearance of so many whorled
pinnse, reflexed when dry, linear, mucronate; mucro short, opaque, two lateral ones sessile, intermediate or terminal pinnule occasionally subpetiolulate; veins immersed, obscure, the margins recurved
upon the back of the pinnule, in very narrow pinnules almost meeting at the costa. So?*i continuous
all round except at the point. Involucres broad, nearly plane, formed of the rigid margins of the
frond, the edges alone submembranaceous; stipes and rachis black-ebeneous, very glossy.
This pretty Fern, first detected by Joseph Jussieu in the Andes of Peru, was long considered a
rare Fern. But recent researches in various tropical and subtropical regions of the new world show
that it has a very widely-extended range, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, and through
many degrees of longitude, from Chili in the south to New Mexico in the north. I t is readily
known by its constantly trifoliolate, deeply tripartite pinnse, and evidently belongs to a small natural
group, distinguished by the hard, knotty, short, very scaly, almost tuberous root-stock, harsh, rigid
fronds, their pinnules or segments so recurved at the sides or margins as to appear almost cylindrical when dry, inhabiting similar countries with the present, and to which we would refer Pellcea
Wrightiana, P . longimucronata, and P. ornithopus, Hook., all figured by us in our c Genera et Species
Filicum/ vol. ii. pp. 142, 143, tab. cxv. B. A, CXV. B, and cxvi. A.
Our reasons for adopting the generic name Pellaa, Link, in preference to that of Allosorus of

Bernhardt are fully given in the work just mentioned, he. p. 131. The latter has indeed the claim
of priority; but it seems extremely doubtful what particular species the author had in view when
establishing it, if so worthless a character as he gave to it can be said to establish it, whereas Link's
definition of Pellcea is more clear and expressive. Our chief doubt is, whether it may not insensibly
pass into Pteris. We are glad to find that Mr. J. Smith refers several species of his Platyloma to
Pellcea, leaving only Plat. Brownii, Plat, falcata, and Plat, rotundifolia in his once extensive genus;
all Pellcea of us.
This seems to attain a much larger size in cultivation than in its native localities.

Fig. 1. Portion of a fertile segment. 2. Lesser portion, the involucre laid open, magnified.

PLATE

XYI.

ASPLENIUM FORMOSUM, Willd.
Handsome Asplenium.
(§ Euasplenium) formosum; caudice subnullo, radice fibrosa dense csespitosa, frondibus csespitosis brevi-stipitatis elongato-lanceolatis pinnatis, pinnis dimidiato-ovatis lanceolatisve subcurvatis
sessilibus margine superiore prsecipue apiceque inciso-dentatis, dentibus plerisque bifidis basi oblique
cuneatis sursum subauriculatis, soris paueis 1-3 rarius 6-7 oblongis costam versus dehiscentibus,
stipite perbrevi rachibusque atro-nitidis angustissime utrinque anguste alatis.

ASPLEKITJM

formosum. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 329. H.B.K. Gen. et /%. Am. v. l.p. 14; Synops. v. l.p. 79,
Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 85. Mart, et Galeot. Ml. Mex. p. 39. J. Sm. Ml. Hort. Kew. p. 5; Cat
of Ferns, p. 44.

ASPLENIUM

p. robustius, pinnis rigidioribus magis incisis.—ASPI/EKITJM subalatum. Hook, et Am. Bot. of Beech. Voy.
p. 312. t. 71.
HAB. Tropical America: Caraccas, Bredemeyer, Humboldt; rocks near Santa Martha, Burdie; "Venezuela, Funcke, Birschal; Ocana, New Granada, Schlim, n. 58, Linden, n. 1153 ; Magdalena, Holton;
Panama, Seemann; Mexico, IAebmann, Galeotti, etc.; Guatemala, Skinner; bay near Francisco
Solano, Gapt. Wood; Galapagos, Cuming, n. 108, Capt. Wood (H.M.S. Bandord). West Indies:
Jamaica, Menzies, Wiles, etc.; Guadaloupe, UHerminier; British Guiana, Mich. Schomlurgk,
Brazil, near Inficionado, Gardner.—YAH. p. Mexico, Beechey. In cultivation at Kew and elsewhere.

DESCR. From a hard scaly base, forming an imperfect caudeos or rhizome, there descend copious,
branching, fibrous roots, and above a tuft of many fronds from four to six or ten inches, sometimes a
foot high, shortly stipitate, rather rigid, lanceolate, subfalcate, pinnate. Pinna numerous, subopposite, dimidiate-lanceolate, that is to say, cut off as it were in a straight line on the lower margin,
obliquely cuneate below, the upper margin and apex on both margins laciniated, most of the segments
bifid, lowest one (next the rachis) longer than the rest and subauriculate; the segments at the apex
entire, or cut into large serratures; colour dark green. Sori few, oblong, often confined to the lower
half of the pinna, and lying parallel with i t ; capsules numerous. Involucres oblong, moderately
broad, nearly plane. Stipites short, smooth, and, as well as the rachis, black-ebeneous, glossy, bordered on each side by a delicate, very narrow green wing, which seems to have been overlooked by
all authors.
Although a very pretty Fern, it must be allowed that it hardly deserves the pompous specific
name, given to it by Willdenow, of Asplenium formosum. In point of beauty it may rank with our
own Asplenium Trichomanes; and in point of territorial range it seems to occupy nearly the same
place, (being found throughout equinoctial America,) that that Fern does in temperate European
climates. It is indeed a very abundant species and a very distinct one. The more rigid variety was
misunderstood by Dr. Arnott and myself, when our herbarium was not so rich in Ferns as it is now,
and when the winged stipes and rachis, unnoticed by Willdenow, the only describer of the plant, was
supposed to be a peculiar character.

Fig. 1. Sterile pinna with young sori. 2. Fertile pinna '.—magnified.

Plate XVII.

VTlVj-rh del.etlith

Vincent 33nodks Imp.

PLATE

XVII.

DIPLAZIUM ALTERNIFOLIUM, Bl
Alternate-leaved Diplazium.
(§ Eudiplazium) altemifolium; caespitosum, caudice brevissimo erecto crasso, stipite robusto,
squamis subulatis sparsis paleaeeis, fronde pinnata, pinnis 5-9 tri-quadri-uncialibus alternis ovatis
acuminatis obscure crenato-serratis coriaceis glabris basi subcordatis terminali majore quandoque
inferne hinc unilobata sessilibus v. brevissime petiolatis, venis horizontaliter patentibus internis
tenuibus plerumque bis-dichotomis ramis parallelis ad marginem attingentibus apicibus clavatis, involucris geminatis (Diplazii) vel solitariis (Asplenii).

DIPLAZITTM

altemifolium. Blume, Fnum. Ml. Jav. p. 190. Kunze, in Fil. Jav. Zoll. Bot. Zeit. v. 6. p. 193.
Index Fil. Cult, in IAnncea, 250.

DIPLAZIUM

ASPLENIUM

(§ Pecopteris) altemifolium. Metten. Hort. Lips. p. 75. t. 12. f. 1, 2 {excellent).

integrifolium. Beinw. in Herb. J $m. (via Bl. JEn. Fil. Jav. p. 190). J. Sm. Cat. of Cult.
Ferns, p. 47.

DIPLAZIUM

HAB. Java and adjacent isles, Blume, Zollinger. Cultivated at Kew and elsewhere.

DESCR. The plant of this Fern in our stove does not at present exhibit any distinct caudex. Mettenius describes it as having " a n erect, densely chaffy trunk;" while Kunze speaks of its obliquely
ascending rhizome. With us, the stipites arise in a tufted manner from the top of the descending,
rather thick, fibrous mass of roots; they are stout, six to eight inches or more long, erect, channelled
on the anterior side, glabrous, partially chaffy above, more thickly at their bases, with rather large,
subulate, appressed scales; the colour is green, passing gradually into brown at the base; length six
to eight inches. Fronds broad, ovate or subdeltoid, a span to nearly a foot long, pinnated, with from
five to seven or nine alternate pinnce, three or nearly four inches long when well cultivated; lateral ones
spreading, ovato-acuminate, obtuse, or even cordate, at the base, sessile, or slightly decurrent; the lowest
subpetiolate; the texture singularly thick and coriaceous, subcarnose, the margin entire and obso^
letely sinuated or subcrenato-serrate towards the apex; the colour dark green above, paler beneath,
everywhere glabrous, except the costa beneath, where it is minutely downy; terminal pinna the
largest, sometimes bearing a lobe on one side at the base. Veins approximate, internal, slender,
spreading almost horizontally, usually twice-dichotomous, the branches approximate, parallel, free,
reaching to the margin, the apices clavate. Involucres double (of Diplazium) or single (of Asplenium),
generally occupying nearly the entire length of the branches, but not reaching to the apices, consequently long, narrow-linear, membranaceous.
This fine species is stated by its discoverer, Professor Blume, to be an inhabitant of woods
of Nusa Kambang, one of the many islets adjacent to Java; and Zollinger appears to have found
it in Java itself. It probably exists in very few Herbaria, except in the form of garden specimens,
the species through the Dutch horticulturists being now happily introduced into our Ferneries.
We owe the possession of the plant to Mr. M'Koy, of Liege, and to the Royal Gardens of Berlin.
Mr. J. Smith has received a native dried specimen from the late Dr. Beinwardt, under the name of
Diplazium integrifolium, BL, and it bears that name in his useful i Catalogue of Cult. Ferns/ But we

apprehend some error in that appellation, for that species (of which Diplazium cordifolium, Bl., is said
to be only the young and simple or undivided form) is described by Kunze, and figured by Mettenius
(Ml. Hort. Lips. t. 12. f. 7), as having the veins anastomosing towards their apices, and would consequently be a Callipteris of J. Smith; and indeed the Callipteris ovata, J. Sm. (Hook. Journ. of
Bot. v. 3 (1841), p. 409), is considered by Mettenius to be identical with the simple form of that
plant; whereas our plant has invariably the free veins of the true or Eu-Diplazium section.
This species deserves a place in every tropical Fernery. Its bold, erect habit, its large, dark
greenA almost exactly ovate pinnae, resemble the foliage of a Camellia; and it forms as striking a contrast with the graceful and drooping forms of other Ferns as that favourite shrub does with the
Deutzia gracilis.

Fig. 1. Portion of a fertile pinna, showing the venation and the sori:—magnified.

PLATE XVIII.

POLYPODIUM SCOLOPENDRIOIDES, L.
Scolopendra-MJce Polypodium.

POLTPODIUM (§ G-oniopteris ?) scolopendrioides; caespitosum, caudice subnullo, frondibus spithamaeis subpedalibus lanceolatis brevi-stipitatis subcoriaceis pinnatifidis glabris, laciniis oblongis obtusis integerrimis infimis remotis disjunetis, venis fere omnibus soriferis infimis 2-3 in arcum acutangulum
confmentibus, venula sterili ex apice anguli in sinum laciniarum excurrente aliisque superioribus non
raro anastomosantibus, soris copiosis semiglobosis in duas lineas costam approximatas dispositis,
rachi costisque pubescentibus.
POLTPODIUM scolopendrioides. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1544. Sw. Syn. Ml. p. 33. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 181
(not JECooh. et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 42). Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4<.p. 50 (eoccl. Syn. Pol. comptonicefolium,
Desv.). Griseb. Plant. Carib.p. 136.
GONIOPTERIS scolopendrioides. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 182.
Ferns, p. 3 ; Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 20.
GONTOPTERIS affinis. Fee, Gen. Fil.p.

250 (fide

Fee, Gen. Fil.p.

249.

J. Sm. Oat. of Kew

Grisebach).

POLTPODIUM Domingense. Spr. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 51. Kunze, in Linncea, v. 9. p. 40, and v. 20. p. 300.
Pilix non ramosa, scolopendrioides ? Plum. Amer. p. 7. 1.11 (if the true plant, the inferior separated lobes are
omitted*).
Pilix Jamaicensis, simpliciter pinnatis Asplenii foliis, etc. Pluken.
/ . 1 {excellent).

Almagest, p. 152.

Phytogr. t. 290.

Polypodium incisuris Asplenii. Plum. Fil. p. 70. t. 91 (same plate, and same inaccuracy as in
Amer. I. c).

Plum.

H A B . West Indies, among moist forests and rocks: St, Domingo, Plumier; Jamaica (PluJcenet), Pur die;
Cuba, Pceppig, F. Otto, etc.; Guadeloupe, Bertero, Duchassaing.
Cultivated at Kew.

DESCR. F r o m the crown of a densely csespitose root, consisting of long, branching, more or less
villous fibres, arises a tuft of erect fronds, from a span to a foot long, including the stipites; these
fronds are lanceolate in outline, moderately acuminate at the apex, the point obtuse, more narrowly
attenuated l>elow, glabrous, dark green, of a consistence between coriaceous and membranaceous, the
apex alone entire, the rest of the frond pinnatifid, gradually more deeply so towards the centre, till
you come to the lowermost segments, which are, in all the specimens I have seen, invariably separate
or distinct (disjuncta), and hence t h a t portion of the frond is truly pinnated, as well represented
in Plukenet's figure above quoted; the segments or lobes consequently vary in length and form,
usually oblong-ovate, obtuse, entire. Veins simple or forked, two (generally of the lowest ones next
to the rachis) united, meeting and joining the opposite ones, and their united apices are continuous, forming a sterile veinlet, which is prolonged to the sinus of the lobes; other veins not unfrequently anastomose, so as to render it doubtful whether it can be strictly referred to the genus, or
section, Goniopteris.
Sori rather large and conspicuous, semiglobose, forming two lines, one on each
side t h e costa; each sorus situated on the back of the primary vein, rather nearer to the costa than

the margin. Stipes one to two or three inches long, and, as well as the back of the rachis and coste,
pubescent.
Remarkable and important as are the numerous figures of Ferns of Plumier, for the determination of the species of Ferns of the older authors on West Indian Ferns, I have on several occasions
noticed their great inaccuracy in some cases and their exaggerated characters in others. Dr. Greville
and myself were entirely misled by Plumier* s figures (t. 11 of the PI. Amer. and t. 91 of his
Fil.), of which the frond quite represents what we have figured under the name of P . scolopendrioides* in Ic. Fil. t. 42, and is very different from Plukenet's figure above referred to, and equally
quoted by Linnaeus for the true scolopendrioides! This latter exactly resembles our present figure.
The accurate Grisebach, in his 'Plantse Caribese/ says, under the true P . scolopendrioides,
"fronde pinnata difiert a P . trifurcato, L. (P. scolopendrioides, Hook. et. Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 4 2 ) ; " and
further, that our present plant varies "venis simplicibus et farcatis iisque distinctis et eonjugatis,"
as we find and have figured them.
The Polypodium incisum, Sw. (Fl. Ind. Oc. p. 1640), which Grisebach does not distinguish from
P . scolopendrioides, we, who have seen no specimen, were disposed to refer to the normal state of
Linnseus's P . trifurcatum, L. (P. comptonisefolium, Desv), in consequence of the Swartzian character,
" pinnatifidum, lobis omnibus coadunatis." The best of written characters will hardly serve to distinguish the numerous species of Ferns without the aid of accurate figures.

Fig. 1. Portion of a fertile frond seen from beneath, showing the venation and the sori:—magnified.

* The P . scolopendrioides, Hook, and Grev., is a species now referred by Pteridologists to Plumier's
Fil. t. 138, consequently to the P . trifurcatum, L. The three segments represented at the apex of the
frond being an accidental monstrosity, like what we find in Scolopendrium vulgare and in other Ferns,
such a specific name is very inappropriate. It bears the name of Polypodium hygrometricum in Kunze
MS. (fide specim. in Herb, nostr.), which we would gladly see adopted, but that Mettenius says it is
not the P . hygrometricum of Splitgerber, Enum. Fil. Surin. p. 21. P . comptonicefolium, Desv. Berl. Mag.
v. 5. p. 316, is equally this plant, and perhaps unobjectionable as to name.

Plate

WiMteh dfcl et-lith.

HI.

Viruienx Brooks Ixim

PLATE XIX.

DAVALLIA LONCHITIDEA, Wall.
Lonchitis-like Davallia.
(§ Saccoloma) lonchitidea; caudice repente crasso copiose squamoso, fronde longe stipitata ampla
subcoriaeeo-membranacea glabra tripinnata, pinnis ultimis late ovatis inferne iterum pinnatis, pinnulis subpetiolulatis medio pinnulis decurrentibus apice pinnatifidis, laeiniis pinnulisque sterilibus
ovatis magis minusve acuminatis fertilibus ianceolato-acuminatis lobato-crenatis basi sursum auriculatis, lobis obtusis subintegerrimis, venis conspicuis dichotome pinnatis, soris plerisque solitariis
intramarginalibus in loborum sinubus, involucris semicupubeformibus, stipitibus 2-3-pedalibus inferne setosis rachibusque subflexuosis pallide fuscis nitidissimis.

DAVALLIA

DAVALLIA

lonchitidea. Wall. Oat. n. 240, Hook. Gen. et Sp. Ml. v. 1. p. 173. t. xlvi. B.

MICEOLEPIA platyphylla. J, Sm. Gen. et Sp. Ml. p. 95 ; Cat. of Kew Ferns, p. 7; Oat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 67.
DAVALLIA

platyphylla. Don, Frodr. Fl. Nep.p. 10.

MICEOLEPIA ? lonchitidea. Fee, Gen. et Sp. Fil. p. 327.

HAB. East Indies: Nepal, Wallich; Khasya and Eootan, Griffith; Madras Peninsula, Wight; Ceylon,
Gardner, n. 115. Cultivated in Kew Gardens.

DESCR. Caudex stout, creeping, clothed with copious brown scales, throwing out a few rather
thick, fibrous roots from beneath, above bearing the closely-placed stipites of the ample fronds, which
are three to four feet and more in length, stout, membranaceous, firm, and approaching to coriaceous,
rather pale green, everywhere glabrous. Pinna all stipitate; ultimate ones large, varying much
according to their greater or less development, and according as they are barren or fertile; they are
again divided below in a pinnated manner, the pinnules subpetiolulate, the intermediate one is pinnated, with the pinnules decurrent and somewhat confluent, the extremity is acuminate and pinnatifid;
these segments and pinnules, in the sterile pinnse, are broad-ovate, and more or less acuminate; in
the fertile pinnse they are lanceolate and acuminate, subfalcate; in all lobed or coarsely crenate, auriculate at the base above; the lobes obtuse, entire or obscurely serrated. Veins oblique, dichotomously
pinnate, a fascicle to each lobe; the veinlets free, terminating within the margin, and there clavate.
Sori rather small, generally solitary, intramarginal, terminating a veinlet. Involucre half cup-shaped.
Stipes stout, two to three feet long, setose at the base, and, as well as the rachises, pale brown or
straw-colour; the rachis is slender and flexuose in the pinnatifid portion of the frond.
This is undoubtedly one of the largest, handsomest, and most graceful of the Davallias, with
the lax, drooping habit of Woodwardia radicans. Our figure in the ' Genera et Species Filicum'
could only exhibit a very small portion, and even the more ample quarto page cannot do justice
to the variations in size and form of the pinnae and pinnules of this fine species. Our present
figure mainly represents an ultimate or tertiary fertile pinna. A sterile pinna of this kind would
show a greater portion as pinnatifid, and with much broader segments and pinnules, both being
slight modifications of the same general structure. As a species, Davallia lonchitidea is extremely
different from any which is hitherto described; and I cannot but prefer Dr. Wallich's name to Mr.
Don's. At the time the latter was published, Dr. Wallich was the only person to whom the plant

was known: he discovered it, distributed specimens largely, and with his accustomed generosity, under
the appropriate name " D. lonchitidea/y and attached and circulated the same in his lithographed
catalogue. Although, as I have said, it is very different from any described species, the distribution
of the Griffithian herbarium has put me in possession of an equally fine species which has great similarity in size and habit with the present, and yet is quite distinct.-*

Fig. 1. Portion of a fertile pinnule, with mature sori. 2. Less mature sorus:—magnified.

* DAVALLIA (§ Saccoloma) urophylla; fronde longe stipitata ampla subcoriacea glabra nitida tri-quadripinnata, pinnis ultimis petiolulatis omnibus (fertilibus et sterilibus) lanceolatis longissime angustissimeque
caudatis profunde fere ad rachin pinnatifidis, cauda serrata, lobis oblique ovatis lanceolatisve acutis subfalcatis serratis (polystichoideis), venis subdichotomo-pinnatis liberis, soris plerisque solitariis intramarginalibus in sinubus loborum dentiumve, stipite elongato fusco nitido, rachibus omnibus strictis.
HAB. Bootan, Griffith, n. 1449 and 2795.
The very long tail-like points to these pinnae and the polystichoid texture of their lobes are quite remarkable, yet the species will clearly rank near to D. lonchitidea.

Plate U.

"Vincent. Brooks
"W.Pttjch. dd.cLlith-

lroj

PLATE

XX.

POLYPODIUM CONTIGUUM,

Wall

Close-fruited Polypody.

POLYPODIUM (§ Drynaria) contiguwm ; caudice elongato crasso squamoso, frondibus elongatis carnosocoriaceis glabris lineari-lanceolatis obtuse acuminatis in petioluni mediocrem decurrentibus, marginibus revolutis, facie superiore prope marginem (ob soros immersos) pustulatis, venis internis copiose
reticulatis areolis appendiculatis, soris marginalibus oblongis seriatim dispositis contiguis immersis,
capsulis longe stipitatis squamulisque aequilonge stipitatis peltatis immixtis.
POLYPODIUM

contiguum. Wall. Cat. n. 285. HooJc. Ic. PI. v. 10. t. 987.

PHYMATODES contigua. J. Sm. Cat, of Kew Ferns, p. 2.
DBYNAKIA

revoluta. J. Sm. Fnum. Ml. Fhilipp. in Hook. Journ. Bot. v. 3. p. 491.

PHYMATODES longifolia. J". Sm. Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 9.
GTRAMMITIS

longifolia. Flume, Fn. Fil. Jav.p. 119 (not Polypodium longifolium, Cav. or FresT).

G-BAMMITIS decurrens?, Flume, Fn. Fil. Jav.p. 119.
HAD. East Indies: Kamoun, Wallich. China, Fortune; but chiefly in the Malayan Islands and Archipelago.
Java (upon trees), Flume. Luzon, Cuming. Singapore, Low. Mergui, Griffith. Cultivated in Kew
Gardens.

DESCR. Caudex stout, scaly, creeping, knotted, or tubercled with the bases of the fronds
which in age have fallen away from the caudex; fibrous roots short, few. Fronds one to two and
almost three feet long, linear-lanceolate, costate, an inch to an inch and a half wide in the broadest
part, thick, fleshy, subcoriaceous, glabrous, or only with very minute dots of scattered scurf on the
upper surface, visible with the microscope, tapering gradually upwards into an obtuse point, and
equally gradually tapering, or decurrent, below into the moderately short stipes, two to three inches
long, entire, but slightly sinuous; the margin is revolute, and in the fertile specimens, just within the
margin above, is a line or chain of pustules occasioned by the hollows or depressions in which the sori
are immersed. Veins imbedded within the substance of the copiously reticulated frond, the reticulations forming angular (four to six angles), oblong, or nearly square, but irregular areolae, which include branched, forked veinlets; the branchlets divaricating, free, clubbed at the apices. Sori oblong, numerous, approximate, forming, as already observed, a chain or series within the margin, and
sunk into cavities, which form pustules on the opposite surface. Capsules numerous, crowded, on
long stalks, mixed with peltate, radiating scales equally attached to long stalks, so that, though thus
immersed, the capsules and scales are nearly on a level with the surface of the frond. Stipites and
rather stout costa quite glabrous, and equally destitute of scales.
A fine, handsome species, with its curious dark brown chain-like marginal lines of fructifications,
so deeply sunk in the frond, that on the anterior side they form cup-like cavities, and on the superior
sides corresponding pustules. It is, we believe, rare in cultivation, but far from uncommon in its
native Eastern regions, inhabiting the mossy trunks of trees. " The natural affinity of the species
is doubtless with the Pleopeltis ensifolia, Carm. (Hook. Exot. Bot. v. 1. t. 62), and still more with

P . nuda (Hook. 1. c. v. 1.1. 63), now generally placed in Drynaria (Phymatodes) § Lepisorus, J. Sm.;
and we believe that the venation of these will be found to correspond. Specifically, however, our
present plant differs, not only in the great length of the fronds and the marginal arrangement of the
sori, but in that they approach to oval in Pleopeltis nuda, and here are invariably oblong, so as, strictly
speaking, to belong to the Grammitacea of Presl, the receptacle of the sorus being, in reality, linear.
In that group I would willingly have ranked it (as Blume has done), but that I know of no genus
or section of that group in which it could, with equal propriety, have been placed, especially if the
venation be considered." Those remarks were suggested when I gave a figure and description of
this plant in the last volume of the (Icones Plantarum^ and I see no reason to alter the opinion
there expressed. At that time I was not aware that it was, as since ascertained by Mr. J. Smith, the
Grammitis longifolia of Blume; and to this synonym may probably be added the G. decurrens of
the same author and from the same country—Java. Many of the Polypodium group are now universally allowed to include species with more or less elongated sori.

Pig. 1. Portion of the posterior side of a fertile frond, showing the sorus, receptacle, and venation.
2. Portion exhibiting a section of a cavity in which the sori are immersed and of the pustular appearance
on the anterior surface. 3. Capsules and squamae:—magnified.

Plate

Efctch. del. etUth..

Vm.cwn.-t B r o o k s

ML

Turp.

PLATE

XXI.

PELL^A PARADOXA, Hook.
Broad-fruited Pell&a.
PELL^EA paradooca;

caudice repente squamoso, stipite ebeneo elongato hirsuto, fronde spithamsea ad pedalem
ovata pinnata (statu juvenili non raro simplici cordata), pmnis 9-20 petiolatis (terminalibus sessilibus) 2-3-uncialibus coriaceis oblongis subcordatis parum obliquis falcatisque subacuminatis
glabris sterilibus serrulatis, venis obsoletis, soris latissimis, involucris angustissimis soros maturos
nunquam tegentibus, rachi subvillosa demum glabra.

PELL^A paradoxa. Hook. Gen. et &p. Fil.p. 135.
ADIANTUM

paradoxum. Br. Brodr. p. 155.

ALLOSORUS

parodoxus. Kunze, Ind. Fil. in Linncea, v. 23. p. 219.

Brownii. J. S?n. in Hook. Gen. Fil. sub t. 115 A {name only, the figure is that of Pellsea falcata; and in Hook. Journ. of Bot. v. 4. p. 160) ; Cat. of Kew Ferns, p. 4; Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 32.

PLATTLOMA

PELL^IA cordata. Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 130 (not of J. Sm.).

PTEEIS cordata. Sieb. Fl. Mixt. n. 269 (not Cav.).
PTEEIS latizona. All. Cunn. MSS.
HAB. Australia: colony of Port Jackson, Brown, Sieber; Brisbane Eiver, More ton Bay, in dry, shady
woods, All. Cunningham, Br. F. Mueller,—probably its northern limits. Cultivated at Kew, but rare
in collections.
DESCR. The caudex is a rather small, terete, creeping rhizome, scaly and slightly branched; roots
fibrous, few, hairy. Fronds, when young, not unfrequently quite simple, cordato-acuminate, obscurely
serrated; in a perfect state a span or more long, pinnated, with from seven to ten or twelve, rarely
twenty or even more, coriaceous pinnae, varying in shape from oblong-lanceolate, which is the usual
form in the fertile state, to ovate or narrow-ovate, acuminated and slightly serrated and somewhat
cordate at the base, in the sterile state; not unfrequently they are a little falcate and oblique, costate,
obliquely veined, bright-green above, paler and subglaucous beneath; veins repeatedly forked, free;
terminal veinlets club-shaped at the apex just within the margin; lower ones petiolulate; upper
sessile. Sori occupying a considerable length of the veinlets at the margin, soon becoming confluent
so as to form a broad rich brown-coloured band the whole length of the pinnule, and occasioning
a slightly discoloured margin and a transversely striated appearance on the superior surface. If this
broad soriferous margin were inflected upon the posterior surface of the pinnule, it would be characteristic of the genus Adiantum, but it is on the same plane with the rest of the pinnule, and there is a
very narrow inconspicuous edge which is inflected only upon the young state of the sori. Stipes varying in length, black or brown-ebeneous, and, as well as the rachis, more or less clothed with fulvous
chaffy hairs, deciduous in age.
This is certainly the finest among the Ptera-group of Ferns, which are now generally ranked
in the genus Allosorus, Bernh., or, as we think more correctly, Pellcea of Link. If really distinct
from Pteris, the essential character is considered to depend upon the sori, more or less elongated,
occupying the ultimate branches of the veins and there becoming confluent; whereas in Pteris proper,

the sori should occupy a vein or receptacle in the axis of the involucre, running parallel with i t ; but
this character is often very difficult to detect, and a peculiarity of habit is generally taken as the
guide. The Pellcea have generally rigid and more or less coriaceous fronds; and the stipites and
rachises are black or brown and ebeneous. As far as the character depends upon the fructification,
it is indeed conspicuous enough in the present plant, and in two other closely allied species, P .
falcata and P . rotundifolia. But in this species especially, and I may add in the two others now
named, a difficulty arises as to the nature of the portion of the frond bearing the sori. Mr. Brown
was, I presume, disposed to consider it all involucre, though never becoming inflected upon the back
of the pinnule, and hence referred it to Adiantum, and gave it the specific name of paradoxum.
Analogy with the Pellcea (or Pteris) falcata, which Mr. Brown himself retains in Pteris (" involucris
angustissimis"), where the pteroid involucre is a little more developed, leads us to prefer placing it
in Pellcea, and to consider the very narrow membrane at the edge of the sorus as the true involucre.
These two plants cannot naturally be separated generically.
P . paradoxa is presumed to be a rare species in its native country. We have received it from
few collectors, and it seems to be confined to the coast country between the settlements of Port
Jackson south and the Brisbane river north. The fronds vary extremely in the form and size and
number of their pinnse. In cultivation their leaflets are larger and more luxuriant than in any native
ones we have yet seen.

Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile pinna, showing the venation. 2. Portion of a fertile ditto, showing the
sorife^ous veinlets and the very narrow involucre at the edge:—magnified.

Rate JUL

R.tch aflL.dtlith..

"Vmcem. Stooks Iran,

PLATE XXII.

POLYPODIUM NIGRESCENS, Bl.
Dark-fronded Polypody.
(§ Drynaria) nigrescens; caudice repente palaceo, fronde oblonga ampla submembranacea
glabra lsete viridi nitida siccitate nigricante profunde pinnatinda inferne in petiolum longum
decurrente, laciniis 3-23 erecto-patentibus elongato-lanceolatis integerrimis inferne paululum angustatis apice tenui-acuminatissimis sinubus latis, venis anastomosantibus primariis conspicuis prope
costam areolas magnas medio soriferas formantibus reliquis tenuibus omnibus appendiculatis, soris
in sacculos (in pagina superiore tubercula formantes) profunde immersis uniseriatis a costa remotis,
stipite basi squamoso rachique fuscis glabris nitidis.

POLYPODIUM

POLYPODIUM nigrescens. Blum, Fn. Ml. Jav.p. 126; Fl. Jav. Fil.p. 161. t. 70.
PHYMATODES saccata. J. Sm. Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 9.
longissimum. Metten. Fnum. Sp. Bolyp. in part (not Polypodium longissimum of Blume, nor
Phymatodes longissima, J. Sm.).

POLYPODIUM

POLYPODIUM alternifolium. Wall. Gat. p. 289; an Willd. ?
excavatum. Boxb. in Griff. Crypt. Bl. of Boxb., Calc. Journ. of Nat. Hist. 1844. p. 485 (descr.
excellent). Boxb. Ic. ined.

POLYPODIUM

POLYPODIUM Plukenetii. Br. Beliq. Hcenh. p. 21?, vix etiam Bluken. Amalth. t. 404./! 1 ?
Polypodium Indicum glabrum. Bumph. Amb. v. 6. t. 35. / . 2 (certe).
HAB. Eastern India: Moluccas, Bumphius, BoxburgJi; Amboyna (Herb. JVbstr.). Java, Blume, Millett,
Zollinger. Luzon, Cuming, n. 419 (n. 419 should be a St. Helena plant, and hence I am led to suspect
some error in the numbering) ; specimen very large, and n. 66 a monstrosity, with very few, distant,
narrow linear, very unequal, acuminated segments. Prince of "Wales Island, Forbes. Ceylon,
Gardner, n. 1144. Penang, Wallich. Sylhet, Wallich. Assam, Simons. Pejee Islands, Milne, in
Denham's Yog. n. 179, 252, and 339. Cultivated at Kew.

DESCR. Caudex (or rhizome) stout, creeping, fibrous, below marked with circular scars where
the old fronds have fallen away, more or less clothed with ovate, appressed scales. Fronds from one
to two feet and more, almost three feet in length, long-stipitate, broad-oblong, attenuated and decurrent at the base, dark, bright, very glossy green on both sides when living, carnoso-membranaceous
(when dry, membranaceous and of a dark olive-colour, inclining to blackish-brown), glabrous, deeply
pinnatifid, but varying exceedingly in the number of its segments,—we have seen as few as three, and
as many as twenty-three,—elongato-lanceolate, somewhat waved, and more or less drooping at the
extremity, quite entire, gradually tapering into a very long acuminated point. Venation copiously
reticulated; but its exact nature is best seen in the dried specimens, when held between the eye and
the light. The primary veins anastomose, so as to form a series of large, angular, subquadrate areoles
next the midrib; these, in the fertile fronds, are occupied by a sorus in the centre, and these areoles,
as well as the lesser series between the costal ones and the midrib, exhibit secondary, anastomosing
veinlets, which are copiously appendiculated, or occupied by small veinlets with divaricating, free
branchlets. The sort form two regular lines between the costa and the midrib, nearer the former

than the latter; they are large, orbicular, sometimes broad-oval, sunk into very remarkable cavities, so deep as to form large pustules or tubercles on the opposite side of the frond, looking as
if round-headed nails had been driven in at regular distances; they are of the same colour and
texture as the frond, and equally glossy, and give to the fructified state of the frond a very remarkable appearance. In these cup-like cavities the sori are sunk; but the capsules, often mixed with
jointed hairs (sterile capsules), are upon such long stalks that they attain a level with the surface.
Stipes a foot to a foot and a half long, stout, terete, dark brownish-green, scaly towards the base;
rachis and costa green in the living plant.
Few, on seeing the bright, rich, glossy green of the fronds of this fine species, when living,
would think the term " nigrescens" given to it by the author, characteristic; but it alludes to the
change of colour that takes place in the dried specimen, and to its becoming black or dingy-brown.
Roxburgh's name of eoccavatum is far more appropriate, had it but the right of priority: not that
such saccate receptacles of the sori are peculiar to this in the present group of Polypods; Polypodium (§ Drynaria) longissimum of Blume has similar sacs, and the well-known P . phymatodes
and several others of Linnseus exhibit them, but they are much less elevated on the upper surface,
and resemble pustules.
Mettenius appears to us to be in error in uniting the P . longissimum, Blume, with the present.
We have copious native and well cultivated specimens of this in our possession, and trust to have the
opportunity of showing that the two are quite distinct. Presl's P. Plukenetii is an imperfect plant,
destitute of fructification, which the author thought might be the same as Plukenet's t. 404. f. 1, in
his Amalth. The latter figure more resembles the P . phymatodes; while Presl's plant, from Sorzogon, may be this, as he particularly notices the much and long acuminated points. The species
makes a noble appearance when well cultivated in our stoves.

Fig. 1. Portion of the posterior surface of a fertile segment, showing the venation. 2. Ditto of the
anterior surface, with the aup-shaped cavities, one of them cut through vertically:—magnified.

Rat^UJE

"Vffitah.ail.etMh..

"Vincent Tirodks I m j .

PLATE XXIII.

LYCOPODIUM ULICIFOLIUM, Vent
Furze-leaved Club-Moss.
ulicifolium; caule elongato pendente robusto dichotome ramoso una cum ramis elongatis undique Miosis, foliis lineari-subulatis rigidis laxis subverticillatis patentibus squarrosis rarissime erectiusculis strictis integerrimis marginibus subrevolutis supra nitidis nunc basin versus sulcatis subtus
tenui-costatis subglaucescentibus, ramis fructiferis foliisque reliquorum similibus vel magis minusque
angustatis elongatis spicaeformibus, foliis capsuliferis minoribus strictioribusque basi latioribus dilatatis, capsulis reniformibus.

LYCOPODIUM

LTCOPODITJM ulicifolium. Vent, in Sw. Syn. Ml. p. 177. Hook, et Grev. En. Fil. in JSot. Misc. v. 2. p. 370.
Spring, Monogr. Lycopod. pars l.p. 30.
LYCOPODIUM acutifolium. Besv. Enc. Bot. v. S.p. 359.
LYCOPODIUM Hookeri. Wall. Cat. n. 116. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Ml. t. 185. Hook, et Grev. in Bot. Misc.
l.c.p.S70.
LYCOPODIUM pulcherrimum. Wall, in Herb. 1823 (not Wall. Cat. n. 115).
LYCOPODIUM

spicsefolium. Besv. in Encycl. Bot. Suppl. v. 3. p. 559. Spring, Monogr. Lycopod. pars 1. p. 31.

LYCOPODIUM verticillatum. Willd. Sp. Blant. v. 5. p. 48 (not Linn. Fil. nor Sw.). Boir. Encycl. Bot. Suppl.
p. 555. Wall. Cat. n. 119. Hook, et Grev. Enum. Fil. 1. c. p. 367. Bory, in Belang. Vby. Bot. v. 2.
p. 7.
LYCOPODIUM

protensum. Hook, et Grev. Add. et Corr. in Bot. Miscel. v. S.p. 105.

PI*A:N-ANTHUS verticillatus. Beauv. Prodr. (Etheog. p. 112.
STACHYGYKANDRUM

verticillatum. Beauv. I. c. p. 111.

HAB. Frequent in the East Indies and all the adjacent islands, Ceylon, the Malay peninsula and Archipelago, the East African islands of Bourbon, Mauritius, and Madagascar, all Collectors. Pacific
Islands, Barclay. Eeejee Islands, and in Solomon's Group, Milne. Very rare in cultivation; Hort.
Kew.

DESCR. Plants varying from six inches, with a somewhat erect habit, to one and two feet long,
when they become pendent from the mossy trunks and branches of trees. The base of the plant is
somewhat swollen, and sends down branching, fibrous, wiry roots. Stem about the thickness of a swan's
quill, or even stouter, firm and woody, terete, two, three, four or more times dichotomously branched,
and everywhere from the base to the summit clothed with linear-subulate, rather harsh but not thick,
subcoriaceous, somewhat verticillate leaves, quite entire at the margin, subsquarrose or more or less
twisted, and spreading or reflexed, rarely suberect and straight, or subsecund; the margin is a little
recurved, in the centre of the base above is a slight furrow, below a rather slender costa or midrib is
apparent, gradually disappearing towards the point. The apices of the branches are obtuse. Fertile
or fructiferous branches, terminal, unchanged in form, bearing the reniform, pale orange-coloured capsules in the axils of the ordinary leaves, or these are only a little wider at the base; or, not unfrequently, these branches are changed into more or less elongated or tail-like spikes, with leaves or
bracteas more crowded, imbricated, erect, broader at the base, and somewhat saccate where the
2-valved, reniform capsule is lodged.

Many figures of true Ferns, in the more recent acceptation of the term, have appeared of late
years in illustrated horticultural works, but the present is the first of the Lycopods or Club-mosses;
and it may not be uninteresting here to say a few words on the rapid progress that has been made of
late years in the cultivation of these two groups of plants. The slightest glance at their capsules or
fructifications will enable even the most inexperienced eye to distinguish them. Nevertheless they
have been, along with some other pseudo-Filices, by Linnaeus, and even by many botanists nearer
our day, combined as one family under the general term " Filices." As regards their cultivation in
Great Britain—and the Continent was not likely to be beforehand with us—we need not go further
back than the year 1789. When the first edition of the ' Hortus Kewensis' appeared, the whole of
the " Filices" were reckoned at 77, including all the known British species,—exactly the number of
British species now recorded in the last (the fourth) edition of the " London Catalogue of British
Plants/' published by Pamplin in 1857 ! We are not however therefore to infer that there were no
foreign ones among them. The knowledge of our native species was then imperfect; and we do find
that, excluding them, there were 37 exotics, of which 3 are Club-mosses; and these 37 are mainly
derived from our then Colony of North America, or from Masson's recent researches in Madeira and
the Cape of Good Hope; eight are from our colonies in the West Indies, and one only from Eastern
India, namely Pteris serrulata.
Thanks to the increased and increasing taste for these beautiful plants, the second edition of the
' Hortus Kewensis/ published by the learned Brown, raised the number of species to 142, and according to the Kew Catalogue of Ferns, published by Mr. J. Smith in Hook. Comp. to Bot. Mag. in
1846, to 387, exclusive too of Club-mosses and other pseudo-Filices. All these lists have reference
only to British gardens. The Germans, Dutch, and Belgians are vying with us; and when the late
excellent and accurate Professor Kunze published his 'Index Filicum' (sensu latissimo) of all the species known in European Gardens in 1850 (seven years ago), their number amounted to 799; of which
19 are Club-mosses and 21 Selaginellas, both formerly included under Lycopodium.
No doubt
during the last seven years great accessions have been made, as may be inferred from Mr. J. Smith's
"Catalogue of true Ferns" (exclusive of Lycopodium, Equisetum, etc.) "cultivated in British Gardens
alone," where 635 are enumerated. All the Catalogues we here allude to are by competent persons,
carefully compiled, more or less correctly described, and are exclusive of the hosts of names given in
the Catalogues of Loddiges, Loudon, and various nurserymen of less note.
The student and the historian of Ferns have a great difficulty to contend with in selecting and
abolishing the bad species which even botanical writers have invented, sometimes from want of good
materials, more frequently from the imperfect descriptions of preceding authors, rendering it impossible in many cases to say what species were contemplated. To correct these is often a hopeless
task; and applicable as the remark is to the true Ferns, it is no less so to the Club-mosses. The
conflicting views of authors on this subject are, we believe, what led Mr. J. Smith to exclude the
latter from his last Catalogue; and the copious synonyms brought under our present species, Lycopodium ulicifolium, will convince any one that the proper study of Ferns is no sinecure office.
Abundant as this extremely handsome plant is in tropical Eastern India, we are not aware of its
existence in any living collection save that of Kew. It was imported from Mauritius two years ago,
having been communicated to us by Mr. Duncan. It has flourished in a warm stove, and bears its
fructified branches copiously.

Fig. 1, 2. Leaves. 3. Leaf or bractea, with its capsule. 4. Capsule filled with spores:—magnified.

Rate XXIK

~Vratt&-cLeL.et.lith.

"^bicent licooks ^tnm

PLATE

XXIV.

LYGODIUM PALMATUM, Sw.
Palmated CMnibing-Fem.
(§ Eulygodium) palmatum; rhizomate elongato gracili repente rufo-villoso, frondibus stipitatis
elongatis (2-3-pedalibus) scandentibus bipinnatis glabris pinnulis in petiolos furcatos geminatis, sterilibus palmatis 7-9-lobatis lobis oblongis obtusis venis dichotome divisis liberis sparsim villosis, fertilibus multipartitis lobis linearibus, stipite rachique filiformibus volubilibus nitidissimis fuscis.

LYGODIUM

palmatum. Sw. Syn. Ml. p. 154. Schk. Ml. p. 141. t. 140. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 29.
Torrey, N. York, t. 161. Presl, Svppl. Pterid. p. 99. Gray, Bot. JST. IT. States, p. 634; Man. ofBot,
III. p. 600.*. 13./. 1,2, 3.

LYGODITTM

HYDBOGLOSSUM palmatum. Willd. Act. Acad. Erf 1802. p. 25. t. 1. f. 2; Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 84. Pursh, Fl.
Am. Sept.v. 2. p. 656.
CTEISIUM

paniculatum. Mich. PI. Bor. Am. v. 2. p. 275.

BAMONDIA palmata. Mirb. Bull. Soc. Phil. an. xi. p. 179.
GISOPTEBIS palmata. Bernh. in Schrad. Journ. (1801), v. 1. p. 129.
HAB. Eastern United States, climbing over bushes in moist places: New England (Asa Gray) to "Virginia;
Kentucky and Tennessee, Michaux, Pursh, Nuttall, Torrey, M'Nao, etc. Cultivated at Kew.

DESCR. A most graceful climber, two to three feet long. Rhizome scarcely thicker than a
crow's-quill, terete, branched, elongated, creeping, villous with short fulvous hairs which extend to
the dark-coloured base of the stipes. Frond elongated, stipitate, bipinnate in a very peculiar manner,
quite unlike the ramification of true Ferns. The long, slender rachis, climbing and twining,
filiform, very glossy, slender as the human hair at the very extremity, is branched at distant
intervals, bearing pinnce, or, in other words, a petiole, which is divided dichotomously, and supports a pair of pinnules, one on each of these patent branches; the inferior or the lower half of the
rachis bears sterile pinnules, the upper fertile ones. Sterile ones membranaceous, cordiform in circumscription, two to three inches long, palmately and even pedately cut into five to seven or nine oblong,
obtuse, entire lobes. Primary veins radiating from the base, and occupying the centre of each lobe :
secondary ones branch off from these obliquely, are several times dichotomous and free, bearing here
and there a few scattered hairs. The superior pinnules are often seen gradually to pass into the
fertile ones. These latter retain their same general form or circumscription, are deeply and many
times dichotomously divided into a panicle of narrow, divaricating, linear, obtuse lobes, of a rather
firm texture, and each is traversed by a primary vein, plane on one side; the opposite side bears two
rows of convex, ovate, imbricated scales or involucres, in the cavity of which is the (comparatively
large) obliquely ovate, reticulated capsule, which opens longitudinally on one side, and is crowned
by the annulus. Spores minute, pellucid.
Ferns are often represented in other (chiefly tropical) countries by forms very different from
what we are accustomed to see in Europe, among which may be mentioned the Tree Ferns and the
Climbing Ferns. The latter mostly belong to the genus Lygodium; of which one species, that here

figured, inhabits the United States (though according to Dr. Asa Gray it is of rare occurrence),
and even as far north as Massachusetts; so that though we have been accustomed to treat it as a
greenhouse plant, there is no reason why it may not bear our winters abroad; and it is almost certain
that it would do so on the south-west coast of England. It is a most elegant and delicate species,
yet difficult of increase. Although cultivated in the Royal Gardens of Kew since 1845, it is yet, we
believe, in very few collections at the present day.

Pig. 1. Portion of a sterile pinnule,-showing the venation. 2. Portion of the changed fertile pinnule
converted into a panicle, with the involucres concealing the capsule. 3. Two sori, one with the involucre
removed, showing the capsule in situ:—magnified.

Rate, XXV

"WBtch ad. etlifli.

"Vincent Brooks Imp.

PLATE

XXV.

POLYPODIUM LEIORHIZON, Wall
Smooth-rooted Polypody.

(§ Phymatodes) leiorhizon; caudice repente crassissimo cylindrico glauco-virescente maculato,
fronde ampla longe petiolata subcoriaceo-membranacea glaberrima nitida pinnata, pinnis (20-30)
lanceolatis longe tenuiterque acuminatis inferioribus magis minusve petiolatis superioribus sessilibus
decurrentibus, fertilibus superne (ob soros) pustulatis, venis copiose reticulatis areolis subsexangulatis appendiculatis venulis ultimis divaricatis apice clavatis, soris costam versus utrinque uniserialibus, petiolo crasso rachique nitidis purpureo-fuscescentibus.

POLTPODITTM

leiorhizon. Wall. Oat. n. 303. Metten. Ml. Hort. Lips. p. 37. t. 24./! 17 (small portion only,
to exhibit the venation). Polypod. Sp. p. 103.

POLYPODITJM

PHYMATODES

leiorhiza, Pr. (name only).

cuspidata. J. 8m. Oat. Kew Perns, p. 2; Oat. Cult. Perns, p. 10, (excl. syn. of Polypodium
cuspidatum, Don).

PHYMATODES
DEYNAEIA

leiorhizon. J. Sm. in Hook. Pot. Jburn. v. 4. p. 61.

HAB. India, chiefly, if not exclusively, in the mountain districts of Kumaon, Nepal, Sikkim, Ehotan, Khasia,
Wallich, Griffith, Drs. Hooker and Thomson, Winterlottom, Mrs. Mack, Pooth. Cultivated at Kew,
Leipzig, etc.

DESCR. The caudex or rhizome (by many considered the root of the plant) has a remarkable
appearance, being very much exposed on the surface of the ground, long, creeping, branched, tortuose,
the ends of the branches very obtuse, of a pale glaucous green colour, smooth on the surface (not
chaffy with scales, as is so common among the Ferns: whence Dr. WaUidi's specific name, " smoothrooted"), spotted; looking indeed in shape not much unlike green sausages strewed upon the soil.
From the under side black woolly fibres are here and there thrown out, to extract nourishment from
the ground. The stipites, one or two feet long, arise from distant points of the superior surface of
the caudex, where they are jointed upon a tubercle, spotted at the base and dilated, smooth, glabrous,
furrowed on one side, green, more or less purplish-brown in age. Frond two to three feet long, broadoblong in circumscription, of a substance between membranaceous and coriaceous, full green, glossy
(rather opaque when dry), a little paler, but not glaucous, beneath; pinnated with ten to fifteen pinnae
on each side, and a terminal one, equally large with the rest: these pinnce are six to eight inches to a
foot long, spreading, lanceolate, gradually tapering into a very long, slender, somewhat flexuose point;
the upper ones are sessile, decurrent and subconfluent, the lower ones are more or less petiolate, all
of them quite entire at the margin, and glabrous; fertile ones pustuled on the upper side in lines,
corresponding with the sori beneath. The venation is very beautiful, especially if the dried specimen
be held up between the eye and the light: it is copiously reticulated, forming sexangular meshes or
areoles, with generally six angles, becoming smaller next the margin, all terminating by uniting in a
waved outline just within the edge. Within the areoles are free, simple or ramified veinlets, the
apices of the branches clubbed. Sori semiglobose, prominent, the base sunk in the cavity, forming
a line or series on each side the costa or midrib, but much nearer to it than to the margin, and

extending to the base of the tapering point of the pinna. Each sorus arises from the points of ana^
stomosing of the nerves. Capsules on long stalks.
Polypodium leiorhizon was detected by Dr. Wallich in Kumaon and Nepal in 1823. The former
country is perhaps its western boundary; and continuing along the hills, it is found as far east as
Sikkim (elev. 6-8000 feet) and Bhotan. The Khasia hills appear to be its southern limit; it is
always confined to mountain tracts. When introduced to Europe does not exactly appear, but it
stands recorded as cultivated in the Gardens of Kew and Leipzig; in the former establishment,
under the erroneous name of Polypodium (Phymatodes) cuspidatum of Don, in the latter by the
correct one of its original discoverer,—showing how much safer it is to rely on the distributed and
named specimens of Dr. Wallich than on the brief and unsatisfactory specific characters of Mr. Don
in the matter of Nepal plants.
If the nature of the root-stock or caudex of this Fern, and that of the pinnae, the solitary lines
of sori, one on each side the midrib, and the venation, be taken into account, there can be no difficulty in recognizing the present species. It flourishes in a warm stove with plenty of moisture and
well-drained pots, and in its fine bold foliage (if the term may be employed in speaking of Ferns) it
may vie with the Polypodium nigrescens of our Plate XXII.

Koot-stock, young circinate frond, and base of a stipes, together with the upper portion of a frond,
with seven pinnae, nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a fertile pinna, under side, showing a perfect sorus, a receptacle of a sorus, and the venation. 2. Capsule:—magnified.

PLATE

XXVI.

ANEMIA FULVA, Cav.
Tawny Anemia.

(§ Euanemia) fulva; caudice horizontals crasso fulvo-villosissimo, frondibus fasciculatis deltoideoovatis hirsutis bi- rarius tri-pinnatis, pinnulis oblique ovatis obtusis pinnatifidis dentatisve nunc subintegris striato-venosis, racemis caulinis geminatis compositis fronde plerumque longioribus, stipite
racbibus pedunculisque fulvo-villosis.

AKEMIA

a. Cavanillesii; fronde bipinnata, pinnis approximatis pinnatifidis.

(TAB. NOSTJI.

XXVI.)

fulva. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 157. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 93. Schk. Ml. p. 144. t. 112 {copied from Cavanities). Presl, Suppl. Tent. Pterid.p. 84.

ANEMIA

OSMUNDA

fulva. Cav. Ic. v. 6. p. 70. t. 593./. 2.

OSMUND A

deltoidea. Cav. Ic. v. 6. p. 70. t. 593./. 1 (a starved state, judging from the figure and description).

villosa, Sw. et Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 82, may he safely referred here, with all the accompanying
synonyms.

ANEMIA

ft. decomposita; fronde bipinnata, pinnis remotioribus elongatis profunde pinnatifidis vel iterum pinnatis,
seu fronde tripinnata.
HAB. South America: about Buenos Ay res (Cavanilles) ; Rio Grande do Sul, Mr. Fox; South Brazil,
Bellow ; Monte Yideo, Captain King, M. Isabelle; Missions of South Brazil, J. Baird; Brazil, no
particular station given, Martius, in Herb. Nostr. under the names Anemia anthriscifolia, Schrad.,
and flexuosa, Willd., var.; Venezuela, Schlim, n. 692, Fendler, n. 7; Nevada de Santa Marta,
Purdie; Cumana, French, n. 197; Caracas, Linden, n. 180.—ft. Brazil: Organ Mountains, n. 89
(with var. a), and among the rubbish of the gold diggings, Serra de Natividade, Gardner; South
Brazil, J. Baird (along with var. a) ; Guatemala, Skinner; Mexico, Leibold. Cultivated at Kew.

DESCR. Caudex (more developed in our native herbarium specimens than in our young cultivated
ones of the Garden) short, thick, creeping, shaggy with long, soft, tawny hairs. Whole plant more
or less clothed with such hairs, often when young dense and woolly, in age more or less deciduous.
Stipites csespitose, six inches to a span long. Frond from four to six inches or more long, deltoidovate, subcoriaceous, or firm membranaceous, bipinnate in a, subtripinnate in / 3 ; primary pinna oblong or broad lanceolate, pinnules obliquely ovate, toothed or pinnatifid, finely striated on the surface
with the close-placed veins which diverge from a central nerve, forming however no distinct costa or
midrib, the base is a little decurrent and often confluent. In our /3 the pinnules are often lax, elongated, deeply pinnatifid or again pinnulate. From below the frond, the stipes gives rise to a pair of
petiolated compound racemes, or rather spikes, which are more or less compact and divided, the
branches hirsute on the back, bearing the ovate capsules, crowned with the annulus, and dehiscing
vertically and externally.
That our plant is identical with the Osmunda fulva of Cavanilles I think there can be no reasonable doubt, and if that author's O. deltoidea be the same, as I strongly suspect, then the Anemia
villosa, Swartz, (a more recent name than Cavanilles') must be considered a synonym. I can well

believe the several synonyms'* brought under it by Presl are mere variations of one and the same type,
with the exception perhaps of A. flexuosa, Raddi, which we shall notice more fully under our Plate
XXX. of the present number. Presl himself indeed, under A.fulva, 1. c. p. 84, says of it, u Valde
cognata A, villosce /3 et 7, differt tamen constanter pinnulis laciniis dentibusque acutis et rachiolis
fructiferis latioribus •" but these marks are too variable to justify any reliance upon them. Mr.
Moore, in his laborious ' Index Filicum/ unites all these under A. tomentosa, Sw. (Osmunda, Lam.),
and he does more—he refers to the same species the A. flexuosa, Sw. (see our Plate XXX.), which
Presl retains (but with doubt) ; and if he is correct in that, he is certainly equally correct in adding
the Abyssinian A. Schimperiana, Pr.
The usual form of this plant seems to be most common in the dry country in the south of Brazil.
From Guatemala the more decompound state is found, but there are all intermediate grades.

Plant with sterile and barren fronds, nat. size. Fig. 1. Pinnule. 2. Portion of a fertile lobe:—~
magnified.

#

There are, besides what we have given above, A. flexuosa, Kze., Eaddi (?), Martius; anthriscifolia,
Schrad. A. Baddiana, Lk. A. ferruginea, Humb. et Bonpl., etc. A. tomentosa, Sw., and A. cheilanthoides, Kaulf.

Rate, mil.

"Wl'M-th.

Ad.vMy..

"Vmcerrt b r o o k s

lino

PLATE XXVII.

DAVALLIA HETEROPHYLLA, Sm.
Various-leaved Davallia.
(§ Humata) heterophylla; caudice longissimo repente hispido-squamoso, frondibus sparsis remot is
coriaceis stipitatis e bulbillo squamoso egredientibus sterilibus oblongo- seu ovato-lanceolatis integerrimis vel rarius basi lobulatis venis \>i-tYi£xwo&t\& fertilibus anguste lanceolatis sinuato-pinnatifidis,
lobis grosse obtuso-dentatis, dentibus unisoris, venis plerumque simplicibus, involucris reniformibus,
stipite e frondis basi decurrente alato.

DAVALLIA

heterophylla. Sm. Act. Taur. v. 5. p. 415 (1793). Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 130 et 337.
v. 5. p. 465. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 230.

DAVALLIA

Willd. Sp. PI.

ophioglossa. " Cav. Prcelect. (1801.) n. 678. Hort. B. Matrit. t. 1." Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 322.
Metten. Fil. Hort. Lips. p. 102. Brackenridge, Fil. Tin. St. Fxpl. Beeped, p. 227.

HUMATA

HUMATA heterophylla, Desv. J. Sm. Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 65.
HUMATA

pinnatifida. " Cav. Brcelect. 1801. n. 679."

DAVALLIA

pinnatifida. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 130.

Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 465.

DAVALLIA lobulosa. Wall. Cat. n. 241.
HAB. Malay Islands, perhaps general: Mcobar, Sumatra (Herb. Banks).
Mariane Islands (Swartz).
Penang, Wallieh. Java, Blume, Zollinger, Thos. Lobb. Sincape, id. Borneo, Wallace. Isle Samar,
Cuming, n. 335. Malacca, Griffith. Tahiti, Society Islands ; also Samoan and Feejee Islands (Dr.
Harvey), of frequent occurrence, Brackenridge. Cultivated in Kew Gardens.

DESCR. The caudex, scarcely thicker than a crow's quill, less thick than a duck's quill, runs
along the ground or among mosses and other Cryptogamic plants, to a great length, here and there
dichotomously forked, of a pale-brown colour, but rendered dark-brown and hispid from being clothed
with scales, which, when magnified, are seen to be of very beautiful structure (see our Pig. 1); they
are ovate, dark-brown with a pale margin, peltate or fixed by the centre, and thus lie flat upon the
caudex, and the apex runs out into a long, dark-brown, subulate, spreading point; the whole is spinuloso-serrate at the margin. The under side of the caudex sends down a few branching radicles,
chiefly from below the insertion of a frond. Fronds on short stipites, which are an inch or an inch
and a half long, arising solitary, or sometimes two together, from a small, ovate, scaly bulb or knot;
three to five or rarely six inches long, coriaceous, glabrous,—sterile ones oblong- or ovate-lanceolate,
acuminate, entire at the base, rather suddenly decurrent so as to form a wing on the stipes, sometimes
the lower half is cut into lobes, showing a disposition to become fertile; fertile ones usually longer (and
the stipes also) than the sterile fronds, always narrower, truly lanceolate, more or less deeply sinuatopinnatifid, the lobes ovate, obtuse, soriferous, the margin cut into broad, blunt teeth, each tooth
monosorous. Veins free, dichotomous, fine and parallel, extending from the costa to the slightly
thickened margin in the sterile fronds; in the fertile ones the lobes have their central primary vein or
secondary costa pinnately divided; each veinlet is short, simple, rarely forked, and terminates in a sorus.
All the veins of the fertile fronds are broad and distant. Involucres nearly reniform, or transversely
oblong, attached by a broad base, but free at the apex and sides; their texture is firm, subcoriaceous.

The Ferns of the Malayan Islands are numerous, and much prized by collectors, on account of
their beauty and the peculiarity of forms of many of them, and not less prized on account of the difficulty of obtaining plants living or dried. It will be seen however, from the localities recorded above,
mostly derived from specimens in our own herbarium, that the present species occurs in very many and
probably all the islands of the Eastern Archipelago and Peninsula. The Humata-grovap of Davallia
is almost peculiar to that region; our species, D. pectinata, together with that now under consideration, according to Brackenridge and Dr. Harvey, extending to the Society Islands and Feejee.
Among this section the species most allied to the present is the D. angustata of Wallich (Hook, et
Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 231), which has all the fronds lanceolate, the fertile ones imperfectly sinuato-dentate,
with remarkably broad dark-brown veins, and a single series of sori along the toothed margin.
This is not yet in cultivation in our gardens.

Portion of a caudex with sterile and fertile fronds, not. size. Fig. 1. Scale from the caudex, showing
its peltate point of attachment. 2. Portion of a sterile frond, showing the venation. 3. Lobe of a fertile
frond, showing the venation and sori:—magnified.

PLATE

XXVIII.

DEPARIA MOOREI, Hook.
Mr. Moore's Deparia.
(§ Trichiocarpa) Moorei; caudice repente, frondibus fasciculatis deltoideo-cordatis membranaceis
pinnatis, pinnis pinnatifidis inferioribus non raro iterum pinnatis, segmentis oblongis obtusis dentatolobatis, marginibus soriferis, soris globosis, venis ubique anastomosantibus, involucris cupulsBformibus
stipitatis, stipite inferne subhirsuto-squamoso rachibusque plerisque ebeneis.
DEPARIA (§ Trichiocarpa) Moorei. Hook, in Kew Gard. Misc. (Feb. 1852) v. 4. p. 55. t. 3.
CIONIDIUM Moorei. T. Moore in " Gard. Comp. (nonten tantum) ;" Proceed, of Linn. Soc. Feb. 1853. p. 212.
TRICHIOCARPA Moorei. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Gard*. Ferns, p. 7; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 68.
HAB. On the ground, in a dense wood, by a river's side, New Caledonia, Mr. C. Moore, 1850. Cultivated
in Kew Gardens from plants sent by Mr. Moore.
DEPARIA

DESCR. Our growing plant exhibits a creeping, but short, stout, horizontal, scarcely scaly caudex, from which issues a fascicle or cluster of fronds, which are a foot in length in our longest specimens, deltoid or cordate-deltoid in circumscription, membranaceous, dark bottle-green, glabrous,
pedately pinnated, that is, the lowest pair of pinnse is again pinnated ; their inferior pinnce near the
base longer than the rest. Pinnce, both primary and secondary, lanceolate, pinnatifid, sessile (except
the lowest pair), upper ones confluent; segments all sinuato-dentate, soriferous at the very margins
on both sides, the teeth prolonged into pedicels to the globose sori. Venation everywhere reticulated, very distinct, the meshes or areola large and oblong next the costa, the rest smaller and shorter,
sub-sexangular. Involucres inferior, cup-shaped or pateriform, borne on the pedicelliform teeth at
the margins of the segments, and always terminating a veinlet. Stipes short in proportion to the
length of the frond, four to six inches, villous, with a few scattered narrow-subulate scales, and, as
well as the rachises, and sometimes the lower portions of the costa, ebeneous, glossy.
This exceedingly rare Fern was discovered by Mr. Charles Moore, of the Government Botanic Gardens, Sydney, in New Caledonia. Specimens communicated to us through Captain Erskine, R.N.,
of H.M.S. Havanna, we published in the fourth volume of the Kew Garden Miscellany, for 1852, as a
new species of Deparia, which we dedicated to its discoverer. We spoke of it as a Deparia having
reticulated fronds, which, we were aware, would of itself, in the minds of some Pteridologists, entitle
it to rank as a new genus, and consequently placed it in a section distinct from Eudeparia, or those
with free veins, under the name of " Trichiocarpus," from the resemblance that the stipitate sori
bear to some species of Trichia. Messrs. T. Moore and J. Smith have both adopted this view, of its
constituting a new genus, and the one confers upon it our sectional name " Trichiocarpus," the other
calls it Cionidium: so that for this plant, only hitherto detected by one person and in one place, we
have as many different generic names as botanists who have written on it.

Sterile and fertile fronds, not. size. Fig. 1. Segment of a fertile pinna, showing the venation.
3. Sorus attached to a portion of the segment, showing the involucre terminating a pedicelliform tooth:
—magnified.

Mate XXIX.

"W.Ti.tcK M..etTxth.

^TLceiit. Brooks

rrrn.-

PLATE

XXIX.

ACROSTICHUM PILOSELLOIDES, Pr.
Pilosella-Mhe Acrostichum.

ACROSTICHUM (§ Euacrostichum) piloselloides ; parvum, caudice brevi subnullo, frondibus csespitosis petiolatis sterilibus oblongis obovatisve obtusis basi attenuatis utrinque stipitibusque squamis subulatis
rufo-villosissimis, fertilibus plerumque brevioribus ellipticis ssepe longius stipitatis marginatis supra
squamoso-villosis.
ACROSTICHUM piloselloides. Presl, Belig. Hcenk. p. 14. t. 11. Fee, Acrost. p. 54. t. 14. f
PresVsJig.).
Metten. Ml. Hort. Lips. p. 19.

6 {copied from

OLEERSIA piloselloides. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 233.
ELAPHOGLOSSUM piloselloides. Moore, Ind. Fil. p. 13.
ACROSTICHUM pumilum. Mart, et Gal. p. 23. t. 2.f. 2.
ACROSTICHUM Jamesoni. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 86.

Fee, Acrost. p. 52.

0. obtusatum ; frondibus latioribus.
ACROSTICHUM obtusatum. Carmich. in Descr. of the PI. Trist. d'Acunh. in Linn. Trans, v. 12. p. 510.
Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 22.
ACROSTICHUM Jamesoni, 0 obtusatum, Fee, I. c. p. 52.
y. horridulum;

frondibus sterilibus duplo longioribus lanceolatis.

ACROSTICHUM horridulum. Kaulf. Fee, Acrost. p. 52. t. 1 4 . / 4.
ACROSTICHUM spathulinum. Baddi, Fil. JBrasil. p. 3. t. 15. f. 2.
ACROSTICHUM Eaddianum. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 4.
ELAPHOGLOSSUM horridulum. J, Sm. in Seemann, Pot. of the Herald, p. 232.
d. spathulatum ; fronde fertili apice retusa.
ACROSTICHUM spathulatum. Bory, Voy. v. 1. p. 263. t. 20. f 1.
Fee, Acrost. p. 51.

Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 10.

Willd. Sp. PI. p. 106.

OLFERSIA spathulata. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 233.
H A B . Judging from the number of specimens we have received from various localities, this must be a very
common plant in mountain regions in Peru, Columbia, Mexico, Central America, Yenezuela, Brazil,
and even in South Brazil, where the fronds are narrower (our var. y. Baddi, Swainson, Gardner, n.
4078, Sellow). Our earliest specimens were from Dr. Jameson, gathered near Quito. For other
specimens we are indebted to various travellers, viz. Hartweg, Schlim, Fendler (Venezuela, n. 267 et
268), Seemann (Panama), Galeotti (Mexico, n. 6434 and 6355), Pceppig (Peru), Pur die (St. Martha,
on the Sierra Nevada). W e cannot but refer our Tristan d'Acunha Acrost. obtusatum, Carm., to this
species: for we can see no specific difference {Copt. Carmichael). And, lastly we are disposed to
refer JBory's A. spathulatum to this, from Bourbon and Madagascar, Bory; and we have the same
from Ceylon, Gardner.

DESCR. The very short caudex, which is erect or oblique, is generally copiously clothed with
branching, fibrous radicles, forming matted, dense masses, from which the small fronds arise in a

fasciculated manner: these vary in size exceedingly, from one or two inches to five or six, rarely
more. Our specimen figured is a rather large one. Sterile fronds oblong, or more frequently spathulate, tapering into the stipes, which is about one-third of their length, obtuse, subcarnoso-coriaceous, clothed on both sides and upon the stipes with narrow, subulate scales of a rich tawny colour,
which are patent on the stipes and on the margin: these scales are a beautiful object under the
microscope, strongly reticulated and fringed with spinulose serratures at the margin. The cost a is
conspicuous and a little prominent beneath, and from this diverge obliquely the once- or twice-forked
branches, whose free terminal veinlets are clubbed at the apex a little within the thickened margin.
Fertile fron d generally smaller than the rest, elliptical or oval, sometimes approaching to orbicular,
on a stipes which is sometimes longer than that of the sterile frond, or even than the whole sterile
plant; but in the specimen drawn it is not so: the tawny villous scales are confined to the stipes
and back and margin of the frond; the under side is covered with the copious brown capsules, a
few scales only appearing on the costa.
We follow those who consider the very natural group of Acrostichece, to which this species belongs, as Acrostichum par excellence (§ Euacrostichum); but others confine the name to the group
to which Acrostichum aureum, L., belongs, though we know not upon what special authority, while
some authors seem disposed to abandon the name altogether. We have said that the present group
or section is a natural one : it is also numerous in species; and such being the case, the species are
with difficulty distinguished; so that it requires extensive suites of specimens to enable us to form a
correct judgment. We have gladly on the present occasion corrected some of our own errors, committed when our herbarium was but scantily supplied with needful materials.
It is remarkable that, common as this species is on the continent of tropical America, it seems
unknown in the West Indies; still more remarkable that it should make its appearance in Tristan
d'Acunha. M. Fee is, I think, quite right in uniting Carmichaers A. obtusatum with our Jamesoni,
for that can hardly be considered a variety even of A.piloselloides. Our specimens of A. spathulatum,
from Bourbon, exhibit no marked difference from A. piloselloides, and we possess the same from
Ceylon, Gardner.

Plant, with sterile and fertile fronds, nat. size. Pig. 1. Portion of a sterile frond, with venation.
2. Scales from the frond. 3. Portion of a fertile frond, with the fructification removed from one side of
the costa, to show the venation. 4. Capsules:—magnified.

mate

WMA

ad. etiith.

III

Afincent Brooks imp.

PLATE

XXX.

ANEMIA FLEXUOSA, Sw>
Flexuose Anemia.
(Euanemia) flexuosa; caudice horizontali crasso fulvo-villosissimo, frondibus fasciculatis deltoideoovatis hirsutis demum glabris pinnatis pinnis profunde pinnatifidis, lobis pinnulisve oblique ovatis
acutis obtusisve integerrimis vel subsinuato-lobatis striato-venosis, racemis caulinis geminatis
compositis fronde plerumque longioribus, stipite rachibus pedunculisque fulvo-villoso-lanosis, lana
demum decidua.

ANEMIA

ANEMIA flexuosa. Sw. Syn. Fil.p. 156. Willd. Sp. Pip, 93. Baddi, Fil Brasil.p. 71.t.13.
n. 53. Presl, Suppl Tent. Pterid. p. 90. Kze. IAnncea, v. 23. p. 222.
ANEMIA

Wall. Cat.

villosa, p. Eaddiana. Presl, Suppl. Tent. Pterid. p. 82.

ANEMIA villosa. J, Sm. Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 77.
ANEMIA

tomentosa. Moore, Ind. Fil. p. 69.

OSMUNDA

flexuosa. Lam. Fncycl. v. 4. p. 652.

(Abyssinica) A.

SCRTMPERIANA.

Presl, Suppl Tent. Pterid. p. 84.

(Orientalis) A. WIOHTIANA. Gardn. in Calc. Journ. of Nat. Hist. v. 7. p. 10. t. 1 {venation inaccurate).
HAB. South America: Brazil, about Eio, Baddi, Burchell, Gardner (Organ Mountains, n. 91 and 5956, elev.
5000 feet; Serra de Cural del Key, n. 5341; Serra de Caraca, n. 5338, 5340), M'Gillivray, Milne;
St. Catharine, Beechey; South Erazil, Sellow ; Tondill, Tweedie ; British Gruiana, Schomburgk; Peru,
Chacapoyas, Mathews, n. 3301 et 1111, Pmppig, Hartweg, n. 860 (frondibus pinnatis, pinnis integerrimis, v. sinuato-lobatis) ; La Guayra, Birschell; Sierra Nevada, St. Martha, Purdie; Venezuela,
Fendler, n. 6. Abyssinia, region of Gafta, Schimper, It. Abyss, sect. 2. n. 1203. East Indies : Madras
peninsula, Nilghiri mountains, elev. 5000 feet on the Malabar slopes, Dr. Wight, Gardner, Br.
Schmidt.

DESCR. That this is the Anemia flexuosa (a name not appropriate indeed to all the specimens) of
Eaddi, we are assured by his very excellent figure and by authentic specimens, and there can be no
reason to doubt that it is equally the A. flexuosa of Swartz (Osmunda, Lam.), although the native
country of the plant was unknown to the author; and this name has the priority over that of A.
villosa, to which Presl and J. Smith refer it. How far it may be really distinct from Cavanilles'
Anemia (Osmunda) fulva, figured at Plate XXVI. of the present number, is another question, and
not so easily answered satisfactorily. If our two figures are compared, few would do otherwise than
pronounce them distinct; and we have shown that A. fulva varies in degrees still further removed,
than that figure represents, from A. flexuosa, that is, with decompound fronds (tripinnate, with the
pinnules pinnatifid), differing nearly as much from A. fulva as A. fulva does from A. flexuosa.
Again, we find among our numerous suites of specimens of the latter plant some that approach
what we may consider the normal form of fulva, so that we are disposed to view favourably the
union of these under one species, as Presl and Moore have done, to which the name of fulva should
be given, as the oldest, not A. villosa, nor where Moore has placed them, under A. tomentosa. Mr.
Heward (see extract of his letter in c Calcut. Journ. of Nat. Hist./ /. c. p. 2) wras the first to inti-

mate publicly that the Abyssinian A. Schimperiana exhibited no points of difference from the South
American A. flexuosa; and it is remarkable that the able author (in the same volume) of the " Description of a New Species of Anemia from the Neelghery Mountains/' Mr. Gardner, who was so
familiar with the A. flexuosa in Brazil, should not have come to the same conclusion in regard to his
A, Wightiana. It is true he notices its close relationship with that species, and finds it to be distinguished from it by being " more densely villous all over, by being decidedly pinnate, and by the rachis
of the pinnse being straight, not flexuose, spikes more loosely paniculate," all of them variations
that are found in A. flexuosa, so that I have no hesitation in uniting that to our present plant. It
is perhaps somewhat in favour of A. flexuosa being distinct from A. fulva, that both the Abyssinian
and Nilghiri plants (as far as I have yet seen) exhibit no approach to the latter; their form is
identically the same as what we here give fox flexuosa.

Sterile and fertile frond, nat. size. Fig. 1. Pinnule of sterile frond.
3. Capsule and spores :—magnified.

2. Portion of a fertile segment.

Mca* Mil.

W M i cba.dclitK.

Vmcent Brook* Imp

PLATE

XXXI.

NEPHRODIUM SIEBOLDI.
SieboWs Nephrodium.
NEPHRODIUM (§ Lastrea) Sieboldi; caudice brevi erecto crasso copiose paleaceo, frondibus fasciculatis sublonge stipitatis deltoideis carnoso-coriaceis pinnatis, pinnis 3-7-9 subpetiolatis lateralibus horizontaliter patentibus 6-8-uneialibus elongato-oblongis acuminatis subfalcatis basi truncatis vel subcordatis
subtus hirsutulis irregulariter crenato-lobatis serratisque, sterilibus latioribus, pinna terminali majore basi lobata vel subpinnatifida, venis fasciculatis pinnatis liberis sterilibus hie illic furcatis, fertilibus simplicibus omnibus apicibus intra marginem terminantibus clavatis, soris dorsalibus copiosis
magnis, involucro valde convexo, stipitibus basi sparsim paleaceis rachique glabris pallide viridifuscis.
ASPIDIUM Sieboldi. " Cat. Von Houtte"

Metten. Fil. Sort. Lips. p. 87. t. 20 (excellent).

LASTREA podophylla. J". Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns; but not Aspidium (§ Lastrea) podophyllum, Hook, Kew
Gard. Miscell. v. 5.p. 236. t. 1 ; Cat.'Cult. Ferns,p. 57 (excl. the locality of'Hongkong).
PYCNOPTERIS Sieboldi. " T. Moore1' (vide Moore, Index

Filicum).

LASTREA Sieboldi. Moore, Ind. Fil. p. lxxxviii.
H A B . Japan, Siebold.

Cultivated in the open air at Kew, etc.

DESCR. The thick caudex, if such it may be called, being apparently formed of the compacted
bases of the stipites, is erect, densely paleaceous, as well as the whole mass of infant circinate fronds;
scales lanceolate, aristato-acuminate. Fronds a span to a foot long, broadly deltoid, carnoso-coriaceous,
always glabrous, above full, dark opaque green, paler beneath and sparsely villous, pinnate; pinna six
to eight inches long, from three to seven in number, rarely more, elongato-oblong, subfalcate, waved,
acuminate, the base broad, in no way contracted, truncate, often cordate, subpetiolate, the inferior
base broader and occasionally subauricled, the margin irregularly sinuate or lobed, scarcely ever
entire, the lobes and apex more or less spinuloso-serrate; pinnce of the sterile frond always broader
than the fertile ones; terminal pinnae the largest, more or less pinnatifid at the base. Veins diverging from t h e costa, fascicled and pinnated, more or less dichotomous in t h e sterile pinnae, closely
placed and parallel: in the fertile pinnae the veinlets are mostly simple. Sori dorsal, very large and
conspicuous near the middle of each veinlet, copious on the fertile fronds. Capsules dense, numerous, at first pale green, then black, afterwards brown. Involucres smaller than the sori, very convex,
cordato-reniform. Stipes a span long, and, as well as the rachis, pale greenish-brown.
Perhaps no portion of Pteridology is in so uncertain and confused a state as t h a t which relates
to the limits of the genera belonging to the Aspidium-growp of Ferns, or, in other words, those which
were formerly included in the genus Aspidium of Swartz : " Capsulse in puncta subrotunda sparsa digesta, indusiis umbilicatis 1. dimidiatis tectse." So long as Presl kept his genera within reasonable
bounds, as we felt to be the case in his very valuable c Tentamen Pteridographise/ we gladly, for the
sake of encouraging a uniform nomenclature, adopted his genera, even when not always according
with our own views; and the plant now under consideration would have been a Lastrea.
I t is so of
Mr. J. S m i t h ; but it is a Nephrodium according to Michaux and the learned Brown's views of Fern

genera (not of Presl) ; it is an Aspidium of Fee, and of Mettenius (but not in the same sense as Fee),
and Pycnopteris of Moore; since indeed restored by him to Lastrea. With such conflicting views,
what is the idea a tyro must entertain of this state of botanical science ? The most experienced feels
there is but a choice of evils. To us the least seems to be, in the present instance, to follow Michaux
and Brown, assigning the Aspidioid plants which have a reniform involucre to Nephrodium, and forming sections or subgenera according to the venation.
In the case of the present Fern there exists a diversity of opinion, not only respecting the
generic, but also the specific name; Mr. J. Smith referring it, with no hesitation, to a Chinese Aspidium or Lastrea I have described and figured in the Kew Garden Miscellany, v. 5, p. 236, t. 1,
under the name of Aspidium (Lastrea) podophyllum,—but I could wish other Ferns did not present
greater difficulties than these in their determination. To say nothing of the different climates of the
two plants, the Chinese species, Nephrodium (Lastrea) podophyllum, possesses a very different texture
of frond, more coriaceous and firm, subpolystichoid; the pinnae are truly lanceolate, narrowed at the
base, less deeply but more regularly lobed or dentato-crenate, and these not spinulosely serrated;
the pinnae are much more numerous, nine to fifteen, so that the outline or circumscription is not
deltoid, but ovato-lanceolate; they are generally straight, rarely subfalcate, and the sori are not half
the size of those of our Nephrodium Sieboldi. Indeed, a glance at the respective figures will, we
think, convince the doubtful.
It is probable that our plant, of which I have never been so fortunate as to see native specimens,
is peculiar to the temperate regions of Japan, and hence is capable of bearing onr winters in the open
border unharmed.
Plant having a sterile and a fertile frond, not. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a pinna, seen from beneath,
showing the scattered hairs and the venation. 2. Portion of a fertile pinna, with sori:—magnified.

PLATE XXXII.

LOMARIA ALPINA, Spr.
Antarctic Lomaria.

LOMARIA alpina; caudice elongato repente nigro subfiliformi ramoso, ramis versus apicem parce paleaceis
frondiferis, frondibus fasciculatis stipitatis difformibus coriaceis oblongo-lanceolatis, sterilibus fere
ad costam pinnatifidis, lobis ovali-oblongis obtusissimis, fertilibus longius stipitatis pinnatis, pinnis
lineari-oblongis subfalcatis obtusis margine revolutis, venis plerisque furcatis, involucris amplis subintramarginalibus serrulatis, stipitibus castaneis nitidis.
LOMARIA alpina. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 62. Hook. fil. Fil. Fl. Ant. pars 2, Fuegia, etc. p. 393. t.
150; Fl. Nov. Zeal. v. 2. p. 30. Brackenridge, Fil. TTn. St. Fxpl. Fxped. p. 123. J. Sm. Gat. Kew
Ferns, p. 5 ; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 40.
LOMARIA polypodioides. Gaud, in Freyc. Voy. Bot. p. 374.
LOMARIA australis. Kze. Coll. Fl. Foep.p. 57.
LOMARIA blechnoides. Bory, in Buperrey, Voy. Bot. Crypt, p. 273.

Gay, Fl. Chil. v. 6. p. 481.

LOMARIA antarctica. Carm. in Linn. Soc. Trans, v. 12. p. 512.
LOMARIA linearis. Colens. in Tasrnan. Phil. Jburn. p. 176.
STEGAKIA alpina. Br. Frodr. p. 152.
POLTPODITJM Pinna-marina. Foir. in Lam. Fncycl. v. 5.p. 520 (fide Hook.

fil.).

H A B . Although Mr. Brown is the first botanist who described this plant from Tasmanian specimens, yet, if
Dr. Hooker be correct in his synonym of Polypodium Pinna-marina, Commerson was the first to discover it in the Straits of Magellan, where, as well as at Hermite Island, Cape Horn, and along the
west coast of Patagonia, and as far north as Conception, in Chili (Pceppig, Gay), and Juan Fernandez
(Gay), it has been found by all subsequent botanists. Again, east of the above-mentioned straits, it
appears at Staten Land, Menzies; and north, on the mainland, we have specimens from Bellow,
gathered in South Brazil {Lomaria Sellowiana, Klotzsch, in Herb. Nostr.). I t is most abundant in
the Falkland Islands, Br. Hooker; very scarce in Kerguelen's Land, apparently confined to Cumberland Bay, IFCormick.
Tristan d'Acunha, Carmichael, Milne, and JSPGillwray in Benham's
Voyage. Proceeding eastward still, it is found on the Alps of South Australia, whence Br. Mueller
has sent us specimens from " Cobbaros," a mountain of 6000 feet elev. Van Diemen's Land, Brown,
B. Gunn, Lawrence. Lastly throughout New Zealand, in the northern, middle, and southernmost
islands, Banks, Sinclair, Colenso, J. D. Hooker, Lyall, etc. Thus as it were circumscribing the globe
wherever there is land in the southern hemisphere, beyond 35° to 55° S. Cultivated at Kew, from
plants sent by Dr. Hooker from the Falklands; quite hardy.

DESCR. Caudex very long, slender, stout-filiform, black, branched, creeping; roots often copious
and densely fibrous. The remains of former stipites continue on the old portions of the progressive
caudex, but the perfect fronds have their origin from the glumaceous, ascending apices of the branches,
where they appear in fascicles, some sterile, others fertile; the sterile fronds are the longer of the two,
four to six inches or more, and have the shortest stipes; the fertile ones, on the contrary, have generally the shortest fronds and the longest stipes. Both are lanceolate or oblongo-lanceolate, sub-

coriaceous, dark-green, paler beneath; sterile pinnatifid, or cut nearly to the costa into close-placed,
spreading, ovate or oblong, generally obtuse segments; stipes 2-3 inches long, more or less chaffy at
the base, ebeneous; venation pinnated; veins free, some generally forked, the apices clubbed and not
reaching to the margin. Fertile fronds oblong, pinnated; pinnce a little distant, especially the lower
ones, oblong, obtuse, the margins reflexed. Involucres membranous, serrulate at the edge, very broad^
almost semicylindrical, not as it were an expansion of the margin itself, but having their origin a little
within the margin, of course nearer the costa, and enfolding the linear receptacles of copious capsules, which are situated about halfway between the margin and the costa, thus approaching some
species of Blechnum, especially B. boreale, from which however the involucre is extremely different.
The present species of Lomaria is peculiarly interesting to cultivators of plants, as being one of
few Ferns of the southern hemisphere, yet introduced to our gardens, which will nourish in the open
air and bear our winters unharmed;—to those also who take an interest in the geographical distribution of Ferns, for it is peculiar in locating itself on every bit of land, be it island or a part of the
great South American continent, or the pseudo-continental island of Australia, completely round
the globe, South Brazil (perhaps Monte Video, but the exact locality not given) and Conception,
or in other words lat. 35° S. being its northern limit, Hermite Island and Cape Horn its southern.
It has its representative in the northern hemisphere in a nearly allied Fern, though not considered by
most botanists generically the same,—our Blechnum boreale, which, north of the island of Madeira
(its southern limit), may be said to traverse Europe, Asia, Africa, and America !
Dr. Hooker, during the South Polar Voyage of the (Erebus' and (Terror/ sent home living
plants of our Lomaria alpina from the Falkland Islands, which, to use a familiar expression, soon
became acclimated, or, in other words, found a temperature and atmosphere congenial to the species ;
and as a border Fern it flourishes and cannot fail to become a great favourite.

Portion of a caudex with sterile and fertile fronds, nat. size. Fig. 1. Lobe of a sterile frond, showing
the venation. 2. Section of a fertile pinna, exhibiting the venation and sori:—magnified.

PLATE XXXIII.

ASPIDIUM TRIANGULUM, Su>.
Triangular-leaved Shield-Fern.

ASPIDIUM (§ Polystichum) triangulum;
caudice perbrevi superne squamis aterrimis nitidis paleaceo,
radicibus csespitosis fibrosis, frondibus fasciculatis strictiusculis coriaceis rigidis elongato-lanceolatis
acuminatis pinnatis, pinnis rhombeo-ovatis subfalcatis inferioribus triangularibus apice lobisque
duobus (seu auriculis) basin versus mucronato-spinosis marginibus incrassatis sinuato-dentatis,
stipite longitudine variabili, rachibus parce paleaceis squamis angustis flexuosis villoso-ciliatis, soris
majusculis demum involucro umbonato fere duplo majoribus.
ASPIDIUM triangulum. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 44 (excl. syn. SchTcuhr).

Willd. Sp. PI. v. 4. p. 226.

POLYSTICHUM mucronatum. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 6 ; Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 60.
POLYPODIUM triangulum. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1549.
POLYSTICHUM cyphochlamys. Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 279 ; 6me. Mem. p. 20. t. S.f

Trichomanes folio triangulo dentato. " Pet. Fil. 76. t. l.f.

4.

10."

Lonchitis folio triangulari. Plum. Fil. t. 72 ? (possibly intended for A. mucronatum).
Trichomanes majus, etc. Sloane, Jam. v. l.p.
(3. laxum;

81. t. 36. f 4.

frondibus elongatis laxis, rachi nonnunquam apice elongata prolifera, pinnis remotis brevioribus

magis lobato-spinosis.
POLYSTICHUM ilicifolium, Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 279 ; 6me. Mem. p. 21. t. G.f

4.

H A B . Jamaica, Shane, Pur die, (Cedar Valley, St. George,) N. Wilson, Dr. Alexander.
Cuba, Linden
n. 2175 ; (Fee,) n. 1866, Linden (Herb. JSTostr.).—VAR. /3. Santiago de Cuba, Linden, n. 2193,
(Fee,) C. Wright, PI. Cubenses, n. 829. Cultivated in Kew Gardens.

DESCR. The caudex, if such it may be called, is short and thick, formed apparently of the
united bases of the leaf-stalks, more or less clothed with very black, smooth, convex scales, glossy as
if varnished; from the under side of which proceeds a mass of dense, fibrous, more or less woolly radicles.
Fronds from 6 inches to a foot or more high, erect or decurved, narrow or elongato-lanceolate,
acuminate, of a harsh, coriaceous and rigid texture, pinnated; younger ones slightly villous, with
appressed hairs. Pinna approximate, sometimes overlapping or subimbricated, from. \ an inch to f
of an inch long, patent, nearly sessile, ovato-lanceolate, subrJiomboidal. The truncated base above,
with its auricle, and the margin at a little distance from the base below, with its auricle or lobe, together
with the acute apex, form three angles (whence the specific name), each of which is spinulose and pungent at the p o i n t ; the margin is thickened and more or less dentato-sinuate, rarely producing one or
two, or more, spinose teeth : uppermost pinnae very small and confluent; lower pinnse more decidedly
triangular, smaller, and subsinuate. Stipes 1 or 2 to 4 or 5 inches long, clothed with ferruginous, ovate
or lanceolate, membranous, villous or silky scales; and t h e rachis for some way up has scattered
and narrower subulate scales ; sometimes quite naked. Veins forked; sort on the superior veinlet,
large, semiglobose; in age, only partially covered by the orbicular, peltate, umbilieated palish-brown
involucre.
Our var. /3. is, it appears to us, a slender, more elongated form of this species, with more

spinous, smaller, and remotely placed teeth, more frequently triangular or rhomboid, more cuneate at
the base, with the rachis not unfrequently running out beyond the pinnse, and proliferous at the apex.
From Jamaica especially, we receive two distinct, but allied, species of pinnated Aspidium
(§ Polystichum) : one, the true Poly podium mucronatum, fairly represented by Sloane, Jam. v. 1.
t. 36. f. 5, more satisfactorily by Schkuhr, Fil. t. 29 c, and less certainly, at t. 29 b. of the same
author: the other we take to be the Polypodium triangulum of Linnseus, doubtfully represented by
Sloane, 1. c. f. 5;—and, much more recently, by M. Fee, in his Sixieme Memoire sur la Famille des
Fougeres, above quoted, under the name of Polystichum, cyphochlamys, from specimens collected in
Cuba by Linden, from whom we have also specimens of the same plant. Our present species is
found in herbaria, and has been cultivated, even at Kew, under the specific name of mucronatum;
but that is in reality a very different species, as we hope to show by-and-by, by a more accurate
representation than has yet been given. It is a much larger and stouter plant than A, triangulum,
has longer lanceolate pinnse with only one auricle, and no large spinous teeth, and a rachis densely
villous, almost shaggy, with long tawny appressed hairs, altogether very much resembling some
states of Aspidium (§ Polystichum) Lonchitis, Sw. Polystichum ilicifolium, Fee, we should be
disposed to agree with that author in considering distinct, did we not find specimens which, by their
intermediate forms, seem to unite the two. This has to us quite the appearance of a plant growing
in dense moist and shady places, with the apex elongated, and becoming proliferous. No plants are
more disposed to sport than the polystichoid Aspidia, as is patent to those who study the few species
of our own country; and it would be no enviable task in one who should be disposed to undertake
the describing of the Exotic kinds.

Plant, nat. size. Fig. 1. Fertile pinnse, with a portion of the rachis and sori. 2. Single sorus:—
magnified.

Ram IUIV.

"\5-ncent Brooks Imp.
WTrt£h.ael.tf.Titli.

PLATE

XXXIV.

PTERIS PEDATA, Linn.
Pedate-leaved Pteris.

PTEEIS (§ Litobrochia) pedata; caudice brevi crasso erecto vel declinato copiose radiculoso, frondibus fasciculatis maturis coriaceis opacis cordatis tripartito-pedatis, laciniis lateralibus primariis bipartitis
deorsum prsecipue vel utrinque pinnatifidis, lacinia primaria intermedia pinnatifida basi plerumque
euneatim angustata, segmentis pinnatifidis lobis integris vel basi iterum pinnatifidis, lobis ultimis
oblongo-lanceolatis sinubus magis minusve acutis margine (planta sterili) crenulatis, soris continuis,
involucris angustis integerrimis, venis reticulatis, areolis oblongis subsexangularibus, stipitibus
teretibus aterrimis ebeneis inferne pilosis.
PTEEIS pedata. Linn. Sp. Fl. p. 1532. Sw. Syn. Ml. p. 105. Langsdorff et Fisch. Ic. Fil. p. 12 et 20.
Willd. Sp. Fl. p. 358. Kunze in Linncea, v. 23. p. 289. JBory in Duper. Voy. Bot. p. 274.
Schkuhr,
Fil. p. 91. t. 100. Eaddi, Fil. t. 65. f. 3, 66, et 66 b. Br. Frod. Nov. JLoll. p. 155. Hook. Bot.
Mag. t. 3247. Metten. Fil. Hort. Bot. Lips. p. 55.
PTEEIS palmata. Willd. Sp. Fl. v. 5. p. 357.
PTEEIS collina. Baddi,p.

Metten. Fil. Hort. Bot. Lips. p. 55.

44. t. 6 5 . / . 1, 2.

PTEEIS varians. Baddi, Fil. Bras. p. 44. t. 64.
PTEEIS Mysurensis. Wall. Cat. n. 87/4.
PTEEIS polytoma. Kze. in Linncea, v. 23. p. 289 et 322.
LITOBEOCHIA pedata. Fr, Tent. Fterid. p. 149.
CASSEBEEEA pedata. J. Sm. Gen. of Ferns, p. 47.

Moore, Ind. Fil. v. 1. p. xliv.
J. Sm. Fn. Ferns in Hort. Kew. p. 14.

DOETOPTEEIS palmata. J. Sm. Fn. Ferns in Hort. Kew. p. 16 (according to the references to Eaddi).
DOETOPTEEIS pedata. J. Sm. Gat. Kew Ferns, p. 4 ; Gat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 35.

Fee, Gen. p. 133.

Hemionitis profunde laciniata ad oras pulverulenta. Flum. Am. p. 24. t. 3 4 ; Fil. p. 130. t. 152.
Hemionitis foliis atro-virentibus maxime dissectis s. filix geranii robertiani folio. Shane, Jam. v. 1. p. 73.
H A B . West Indies : Jamaica, Shane; Port Eoyal Mountains, Fur die. He de la Tortue and forest of St.
Domingo, Flumier. Cuba, Fceppig; Mountains of St. Jago, G. Wright, n. 867. Martinique, Sieber.
(Willdenow gives " Virginia," but probably on no good authority.) Brazil, apparently frequent,
especially about Bio, Baddi, Swainson, Sellow, (gigantic specimen, Bio, n. 37, Organ Mountains, n.
5930) Gardner, M' Gillivray, Milne, Burchell, etc. South Brazil, Eio Grande, Mr. Fox; Missiones,
Tweedie. Island of Trinidad, South Atlantic Ocean, J. L>. Hooker, n. 214. Peru, Chacapoyas, n.
3292, Mathews. Columbia, Hartweg, n. 1490. Punto de St. Elene, Seemann (veins partly free and
partly anastomosing on the same frond: an Fellcea geraniifolia ?). New Granada (Galipan), Moritz,
Holton, (Ocana, 4000 feet elev.) Schlim, F. Otto. Santa Martha, Purdie, large. Venezuela, Fendler,
n. 91. Galapagos, Cuming, n. 107, Captain Wood, B.N.
East Indies: Mountains of Dindighul (ex
Herb. Wight), included in Wall. Cat. under n. 87/4, and mixed with Pellaea geraniifolia) ; Mlgherries, Bev. F. Johnson. Tropical New Holland, Brown. Cultivated in Kew Gardens.

DESCR. The specific character above given is intended for the more usual form of this polymorphous plant. W e have defined the caudex to be s h o r t ; generally there is only a dense mass of fibrous

roots, but occasionally it becomes a very apparent rhizome, one or two inches long, the upper portion
bearing the crowded stipites. The fronds are of every intermediate grade, from cordate or ovato-cordate,
quite undivided, save with the two lobes at the base, to three-lobed, almost regularly five-lobed with the
lobes acute or acuminate and entire, or more or less deeply tripartite, having the two lateral divisions
bipartite (so as to form a pedate frond, and the terminal lobe three- or five-lobed), till at length we
come to the more compound state, such as we have represented in our Plate, and as is considered to
constitute the P . pedata of Linnaeus, while the less divided appears to be the P. palmata, Willdenow.
In the former state, the terminal primary lobe or division is usually narrowed and cuneate at its base.
When the base is broader and is more gradually decurrent with the lower lobes, having a broader
and more rounded sinus, it then becomes the P . varians of Raddi (Raddi, Fil. Brasil. t. 64), from
which the P . collina, Raddi (I.e. t. 65, f. 1), cannot be distinguished. The ultimate lobes or segments vary extremely in length and breadth, as the fronds themselves do in size. One of our specimens, from Rio (Gardner, n. 37), is fifteen inches in breadth and twelve in length, and the ultimate
lobes an inch and an inch a half in diameter ! In regard to texture, some fronds are almost membranaceous, so that when placed between the eye and the light, the reticulated venation is distinctly
discernible; in other instances they are quite thick, coriaceous, and opaque, so that not a trace of
venation can be perceived, and the costa is in such case very prominent beneath and ebeneous. The
sort are rather narrow for the size of the plant, and continuous almost to the very apices of the lobes.
The veins are rather closely reticulated, elongated, subhexagonal, in the sterile frond not extending
to the crenulated margin, but terminating in simple, free, clavate veinlets. Bright a green as the
plant is in its recent state, in drying it becomes pale brown, sometimes exhibiting a glaucous hue
beneath. The stipites are more or less slender, dark-ebeneous, hairy below.
Such numerous synonyms (and we have by no means exhausted them) which we have here
brought together, will indicate the difficulty which attends the denning the limits of this species, and
also the different views of authors respecting the proper genus of the plant. Scarcely was it transferred from Pteris to Litobrochia, than the genus Dory opt eris was provided for it. This, we believe,
was intended for a small group of species, we will not say how far really distinct from each other, of
which the present one may be considered the type, and this is certainly a natural group; yet so closely
allied is our present plant to a species of Pellcea (P. geraniifolia), that the two are continually confounded by authors and in herbaria; indeed Dr. Klotzsch has certainly only consulted nature in
having united them under one and the same genus (see Linnsea, vol. xx. pp. 342, 343). M. Fee, on
the other hand, as suggested by Mr. J. Smith, restricts the genus to species writh anastomosing
venation, and, in his Character Generis, to those having " pedate or sagittate fronds," yet we find
referred to it Pteris auriculata, Kaulf in Sieb. Syn. Fil. n. 77 (our Pteris, § Litobrochia, articulata,
Spec. Fil. v. 2. t. 126 a), which has bipinnate fronds and the habit of Pellcea hastata, and no natural
affinity whatever with the other species of this group.
The geographical distribution of this plant is extensive, though by no means so much so as that
of its prototype amongst Pellcea, P . geraniifolia. I am aware of only one certain locality for it in all
India, where the last-mentioned one is so frequent. Brackenridge gives the Sandwich Islands as a
locality for it, probably an error into which we have fallen ourselves; for we now consider our
P. pedata of those islands, in the c Botany of Beechey's Voyage/ p. 107, to be a distinct species,
P. (§ Litobrochia) Beecheyana, nobis; and Mr. Brown detected it in tropical New Holland.

Plant with sterile and fertile frond, nat. size (but more luxuriant than the indigenous specimens are in
general). Fig. 4. Portion of a sterile frond, to show the venation. 2. Portion of a fertile frond:—
magnified.

Rcu* XXIV.

PLATE

XXXV.

HEMIONITIS CORDIFOLIA, Roxb.
Heart-shaped Hemionitis.

cordifolia; caudice brevi subrepente copiose radicante, frondibus caespitosis coriaceis opacis
magis minusve villosis, sterilibus cordato-sagittatis brevi-stipitatis basi lobisque obtusis unicostatis,
fertilibus subcordato-vel triangulari-sagittatis apice lobisque acutis trieostatis, stipitibus costisque basi
subtus ebeneis nitidis fulvo-villosis, soris ubique valde elevatis reticulatis saepe setate confluentibus et
totam paginam inferiorem tegentibus.

HEMIONITIS

cordifolia. "Boxb. Mss. et Icon. 14. t. 103," fide Griff in Boxb. Crypt. PI. in Calc. Journ. of
Nat. Hist. v. 4. p. 500. Wall. Cat. n. 44.

HEMIONITIS

cordata. Boxb. fide Wall. Herb. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 64. Hook. Gen. Ml. t. 74 B. Fee,
Gen. Fil. p. 172. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 3 ; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 20.

HEMIONITIS

HEMIONITIS

sagittata. Fee, Gen. Fil.p. 172. t. 14D (much reduced).

HAB. East Indies: about Calcutta, in a rich wet soil, Dr. Boxburgh; Eangoon, Wallich; Madras, Dr.
Shuter, Wight; Neilgherries, Gideon Tliomson, Hohenacker, n. 1253. Cochin, Bev. F. Johnson.
Luzon, Thos. Lobb. Corregidor, Cuming, n. 285 (fide J. Smith). Ceylon, Gardner, n. 28 et n. 1309.
Eastern Asia, Hug el. Cultivated in Kew Gardens.

DESCU. Caudeoc scarcely any, save what is formed by the united bases of the tufted stipites, sending
down copious woolly radicles. Fronds of a hard, coriaceous texture, especially when dry, opaque,
more or less villous: sterile ones usually the smallest, and usually on the shortest stipites; varying in
length from two to four or five inches, cordato-sagittate, obtuse, costate, the two obtuse deep lobes
at the base pointing downwards, the margin entire, ciliated; the costa beneath, black and glossy at
the base : fertile fronds generally a little longer than the sterile ones, on stipites sometimes a foot
long, of a different shape from them, more hastate than sagittate, with acute lobes and apex; sometimes the form is almost exactly that of an equilateral triangle, the base forming a transverse line as
broad as the frond is long, tricostate, the base of the costa ebony-black. Stipites intensely black
and glossy, generally stout, clothed with spreading rufous hairs. Veins all reticulated, elongated,
hexagonal; the very prominent sori burst out from the entire venation, forming a network of fructification, of course taking the same form as the veins, but they often become confluent in age.
Some authors combine Hemionitis with Autrophyum, distinguishing the former, sectionally, by
the distinct terete elongated stipes; but the habit and texture of the fronds of the two genera are
quite distinct, and the sori sunk in the frond, or very much flattened or depressed, in Autrophyum.
Mettenius unites Hemionitis with Neurogramme, Link, not deeming the reticulated venation to be a
valid character as Linnaeus and Swartz had done. J. Smith restores to Hemionitis the Gymnogramme
pedata of Kaulfuss {Hemionitis pedata, Sw.), which Fee refers to Coniogramme, along with Gymnogramme tomentosa, figured by us at Plate XIII. of the present volume.
Fee confines the species of Hemionitis to the present one, and the South American H. pedata,
Sw.; for though he adds a third species, H sagittata. Fee, from " Eastern Asia, Baron Hiigel," it is
quite clear from his figure and description that it is not an uncommon form of H. cordifolia, as our

copious specimens and intermediate states sufficiently prove. M. Fee further remarks that Cuming's s
n. 285, " semble differer de la planche 64 des Icones Filicum, de MM. Hooker et Greville/' and that
a
l e nom A'H.intermedia lui serait convenablement applique;" an opinion in which we do not at all
concur.
The present is a very handsome species, and probably very rare yet in cultivation. Our plants
were raised from spores derived from native East Indian specimens.

Our principal figure represents the barren and sterile fronds, nat. size (our cultivated plants are usually
larger than our native ones in the herbarium). Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile frond. 2. Portion of a fertile
frond with sori, and with sori partially removed;—magnified.

Roto 2ZWT.

"wmiaaAMb.

"ViTicerit B r o o k s

PLATE XXXVI.

FADYENIA PROLIFERA, Hook.
Proliferous Fadyenia.
prolifera.
prolifera. Hook. Gen. Fil. t. 53 B.
of Cult. Ferns, p. 54.

FADYENIA

FADYEKIA*

Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 317. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 6; Cat.

ASPIDIUM

proliferum. Hook, et Gfrev. Ic. Fil. t. 53 B (not Br. Frodr).

ASPIDIUM

Fadyenii. Metten. Fil. Hort. Bot. Lips. p. 95. t. 23. f. 13, 14 (venation).

Phyllitis non sinuata minor apice folii radices agente. Shane, Jam. v. 1. p. 71. t. 26./. 1.
HAB. Jamaica (in a thick, very high and shady wood, at the bottom of Mount Diable, beyond the Magotty
Savanna), Shane, M'Fadyen, Dr. Alexander. Shady woods in Portland, and near Fox's G-ap, St.
George, Furdie. Mountains, east side of Cuba, ' Plantse Cubenses,' n. 844, Mr. Chas. Wright.
Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. Caudex short, declined, clothed with the bases of the petioles of fallen fronds, and throwing out several branched tomentose fibres. Fronds tufted, many from the crown of the caudex, of
two kinds. Outer fronds sterile (not bearing fructification) spreading in all directions, arcuato-deflexed, four to five inches long, scarcely an inch wide in the broadest part, glabrous, entire, carnosomembranaceous, lanceolate-costate, singularly elongated and acuminated at the apex, and there throwing out roots and new plants, thus multiplying themselves and soon covering a considerable surface of ground; the base is attenuated into a short, winged stipes. Veins everywhere anastomosing,
forming oblique oblong subhexangular areoles, but the venation suddenly terminates a little within
the margin, the largest areoles are nearest*the costa; they are inappendiculate (no free veinlets).
Fertile fronds central, erect, five to six inches long, linear-spathulate, more fleshy than the sterile
ones, obscurely ciliate, tapering below into a long winged stipes: veins united into a single series
(rarely more) of very large, oval, but angled areoles, occupying nearly the whole space between the
costa and margin: from the lowest angle of these areoles arises a veinlet, which is club-shaped, quite
free, reaching beyond the centre of the areole, and bearing the sorus. This sorus is so large as to occupy
the whole of the areole, so that the back of the frond is almost wholly covered by the double row of
sori. Involucres very large, membranaceous, subglandulose, slightly convex, between orbicular and
oval, attached by the centre (thus peltate, pointing upwards, or parallel with the costa), with a short
depressed line or umbilicus in the disc, and the base is always more or less emarginate and thus bilobed,
giving it very much the appearance of the involucre of a Nephrodium (Richard and Brown). Capsules
copious, but, except when the margins of the involucre are reflexed in age, quite covered with the
ample involucres.
#

" So named in compliment to Dr. "William M'Fadyen, F.L.S., of Kingston, Jamaica, author of a Flora
of Jamaica, to whom I am indebted for a very extensive collection of Jamaica plants, including many Ferns
(this one among them) ; and to whom I owe far greater obligations for his unremitting attentions to a beloved son, who fell a sacrifice to yellow fever, while under his hospitable roof." Hook. Gen. Fil. I. c.—Dr.
M'Fadyen himself has fallen a sacrifice to cholera, in the discharge of his arduous duties, during one of the
awful visitations of that disease in the island.

M. Pee observes (Gen. ML p. 317) of Fadyenia, " C e genre monotype est le seul du groupe
(Aspidiese) qui ait des frondes diplotaxiques." It is the striking difference between the sterile and
fertile fronds, arising too from the same root-stock, which in conjunction with the general habit of
the plant, and the very large involucres, occupying nearly the entire areoles within which they are situated, that induce me to retain the genus; but which Mettenius restores to Aspidium. This involucre
is, in the living specimens now before us, neither so orbicular as is represented in Hooker and Greville, Ic. FiL, 1. c , nor so reniform, and attached at the sinus, as shown in our Gen. Pilicum. It is
indeed peltate, fixed by a point at or near the middle, but the base is more or less two-lobed, and in
the inferior involucres, especially, these lobes are often very unequal in size.
Sloane's figure of our plant, published one hundred and fifty years ago, is very characteristic of
a small specimen of our plant, and his description no less so: " The leaves are many, rising from the
same root, of a different magnitude, having no foot-stalks, the largest being two inches and a half
long, and about half an inch broad near the middle, where broadest, increasing from the root thither,
and thence decreasing, growing very narrow, and ending in a point. This point bows down itself to
the ground, strikes fibres, takes root, and sends out rounder leaves, in time growing longer, and with
their ends taking root and so propagating itself. The seed lies in round spots on the back of the
leaf of each side the middle rib."
Fadyenia prolifera appears to be local, and, as far as we have yet ascertained, quite confined to the
islands of Jamaica and Cuba. It would seem to have been unknown to writers on Perns, between
the time of Sloane's discovery of it, and the figure and description given in the f Icones Pilicum/

Plant, nat. size, with sterile (proliferous) and fertile fronds. Pig. 1. Portion of a sterile frond, showing
its venation. 2. Portion of fertile ditto, with sori:—magnified.

Plate mm.

W. Ht£h.

il

Vincent B r o c k s

Tnru.

PLATE

XXXVII.

DAVALLIA PENTAPHYLLA, Bl.
Five-leaved Davallia.
(§ Eudavallia) pentaphylla; caudice elongato repente valido paleaceo-squarroso hispido, frondibus sparsis coriaceis subquinato-pinnatis, pinnis suboppositis lanceolatis acuminatis serratis basi oblique cuneatis subsessilibus, fertilibus angustioribus elongatis tenui-acuminatis, venis simplicibus furcatisque, involucris approximatis sed distinctis copiosis oblongo-urceolatis, stipite frondem sequante
rachique stramineis glabris.

DAVALLIA

pentaphylla. Bl. Enum. Fil. Jav. p. 232. Hook. Sp. Ml. v. l.p. 163 (not Davallia pentaphylla,
J. Sm. En. Fil. Fhilipp. in Hook. Journ. of Bot. v. 4. p. 416, nor of Brackenr. Ml. Un. St. Exp.
Voy.p. 241). J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 7, and Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 65 (Judging from the plant
in the garden; but excluding Davallia triphylla, HooTc. Sp. Fil. v.l.t. 46-4). Kze. in Schkuhr, Fil.
Suppl. v. 2. p. 19. t. 108.

DAYALLIA

SCYPHULAEIA pentaphylla. Fee, Gen. Fil. t. 108.

HAB. Java, Blume, Zollinger, Junghuhn, Thos. Loll, n. 255. Cultivated in Kew Gardens.

DESCR. Caudex creeping to a great length, sometimes as thick as the little finger, simple or
branched, flexuous, here and there rooting below, hispid or squarrose from being clothed with numerous scales, which from a broad close-pressed base becomes suddenly narrow and setaceous, resembling
long bristles of a dark brown colour, standing out from the caudex. Fronds sparse, distant, stipitate, often a span long, coriaceous, glabrous, somewhat glossy, ternate or pinnated with five to seven
pinnae, lateral ones nearly opposite; all lanceolate, acuminate, dentato-serrulate, costate, the base
obliquely cuneate, nearly sessile; the fertile pinnae narrower, more elongated and more finely acuminated, terminal on a rather long petiole. Veins simple or forked, or twice or thrice dichotomous,
close-placed in the sterile pinnae, more apart in the fertile ones. Sori forming a continuous series
at the margin. Involucres terminating almost every veinlet, oblong or suburceolate, truncate, approximate, but not confluent or touching each other. Mass of capsules a little exserted beyond the
mouth of the involucre, their long pedicels being inserted at the base of the involucre.
One of the most beautiful of a very extensive and beautiful genus, and this wholly, we believe, confined to Java. The Singapore Davallia of Mr. Cuming (n. 366), which is D. pentaphylla of Mr. J.
Smith, is certainly not the true pentaphylla of Blume, but the D. triphylla of our ' Species Filicum/
p. 162. t. 46. We have there pointed out the differences in the specific characters of the two, and
need not repeat them. Brackenridge's D. pentaphylla, 1. c , from the Feejee Islands, is neither Blume\s
plant nor our triphylla, but a new species, and I fear the same is described and figured by that author
on the same plate, his D. pycnocarpa (p. 342. t. 35 A), of which we have excellent specimens from
the same group of islands, gathered by M'Gillivray and Milne, in Captain Denham's surveying
voyage. The lowest pair of pinnae are there bipartite or sometimes pinnate, and even partially bipinnate, and sometimes the pinnae are deeply lobed all along the margin, the lobes emarginate, each
bearing one or two sori.

Plant with sterile and fertile frond, not. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile pinna, showing its venation.
2. Portion of a fertile ditto, with sori. 3. Sorus laid open, showing the long-pedicelled capsules:—magnified.

puteumn.

watch. Ad. dciith.

Afrncerit liroaks

Imp

PLATE XXXVIII.

BRAINEA INSIGNIS, Hook.
Arborescent Brainea.

BRAINEA

insignis.

BRAINEA insignis. Hook. MSS. et Kew Card. Misc. v. 9. p. 354. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 5; Cat. of Cult.
Ferns, p. 41, and in Seemann, JBot. of the Herald, p. 427. Moore, Ind. Fil. p. xlvi.
BOWRINGIA insignis. Hook. Kew Gard. Misc. v. 5. p. 237. t. 2.
HAB. Hongkong, whence living plants have been sent to us by Sir John Bowring and C J. Braine, Esq., and
dried ones by the late Col. Champion, J. C. Bowring, Fsq., and Dr. Harland. Khasya, Eastern
Bengal, elev. 4000 feet, Hooker fil. and Thomson. Cultivated at Kew.

This remarkable Fern forms an erect, but often crooked, trunk, three to four feet high,
and as thick as a man's arm, almost shaggy with dark-brown scales; these scales are long and linearsubulate, rather rigid, dense, longer and narrower, of a softer texture and brighter colour at the summit,
where they form a dense mass at the base of the stipites. Fronds, including the rather short stipes,
two to three and more feet long, erecto-patent, forming a handsome crown of bright-green; they are
oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, between membranous and coriaceous in texture, rather closely pinnated
with sessile, patent, or somewhat falcately decurved, linear-lanceolate, acuminated, dentato-serrulated
pinna; their base is subcordate, and the broadest portion half an inch or a little more broad; length,
four to six inches, gradually shorter upwards, but the terminal one is elongated, its base confluent
with one or two or more of the pairs immediately below it. In some rare instances, a few of the
lower pinna are at their base irregularly but rather deeply pinnatifid, or even again pinnate, with ovate
pinnules. The venation forms a series of arcs next the costa, which are more or less angular, and from
which diverge, almost at right angles, simple or forked veins (apparently all simple in the fertile pinnae),
and these extend to the margin, there terminating at the sinuses of the teeth. Sori sometimes (probably according to the vigour of the plant) found on the lower pinnae only or chiefly, sometimes
occupying all the pinnae, again sometimes arising from the arched veins next the midrib, or partially
extending upwards on the simple free veins, and thus forming two broad lines of fructification
between the costa and the margin; at other times, as in many of our mature native specimens, arising
from the whole of the venation, becoming confluent and covering the back of the pinnae so entirely
that the Pern might easily be mistaken for an Acrostichum: these sori are quite naked, there being no
trace of an involucre. Stipes rather stout, four to five inches to a foot long, pale brown, semiterete,
with a furrow on the upper side, the base clothed with long, subulate, soft, bright ferruginous scales,
the rest and the rachis free from scales and quite glabrous, as is every part of the plant.
We have here a very remarkable and, if I may so say, a new form among the Filices. In its
arborescent caudex it reminds one of some of the Cyatheaceous group of Tree-Ferns, though not of
one of the loftiest character; in its foliage it resembles several species of Lomaria, in its venation a
Woodwardia, and in the more fully developed fructification an Acrostichum. Unless the nature of
the fructification is to be wholly discarded in the classification of Ferns, it must rank among the
DESCR.

u

Nudisori," or those genera destitute of involucre; hence we cannot but think that its place among
" Pteridece," section " Blechne<&" where Mr. J. Smith has placed it, is not the proper one. Mr.
Moore, by a more frequent subdivision of the section, constitutes a little group of " Menisciece," to
which he refers it, and so far correctly, as characterized by " sori not indusiate." It should surely
hold the same rank among the Grammitacea, section Hemionitidea, of Presl, which Woodwardia and
Doodia do among Blechnacece of the same author.
In our anxiety to dedicate this genus to our excellent friend Sir John Bowring (to whom Kew
and its Museum owe many obligations), we entirely overlooked the fact of a Bowringia of Bentham
and Champion, already existing among the Leguminosa. In the introduction of this plant to our
gardens we are equally indebted to C. J. Braine, Esq., who is evidently deserving of the little
compliment of its bearing his name.
We may observe that the first plants we received were not sent for the sake of the Fern, so
much as of the epiphytes (Orchidacea) growing upon the trunks. The crown or summit having been
injured, a new frondal tuft sprouted from one side of the caudex, and is now very vigorous and
frequently soriferous.

Fig. 1. Apex of a caudex. 2. Fertile frond:—nat. size. 3. Portion of a sterile pinna, showing the
venation. 4. Portion of a fertile pinna, with sori (on one side the costa the sori are partially removed) :—magnified.

Rate IXXU.

iUcli d&l tf. lith.

"Vincent ^Brooks limp

PLATE

XXXIX.

PTERIS SAGITTIFOLIA, Eaddi.
Arrow-head Pteris.

PTEBIS (§ Litobrochia) sagittifolia; caudice perbrevi crasso ca^spitoso-fibroso, frondibus subfasciculatis
longe stipitatis firnris coriaceis subspithamseis sagittatis hastatisve, lobis deflexis vel patentibus
acuminatis simplicibus vel insequaliter bifidis, venis ubique reticularis, soris angustis continuis,
stipitibus teretibus costaque subtus aterrimis ebeneis.
a. sagittata;

lobis deflexis simplicibus. (TAB. NOSTR. X X X I X . )

PTERIS sagittifolia. Baddi, Sgn. Fil. Brasil. n. 106; Ml. JBrasil. p. 43. t. 6 3 . / ! 1.
LITOBROCHIA sagittifolia. Fr. Tent. Pterid. p. 148.
DORTOPTERIS sagittifolia. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 4 ; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 35.

Fee, Gen. Fil.p.

133.

/3. hastata; lobis patentibus simplicibus vel insequaliter bifidis.
PTERIS hastata. Baddi, Fil. Brasil. p. 43. t. 6 3 . / ! 2.
LITOBROCHIA hastata. Fr. Tent. Fterid. p. 148.
H A B . Brazil: woods in the Mandiocca Mountains (both varieties), Baddi; about Rio, Burchell (n. 2051),
Gardner, n. 36.—VAR. 0. Rocks in shady woods in the Organ Mountains, Gardner, n. 150 and
151. Var. a. Cult, in Kew Gardens.

DESCR. The caudex, if such it may be called, is very short and thick, a mere knob, sending down
copious woolly fibres. Fronds subfasciculate or tufted, stipitate, from three or four inches to a span
or almost a foot long, firm coriaceous, glabrous, broad lanceolate, acuminate, deeply two-lobed below;
the lobes large, acuminate, sometimes pointing downwards so as to be nearly parallel with the stipes,
hence sagittate or arrow-headed, or more or less patent, when the form becomes hastate, and these
lobes are either entire, or they bear a little sharply pointed auricle at the base in the sinus, pointing
downwards; or, as in Mr. Gardner's n. 150, the lobes are very large, 7 - 8 inches long (almost equal in
size to the main portion of the frond), having a falcate upward curvature, and these divide or send down
from their base large lobes or auricles, four inches long, which are close to and parallel with the stipes;
thus becoming pedately trilobate, having in reality five lobes, and giving a form which is so common
in the group of Pteris called Doryopteris by M r . J. Smith and others. Sorus narrow, continuous;
involucre formed of the dilated, changed and membranaceous margin, closely reflexed upon the line of
capsules.
Venation copiously reticulated with oblong, subhexagonal areoles: there is a central stout
cost a, quite black and ebeneous on the under side, and a more obsolete one to each of the lobes.
Stipes as long as or longer than the frond, terete, intensely black, ebeneous, destitute of scales.
This fine Fern is, like our Pteris pedata figured in the present number (Plate X X X I V . ) , one of
the Dory opteris-growp of the genus, which have reticulated venation (Litobrochia, P r . ) ; and, like t h a t
species, it is very variable. W h a t we have considered two varieties or forms, the excellent Raddi
described as two species, whereas we possess them both from one and the same r o o t ; and we find a
gradual passage from the simple sagittate to a deeply pedately five-lobed form, which, it is possible, I
would hardly say probable, may, when we shall have fuller series of specimens, be seen to pass into
Pteris pedata.
A portion of our last-mentioned variety, for such it assuredly is, of our var. /3 hastata,
is figured at our tab. lxxv. b. of the ' Genera P i l i c u m / as an example of a Litobrochia.
The state we have here represented is perhaps the most common, but Raddi found them both
growing in woods on the same mountain. I t was raised from spores taken from Brazilian specimens
by Mr. J. Smith.
Plants, nat. size.
venation:—magnified.

Fig. 1. Portion of a fertile frond, showing the sorus and receptacle and reticulated

Plate, XL.

\
\

•

*v._&ttQCi aea..ebjixh..

&

.

virvcenx. .brooks .Trap.

PLATE

XL.

GLEICHENIA DICARPA, Br.
Twin-fruited Gleichenia.

(§ Eugleichenia) dicarpa; fronde dichotome divisa bipinnata, pinnis oblongo-obovatis, pinnulis
linearibus profunde fere ad rachin pinnatifi dis, lobis orbiculari-quadrangulis concavis fornicatis marginibus insigniter reflexis, stipite elongato rachibusque glabris vel (in var. (3) magis minusve ferrugineo-squamosis tomentosisve, soris e capsulis 2 vel 3 in cavitatem loborum.

GLEICHENIA

GLEICHENIA dicarpa. Brown, Prodr. Nov. Holl.p. 261. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. l.p. 3. t. 1 C. Kunze, in Schkuhr,
Fil. Suppl.p. 164. t. 70. / . 2. Hook. fit. Ml. N. Zeal. v. 2. p. 5. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 8; Cat.
Cult. Ferns, p. 74.
GLEICHENIA microphylla. Sieber, Fl. Mioct. n. 230 {not Br.).
/3. alpina; minor, stipite rachique ferrugineo-squamosis tomentosisque. Hook.fit. Fl. N. Zeal. I.e.
GLEICHENIA alpina. Brown, Prodr. JSFov. Holl.p. 161. Hook, et Grev. Ic, Fil. t. 58 ; >S^. Fil.t. 58.
CALTMELLA

alpina. Presl, Tent. Pterid.p. 49.

vulcanica. Blume, Fn. Fil. Jav. p. 251. Hook. Sp. Fil. p. 4. Brackenr. in Fil. of TI. St. Fxpl.
Fxped. p. 291.

GLEICHENIA

HAB. Tasmania, Brown, Sieber (n. 230), B. Gunn, (open heathy plains; Huon Eiver, Cataracts of the
DerwH3nt, J. T>. Hooker. Bass's Straits, Bynoe. Buffalo Banges, Victoria, Br. Mueller. Isle of
Pines,MlGillivray and Milne, Captain Denham's Voyage).—VAR. £. Tasmania: abundant on Mount
Wellington and on the western mountains, Brown, B. Gunn, Fraser, J. D. Hooker. J Tw Zealand:
Ne
Taupo Lake, Bev. W. Colenso, (n. 1002) ; and at Poveaux (larger but equally shaggy), Br. Lyall,
B.N., of H. M. surveying ship Acheron. Lofty burning mountains in Java and Celebes, Blume.
Mount Ophir, Malacca, Brackenridge. Var. a cultivated in Kew Gardens.

DESCR. Caudew long, creeping underground to a great length, almost woody, glabrous, polished,
here and there rooting. Fronds distant upon the caudex, long-stipitate, varying extremely in
length, six inches, in some alpine varieties, to two or three feet, several times dichotomously divided,
with a bud in the axil of the fork, which often developes itself, and then there are opposite branches;
bipinnated; pinnae or primary divisions broad, ovate in circumscription, drooping or curved downwards : pinnules generally glabrous, linear, rich green, paler beneath, deeply divided into nearly orbicular, or between orbicular and quadrangular lobes or segments, which are convex above, beneath
singularly concave, with the margin so incurved, especially at the apex, that the form a good deal
resembles the lip of some Calceolaria, or Slipper-wort; most fornicate or slipper-shaped in the fertile
lobes, where the opening is much contracted: and lodged in this cavity is the sorus, consisting of three,
but more usually of two capsules, which are beautiful objects, of a pale yellow-brown colour, subglobose, formed of a delicately reticulated membrane, attached obliquely by its attenuated base, and
having a very broad, entire, oblique annulus: it opens with a fissure on one side through the ring.
The stipes, three to four inches to a foot high, as well as the rachises, are rather slender, wiry,
glabrous, chaffy, or free from scales or wool except in the very young state: but in our var. /3, appa-

rently quite an alpine or subantarctic form, the stipes is clothed with rather large ferruginous scales,
which are often fringed or broken into threads or narrow lacinise on the rachises, and there they have
the appearance of close ferruginous wool, with which the undeveloped portions are copiously covered.
There is not perhaps among the whole range of the Ferns, one which, as grown in the Royal
Gardens of Kew, with its tender feathery drooping branchlets, is more admired for its graceful form,
than the present. It is too, we believe, exceedingly rare in collections. We are indebted for our
living plants, as well as for numerous dried specimens, to Ronald Gunn, Esq., and Mr. Hill. Its first
introduction was from Tasmania in 1845. I t is a species however by no means confined to that
island, but is met with in Victoria, on the " Buffalo Ranges," retaining its ordinary form, and in the
Isle of Pines; while the var. /3 alpina (G. alpina, Br.), which Dr. Hooker has, we think, judiciously
united with the present, is found in New Zealand as well as in Tasmania; and, now that we possess
authentic specimens of G. vulcanica from Dr. Blume and Dr. De Vriese, we have no hesitation in
saying that it also is the alpine state of G. dicarpa. This is in itself a considerable reduction in a
very natural group or sub-genus, that contained only ten species; and it remains a question whether,
of the remaining seven, viz. G. Speluncce, Br., G. rupestris, Br., G. microphylla, Br., G. semivestita,
Labill., and G. hecistophylla, A. Cunn., (the three latter have already been described as one by Dr.
Hooker in Fl. N. Zeal.,) and possibly G. longissima, Bl., may not be considered varieties of one and
the same species. G. polypodioides, Sw., of South Africa, is well distinguished by its immersed sori.
A new Gleichenia (§ Eugleichenia) indeed has lately been added by Kunze, from Bourbon (the most
northern locality of any of the genus), viz. G. Boryi of Kze., and I am indebted recently to the Jardin
des Plantes of Paris for specimens gathered by Bory.

Portion of a plant; stipes, caudex, and upper portion of a frond:—nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a
fertile pinna seen from beneath, with sori, magnified.

PLATE

XLI.

ASPLENIUM BELANGERI, Bory.
Belangers Spleenwort.
(§ Darea) Belangeri; caudice nullo, radicibus fibrosis compactis subcaudiciformibus, frondibus
dense fasciculatis erecto-patentibus subbipedalibus stipitatis lineari-oblongis aeumiriatis pinnatis parce
squamulosis hie illic proliferis, pinnis insigniter uniformibus eequilongis horizontaliter patentibus obtusiusculis sessilibus profunde pinnatifidis, laciniis lineari-clavatis curvulis simplicibus integerrimis
monosoris infima superiore bifida vel segmentis 3-4 pinnatifida, soris elongatis singulo totam fere
longitudinem pinnularum occupante, rachibus omnibus compressis subalato-marginatis.
ASPLENIUM Belangeri. Kze. Bot. Zeit. v. 6. p. 176, and in Linncea, v. 23. p. 232. Metten. Ml. Hort. Lips,
p. 71. J. Sm. Gat. Kew Ferns, p. 5; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 45.

ASPLENIUM

ASPLENIUM

Thunbergii, (3. Belangeri. Kze.

DAREA Belangeri. Bory, in Belang. Voy. Bot. p. 51.
ASPLENIUM

furcatum. Bl. Fn. Fit. Jav.p. 186 (not of Thunb.).

HAB. Java: about Buitenzorg, etc., and on the lofty mountains, Blume, Belanger, Thos. Lobb.

DESCR. Caudeoc, or rhizome, perhaps none strictly so called, but the compact bases of former
years* stipites, united with the bases of the numerous descending roots, almost form a short
trunk. Fronds very numerous and very crowded, erecto-patent (in conjunction with the stipes), one
to two feet long, of a somewhat coriaceous texture, opaque, in circumscription linear-oblong, for the
greater part of the length forming a parallelogram; the apex only gradually tapering, here and there
squamose, with small brown fimbriated scales, pinnate. Pinna numerous, two to three inches long,
horizontally patent, straight or slightly falcate, with an upward curvature, sessile; lower ones generally opposite, many of them proliferous, in form linear-oblong, slightly diminishing in breadth
towards the apex, deeply pinnatifid, almost pectinated; segments numerous, horizontally patent, linearclavate, rather obtuse, slightly curved, monosorous, the lowest or basal superior one generally a little
longer than the rest and bifid, or more rarely pinnatifid, with three to five linear segments. A single
vein passes through the centre of each segment, and is clubbed at the apex, which terminates below
the point. Sort linear-elongated, each one occupying nearly the whole length of the upper half of the
pinnules. Involucres of the same shape, white, membranaceous, dehiscent at the very margin of the
segment. Stipes of the same colour as the frond, darker and almost black at the base, five to eight
inches long, semiterete, the anterior side flattened, but furrowed, and with an elevated, short, wing-like
margin. The rachises are all compressed, pale-green, with a narrow but slightly thickened margin.
I must confess that when I first began to study this species, I was disposed to think with Blume,
that, though a form exclusively confined to Java, it might be with propriety referred to the Cape
Asplenium (Darea) furcatum, and that a Bourbon and Mauritian Asplenium (Darea), also referred to
furcatum (D. stans of Bory), might be considered an intermediate passage. My several specimens
of our plants, from three separate collections in Java, exhibit however so great a uniformity of character, that I am inclined to retain it as a distinct species, of which the chief marks are well described

by the author of the name we adopt, M. Bory de St. Vincent, in the work above quoted, where he
says: " Cette espece aun port moins debile que les autres Darees. Ses frondes, longues d'un a 2 pieds,
ont une circonscription generale toute lineaire; les pinnules, a peu d'egale longueur, n'y diminuant
•que vers rextremite du rachis, qui est (souvent) radicant et prolifere. Ces pinnules, qui commencent a 3 ou 5 pouces des racines, sont opposees sur la plupart des individus, longues d'un pouce a 18
lignes, larges de 6 a 7, un peu courbees en dehors, de forme generale lineaire, obtuses, profondement
pinnatifides, a divisions tres-entieres, arrondies et simples a leur extremite, la premiere en dehors est
contigue au rachis, etant seule ordinairement bifide ou divisee, mais n'etant pas plus longue que les
autres, ni de forme tres-sensiblement distincte." There are several Dareoid forms of Asplenium allied
to this, which require to be carefully studied.
I have endeavoured, but in vain, to separate in my herbarium the genus Barea from Asplenium >
but I find such a gradual passage from the one to the other, that I can only come to the same conclusion with Mr. Brown:—" Ccenopteris, Berg., quae Barea, Juss. et Smith, ab Asplenio tantummodo
pinnulis profunde incisis, lobis unifloris angustis, involucris inde marginem attingentibus et extus
respectu lobi, intus vero quoad costam e qua vena fructifera ortum ducit liberis: species quoque
dantur frondibus partim Asplenio partim Ccenopteridi respondentibus et etiam in eodemque individuo
characterem utriusque generis exhibentibus." M. Fee seems to have felt the difficulty of keeping the
two genera separate; he even places them far asunder in different groups,—the Barea in Bavalliece,
and doubtful ones he refers to his section of Asplenium, which he calls " Bareastrum," including
however some species which others consider legitimate Barece.

Our Plate represents Asplenium Belangeri, nat. size.
pinna:—magnified.

Fig. 1, 2. Sterile and fertile segments of a

Plato ILIL

"WHtsh cLeLctifli
"Vincent. Snooks I m p .

PLATE

XLII.

ACROSTICHUM LATIFOLIUM, Sw
Broad-leaved Acrostichum.

ACEOSTICHUM (§ Euacrostichum) latifolium; caudice crasso repente apicem versus prsecipue squamis suberispatis tenui membranaceis ferrugineis densissime vestito, frondibus versus apieem caudieis aggregatis cum stipite uni-bipedalibus lato-lanceolatis brevi-obtusiuscule acuminatis subcoriaceis insigniter
opacis vix acuminatis basi in stipitem 4-5 uncias longum attenuatis nitidis subtus pallidioribus,
venis apice intra marginem dilatatis nunc bifidis venulis divaricatis liberis vel rarissime et obscure
junctis et venam submarginalem hie illic continuam formantibus, soris universalibus (costa excepta)
dorsum totum tegentibus, stipitibus brevibus huic sulcatis prope basin articulatis.
latifolium. Sw. Prodr. p. 128; Fl. Ind. Occ. p. 1589 (not Sw. in Schrad. Jowrn. 1801, which
is A. conforme,//*0W St. Selena and the Cape). Grisebach, Planted Caribece,p. 133.

AO&OSTICHUM

latifolium and longifolium ? (excl. Plum. syn. given here). J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 3 ;
Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 25.

ELAPHOOLOSSUM

Lingua? Baddi, Fil. Bras. p. 5. t. 15. f. 4 (at least the Mexican Acrostichum, so called by
Fee, of Galeotti, n. 6342).

AC&OSTICHTTM

ACEOSTICHUM Sartorii. Liebm. Fil. Mex. p. 14.
HAB. Martinique, Plumier. Jamaica, Swartz, M'Fadyen, Wilson, Purdie. St. Vincent, L. Guilding. Dominica, Dr. Imray. G-uadaloupe, EHerminier, n. 10, Duchassaing (Grisebach). Cuba, n. 790 and
791, C. Wright. Venezuela, Fendler, n. 285, 287, 293, 292 (frond elongated), 296, 290 (small, and
frond much acuminated), n. 294. Moist woods, St. Martha (the barren frond 2|- feet long, and 4£
broad), Purdie. Ocana, New Granada, Schlim, n. 622 and 832. Brazil, Baddi, Gardner, n. 96, 97,
5926. Mexico: Mirador, Liebmann; Oaxaca, Galeotti, n. 6342, Carapi, Peru, M'Lean, n. 388
(frond 2 feet long). Ecuador, Jameson (Small).

DESCR. In what follows we confine ourselves to the living plant from which our description,
derived from the Birmingham Botanic Garden, when Mr. Cameron, then among the best Fern cultivators in British Gardens, had charge of that establishment. Comdex long, creeping, as thick as
the human finger,, remarkable for the dense covering of ferruginous, imbricated and generally crisped
scales, most apparent and most perfect at the extremities of the branches, where the new fronds have
their origin, and where they rise in an irregular but somewhat fasciculated manner. Taken in conjunction with the stipes, in our specimens short, from four to five inches long, much longer in other
specimens, these fronds are from a foot to a foot and a half or two feet long, broad lanceolate,
coriaceous, very opaque, somewhat undulated, tapering moderately into an obtuse acumen, and below
gradually decurrent into the stipes, dark green and somewhat glossy above, paler and of duller hue
beneath. The venation is not visible (though faint strise are sometimes apparent) to the naked eye,
and even with a lens, only when placed between the eye and a very strong light. It is then observed
to consist of veins horizontally oblique, simple or generally once or twice forked, extending from the
stout costa, and terminating in a dilated pellucid apex a little within the margin, which margin itself
has a pellucid cartilaginous pale-brown edge, varying somewhat in breadth and thickness in different

specimens. These venal apices, however, though faithfully represented in their normal or general
form by our artist, do sometimes become forked, the veinlets or branches short and divaricating and
free, or they extend horizontally and meet the forking of the adjacent vein, so that thus, at distant
and very uncertain intervals, a transverse venal line is formed parallel with the margin, but in no one
of our living or dried samples (which we consider as belonging to this species) is this transverse
junction universal (as in the Asplenium (§ Neottopteris) Nidus, L., and in Aconiopteris longifolia,
Fee). The fertile fronds are always the smaller of the two, scarcely different in shape from the
sterile ones; the stipes is, however, generally longer in proportion. The sori are universal, that is,
covering the whole back of the fertile frond, the thick costa alone excepted. Stipes, as already
observed, short and thick, the lower portion, when perfect, clothed with subulate rusty-coloured
scales, furrowed in front, obscurely jointed near the base, and dark-coloured below the joint.
. We have in one sense adopted the views of M. Fee, in considering that group of Acrostichum of
the older authors as deserving to retain the name, which is the most abundant in species, or, as we
term it, the section Eupteris, characterized by the simple fronds and free venation. Others say, I know
not on what authority, 'that the old Acrostichum (Chrysodium) aureum should be Acrostichum par
excellence, and so it is that the very name Acrostichum stands a chance of being abolished altogether.
Be that as it may, our present species appear to us to be instructive in another point of view, viz. as
testing the importance of venation (when unaccompanied by any other characters) for distinguishing
the genera of Ferns. Though unfortunately not represented by our artist in our Plate, this Fern has,
besides the free venation of a true Acrostichum, not unfrequently, though not easily discerned, the
union of the apices of the veins, which M. Fee attributes to Aconiopteris* as above described.
As a species our plant has been greatly misunderstood. I t appears to be exclusively an inhabitant of the tropics of the New World. Plumier's " Lingua cervina rigida et glabra," 1. c , is a very
accurate representation of our plant; the cartilaginous margin is figured, and described. The fronds
and relative length of stipes are the same as in our plant, and the fronds are said to be rigid, and
the caudex is equally faithfully figured and described. The fertile frond indeed, with its circinate apex,
is generally allowed to be an abnormal state, or, as I suspect, a young unexpanded one. Jacquin
refers to this figure for his Acrostichum longifolium, and it has had the misfortune to be quoted by
the excellent Swartz under two species. In his Fl. Ind. Occ. it is the authority for A. latifolium,
Sw., while in his ' Synopsis Filicum y it stands under Jacquin's A, longifolium, probably out of deference to Jacquin, who had so done. This circumstance, combined with very brief and imperfect characters of the latter author, have led to much confusion in the Gardens and in Herbaria. WiUdenow
throws no new light on them. Sieber published specimens of a Mauritian Acrostichum as A, latifo#

The genus Aconiopteris was established by Presl upon a remarkable Acrostichoid plant from St.
Etelena and Madras, published by Dr. Grreville and me in the ' Icones Filicum/ under the name of Acrostichum subdiaphanum, of which M. Fee says, "L'epithete de subdiaphanum n'est pas fort juste, et beaucoup
& Acrostichum la meritent mieux qu'elle." This is a mere difference of opinion on the application of the term.
But there seems reason to suppose that though M. Fee has evidently seen the plant, he has not had perfect
specimens at his command, or he would hardly give the dimensions of the species " sur la figure donnee par
Hooker." Speaking of the nervilles, he says: " Ce sont des courbes qu'elles decrivent et non des angles
qu'elles forment, ce qui les fait differer des details 1 et 2 de la planche 205 de MM. Hooker et Grreville.
Nous ne voyons pas non plus les prolongements figures au-dessus du point de jonction des deux nervilles
conniventes." I am happy to be able to verify, to the fullest extent, the accuracy of Dr. Greville's figures in
our ' Icones Filicum,' and also the venation in Presl's figure, though it is executed in a less artistic manner.
I can assure M. Fee that when the veins unite they do form an angle, and sometimes a much more acute
one even than our figure represents ; there is also a very decided prolongation of the nerve from the angle,
longer in proportion to the distance from the margin. There are other peculiarities in this plant which are
worthy of notice ; I allude especially to the very strong venation, very prominent on the under side, sunk in
an evident channel or furrow on the upper. The entire and very obtuse scales it has in common with our
Acrostichum dimorphum from the same countries.

Hum [A. Sieberi, Hook, and Grev.). Presl has neither A. latifolium nor longifolium in his 'Tentamen
Pteridographise/ Fee unites the two species, but does so doubtfully, under Aconiopteris longifolia.
In such a union I should have been disposed to agree, judging from descriptions only, had not that
author ascertained from the best sources, and figured and described fully, the A. longifolium, Jacq.,
and clearly shown its characteristics. Mr. J. Smith, in his several Catalogues, has both an A.
latifolium and longifolium, but not of the original authors, and I fear both are referable to A. latifolium. Kunze, in his Index Fil. Hort. Eur., has only longifolium, Jacq., and he gives as synonyms,
Aconiopteris longifolia, Fee, and Elaphoglossum longifolium of J. Sm. Cat., whereas Fee's plant has
never been in our British gardens. Mettenius does not include either in his Fil. Hort. Bot. Lips.
Grisebach, in his c Plantse Caribese/ adopts our views of A. latifolium given under A. Sieberi (Hook,
et Grev. Ic. Fil., A. Sieberi, t. 237), and lastly, Mr. T. Moore ('Index Filicum/ p. 11) refers both
latifolium, Sw., and longifolium, Jacq., to the genus Olfersia as distinct species.
We hope to have rendered some service by figuring what may be considered the normal form of
this handsome species; but described and undescribed Acrosticha of India require to be compared
with it; and even some supposed species of South America, particularly A, Schomburgkii, Fee, and
A. scalpellum, Fee.

Our Plate represents an ordinary form of A. latifolitm, sterile and fertile frond, nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile frond, with the usual free veins. 2. Ditto of fertile frond:—magnified.

PLATE

XLIII.

OLFERSIA CERVINA, Kze.
Deers-tongue Olfersia.
OLEEESIA cervina.

a. frondibus fertilibus tripinnatis, pinnulis soriferis approxiinatis brevibus cylindraceis.
OLEEESIA cervina. Kunze,Bot. Zeit. 1842. v. l.p. 312. Presl, Beliq. Hcenk.p. 14. Hook, and Grev. t. 81.
J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 3 ; Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 24.
POLTBOTEYA cervina. Kaulf. Fnum. Fil. p. 55.
ACEOSTICHUM cervinum. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 14 et 200.

Will. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 120.

DOECAPTEEIS cervina. Presl, Fpimel. Pot. p. 167.
OSMTJNDA cervina. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1521.
Osmunda linguae cervinse foliis. Plum. Fil. t. 154.
/?. frondibus fertilibus bipinnatis, pinulis soriferis elongatis 3-4-uncialibus linearibus planis integerrimis
pinnatifidisque.
y. frondibus fertilibus pinnatis, pinnis tribus profunde pectinatis pinnatifidis planis, laciniis soriferis.
8. frondibus fertilibus pinnatis, pinnis elongatis 4-5-uncialibus linearibus planis utrinque soriferis.
OLEEESIA Corcovadensis. Baddi, Fil. Bras. p. 71. t. 14. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 2 3 5 ; Fpimel. Pot. p. 168.
Fee, Acrost. p. 81.
POLTBOTEYA Corcovadensis. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 33.
POLTBOTEYA Eaddiana, Lmh, Sort.

Desv. Ann. Soc. Linn. v. 6. p. 213.

Berol. v. 2. p. 134.

AOEOSTICHTJM linearifolium. Presl, Bel. Prag. v. l.p.

159 (frons

sterilis).

PTEEIS ophioglossoides. Fl. Flumin. t. 84.
€. frondium sterilium pinnis inferioribus obovato-cuneatis truncatis medio ad apicem in caudam subulatam
soriferam 2-4 uncias longam productis.
H A B . "West Indian islands, apparently: frequent, Martinique, Plumier; Jamaica, Br. Bancroft, MFayden,
Pur die, etc.; St. Vincent, L. Guilding; Dominica, Br. Lmray; St. Kitt's, Mrs. Bobinson; Guadaloupe, BKerminier, Buchassaing; Cuba, C. Wright, n. 783 and 784; Venezuela, Funch, n. 446.
— V A E . p. St. Vincent, L. Guilding.—VAE. y. Valley of St. Ann's, Trinidad, Purdie.—VAE. 8.
Brazil: Corcovado Mountains, in shady woods, Baddi, Milne (Voy. of H.M.S. Herald), Bouglas;
Organ Mountains, Gardner, n. 216; Porto Alegre, South Brazil, Mr. Fox (sterile, and therefore
the particular variety a little dubious) ; Trinidad, Hautissier (Fee).—VAE. C. Moist woods of Dibulla.
Rio Hacha, New Granada, Purdie.
Cultivated in Kew Gardens.

DESCR. Caudex short, thick, crinite with copious, brown, long, narrow, subulate, membranaceous
scales. Fronds (including the stipes) 3 - 6 feet l o n g ; sterile ones, when very young, quite simple,
ovate, acuminate, adult ones pinnate, with many large, very shortly petiolate, obliquely ovate or
lanceolate, between membranaceous and coriaceous pinna; lateral ones with very unequal sides, dimidiate at t h e lower base, in length from 4 - 5 to 9 and 10 inches long, costate and distinctly veined

with close parallel veins, which are all united at their apices by a marginal vein forming arches from
the one to the other, at a little distance from the edge. Stipes stout, terete, crinitely scaly at the
base, and, as well as the rachis, furrowed on the upper side, pale brown when dry. Fertile frond often
as long as the sterile one, usually, as represented in our figure, bipinnate; pinna as long as the
sterile ones, linear-lanceolate, acuminate; pinnules ^ to § of an inch long, obtuse, terete or but
slightly compressed, covered all over, to the very apex, with numerous pedicellated brown capsules :
these fertile fronds are liable to great variation; sometimes, as in our var. /3, bipinnate, with the
soriferous pinnules 3-4 inches long, linear, compressed, entire or partially pinnatifid, clothed on both
sides with capsules: in 7 the fertile frond is simply pinnate, with three pinnules, which are 4-5 inches
long, plane, closely or pectinately pinnatifid, the segments soriferous: in 8 they are simply pinnated,
with pinnse linear, plane, quite entire, 4-5 inches long, soriferous on both sides; and lastly, in our
var. e, the lower pinnae of the sterile frond have the upper part as it were truncated, except that
the centre of the apex is prolonged into a narrow subulate soriferous tail three or four inches in
length; the base and truncated apex of the pinnae, however, are always more or less laciniated and
somewhat pinnatifid : these tails are partially soriferous.
A well-grown plant of this makes a noble appearance, with its fine bold pinnated sterile foliage,
and the much divided fertile fronds, not inaptly representing the fertile portions of those of our Osmunda regalis. The varieties I have noticed from my herbarium (and M. Fee has mentioned others)
are very remarkable, and very interesting as proving, at least quite to our satisfaction, that the O.
Corcovadensis of Raddi is merely a form of O. cervina: yet so devoted was Presl, during the latter
part of his life, to creating new genera, that in his latest publication (his c Epimelise Botaniege') the
original 0. cervina constitutes a new genus, Dorcapteris. It is, however, remarkable, that though
the var. Corcovadensis is not peculiar to Brazil, yet, as far as my researches have gone, the true O.
cervina has never been found in Brazil.

Our Plate exhibits the caudex and base of the stipites, and apex of a sterile and fertile frond, nat. size.
Pig. 1. Portion of a sterile pinna. 2. Portion of a fertile pinna:—magnified.

Plaley ILIV.

TSncens. Brooks Iurp

PLATE

XLIV.

ASPLENIUM BRACHYPTERUM, Kze.
Short-winged Spleenwort.
(§ Darea) brachypterum; parvum, caudice seu rhizomate subnuUo nunc stolonifero, radice fibrosa
caespitosa, frondibus fasciculatis (cum stipite) vix spithamseis lanceolatis magis minusve acuminatis
pinnatis submembranaceis glabris (siccitate atro-viridibus), pinnis semiovatis profunde bipinnatifidis prsecipue in marginem superiorem, laciniis lineari-subclavatis obtusis uninerviis integerrimis
nunc bifidis monosoris, soris oblongis lineari-oblongisve marginalibus, involucro membranaceo fusco,
stipitibus brevibus (1-3-uncialibus) rachibusque subcompressis nudis v. parcissime deciduo-squamulosis.

ASPLENIUM

ASPLENITJM brachypterum. Kze. in Linncea, v. 23. p. 232 (name only).
ofBot. 1851,^.260.
ASPLENIUM

Moore and Houlston in Qard. Mag.

obtusilobum. Hook. Ic. Plant, v. 10. t. 1000 (yar. stoloniferum).

DABEA coarctata. Bojer, MS. in Herb. Nostr.
HAB. Sierra Leone, D. Don, Whitfield, Barker, in Barker's Second Niger Expedition, 1857. Madagascar,
Dr. Lyall, Bojer. Isle of Tanna, New Hebrides, Mr. C. Moore, (one specimen stoloniferous).
Aneiteum, Naviti Levu, and Ovolau, Feejee group of islands, Milne, in Captain DenharrCs Sttrv. Voy.
1855. Cultivated in Kew Gardens, etc.

DESCR. Our smaller and younger specimens of this plant exhibit a csespitose mass of fibrous
woolly radicles, with comparatively few erecto-patent fronds: by long cultivation the upper portion of
the root and the lower portion of the numerous stipites, seem in their union to form a rather imperfect
erect short caudex or rhizome, the very numerous fronds spreading horizontally in all directions, so
as to represent a kind of miniature Tree-Fern with a very short caudex. Fronds from four or five
inches to a span long at most, lanceolate, or sometimes linear-lanceolate, the pinnse being very
equal in length, so as to form an even or uninterrupted outline, membranaceous, but rather firm,
glabrous, or partially and very rarely with a few deciduous, minute, laciniated scales, pinnate, darkor blackish-green when dry. Pinna one inch to an inch and a half long, alternate, rarely opposite,
approximate, but scarcely imbricated, semiovate (in consequence of the peculiar mode of division),
bipinnatifid, the upper half with longer and more spreading and more numerous segments than the
lower half, which is very frequently quite undivided, the rachis then forming a straight line, as in our
Fig. 3 ; and, when divided, chiefly towards the apex, the lower base being undivided as at Fig. 2 ;
segments all linear or linear-clavate, obtuse, with a solitary central vein or midrib, which terminates
below the apex and is there clavate. Sort arising from the upper side of the vein, oblong or linearoblong. Involucre of the same shape, and dehiscent at the very margin of the segment. Stipes
two to four inches long, rather slender, and, as well as the rachises, herbaceous, subcompressed, rarely
squamose, canaliculate on the anterior side, and somewhat winged.
Apparently a very little-known species, but cultivated in our Gardens of Kew since 1844, when
Mr. Whitfield brought living plants from Sierra Leone. Professor Kunze, in the ' Linnsea' above
quoted, appears to be author of the name brachypterum, but I do not find that he has anywhere

described it. Nor was I aware, at the time of the publication of our Asplenium (§ Darea) obtusilobum (from New Hebrides), of an A. brachypterum, a Sierra Leone plant; but assuredly our New
Hebrides plant is identical with that, and with specimens detected long ago in Madagascar by Bojer,
who had distributed it under the MS. name of Darea coarctata. Widely distant indeed are the
respective localities of this plant, and yet specifically the same species and very distinct from any
other. Mr. Moore found it on the ground in the New Hebrides, Mr. Milne on trees in mountain
^voods. It clearly belongs to the Darea group of Asplenium; and a well-grown plant, such as our
lower figure of Plate XLIV. represents, is an exceedingly graceful object. It is cultivated in the
stove.

Our lower figure represents an old growing plant.
variations of pinna3:—magnified.

Fig. 1. A separate frond, not. size. 2 and 3. Slight

FlaioXLY

rw\

W B t i dlASQi.

VS \>-,...A v-3 M

Tfincent firtxfc Turn

PLATE

XLV.

PTEROPSIS LANCEOLATA, Desv.
Lance-shaped Pteropsis.

PTEEOPSIS (§ Neurodium) lanceolata; caudice repente dense rigide squamoso copiose radicante, frondihus
lanceolatis suhpedalibus hasi in stipitem attenuatis superne fructiferis subito contractis obtuse
acuminatis costatis coriaceis opacis, areolarum venis appendiculatis, venulis insigniter divaricatis
apicibus clavatis, soris intramarginalibus linearibus continuis vel interruptis.
PTEEOPSIS lanceolata. Desv. in Ann. Soc. Linn, pars 6. p. 218.

Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 255.

PALTOKITJM lanceolatum. Presl, Fpimel. Bot. p. 156.
NEUEODITJM lanceolatum. Fee, Gen. Ml. p. 93. t. 8 c.; J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 1 ; Cat. Cult. Ferns,p. 7.
TJENITES lanceolata. Kaulf. Fnum. Fit. p. 130.
Hort. Fur. in Linncea, 1857, p. 295.

Metten. Ml. Hort. Bot. Lips. p. 27.

Kunze, Ind. Fil.

DETMOGLOSSUM lanceolatum. J. Sm. in Hook. Journ. of Bot. v. 4. p. 66 {excl. syn. Schhuhr, Fil. t. 87) ;
Fn. Ferns B. G. Kew, p. 10.
PTEEIS lanceolata. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 153.

Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 94.

Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 356.

Lingua cervina foliis acutis et ad oras summitatum pulverulentis. Plum. Fil. t. 132.
H A B . Martinique, Plumier, Sieber, and many of the West Indian islands are recorded for the locality of
this plant, to which we may add, from our herbarium, Jamaica, WFayden, Purdie, etc.; Guadaloupe,
Ly Herminier ; St. Kitt's, Mrs. Bobinson; and as the only locality on the mainland of South America,
Belize, Nicholas Bay, G. JJ. Skinner, Fsq. Cultivated at Kew, from living plants sent by Mr. N.
Wilson from Jamaica.

DESCR. Caudex short, but horizontal and creeping, the younger portion clothed with rather harsh,
brown, subulate, appressed scales; beneath sending down into the ground very copious, branched, woolly
radicles.
F r o m the summit of this caudex the fronds arise, approximate but scarcely fascicled; each
form a small scaly tubercle or knob, upon which they are distinctly articulated, and from which, in
age, they fall, leaving the flattened tubercles, which give a rough character to the old portion of the
caudex. Stipes 2 - 4 inches long, terete, smooth, brown. Frond about a foot long, lanceolate, tapering gradually below into the stipes, and above rather suddenly contracted where the fructification
appears, of a firm nearly coriaceous texture, very opaque, costate, the margin entire, but somewhat
undulated, and with a slightly thickened edge. The primary veins form a network of which the
areoles are larger and longer next the costa; the rest are more or less oblong and hexagonal, but not
reaching to the m a r g i n ; between the reticulations and the margin there are free veins, with clubbed
apices, which also terminate within the edge; the areoles contain free, branching veinlets, with the
branches much divaricating at right angles. Sori forming two intramarginal lines, one on each side
of the contracted apex of the frond, continuous, or occasionally interrupted, arising from a thickened
longitudinal receptacle: they are partially sunk, but quite destitute of involucre, though the margin
is slightly curved towards them. Capsules long-pedicellate. I n one of our specimens the fertile portion of the frond is bipartite and slightly divaricated, each with its two lines of sori.
This is a handsome Fern, with much the general habit of Hymenolepis.
Respecting its genus
there have been various opinions. W e are content to retain it in Pteropsis, but those who view
the presence of free veinlets within the areoles as of generic importance, remove it, and place it, some
in Paltonium, some in Neurodium, some in Drymoglossum.

Our figure represents fronds of the natural size, arising from the caudex. Fig. 1. Section from a
sterile portion of the frond, showing the venation. 2. Section from a fertile portion of the frond, showing sorus and receptacle:—magnified.

Plate, ILK

V . H t c h 8fil.etlitk

"Vincent, Brooks I m p

PLATE

XLVI.

ASPLENIUM OBTUSATUM, Ford.
Blunt-leaved Spleenwort.

ASPLENIUM (§ Euasplenium) oltusatum; caudice brevi repente crasso squamis sphagnoideis nitidis lanceolatis acuminatis dense tecto, frondibus ex apice caudicis prsecipue fasciculatis ovato-lanceolatis
lanceolatisve pinnatis coriaceis glabris vel parcissime squamulosis viridibus siccitate pallidis una
cum stipite spithamseis ad pedalem vel ultra pinnatis, piimis oblongis vel oblongo-lanceolatis
plerisque obtusis grosse crenato-serratis basi oblique cuneata in petiolum brevem decurrentem attenuata, terminalibus magis minusve confluentibus, venis latis simplicibus obtusiusculis remotis intra
margin em terminantibus, soris oblongis vel lineari-oblongis, involucris conformibus membranaceis
albis, stipite fronde breviore semiterete latiusculo inferne squamoso, rachi compressa lata alatomarginata.
ASPLENIUM obtusatum. Forst.% Prodr. p. 80. Lab. Fl. Nov. Soil. v. 2. p. 93. t. 242. f 3. Schkuhr, Fit.
v. l.p. 6. t. 68. Sw. Syn. Ml. pp. 78, 267. Willi. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 317. Br. Prodr. p. 150. Hook,
fil. Fl. Antarct. v. 1. p. 108. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 5 ; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 43. Ilombr. et Jacq.
in Voy. au Pole Sud, Pot. Monocot. Crypt, t. la (without descr.).
Asplenium Femandesianum and A. marrosorum of Kunze, Analect. Pterid. pp. 21, 22, and of Gay, Fl.
Chil.pp. 500, 503, and A. consimile, Gay, I. c. p. 501 ?
H A B . Southern Hemisphere: New Zealand, Forster, Colenso, J. D. Hooker, Lyall, etc. Tasmania, Brown,
J. D. Hooker, B. Gunn, etc. Sydney, Bynoe. Lord Auckland's Group and Campbell's Island, J. D.
Hooker, common on rocks and the margin of woods. Chili: Concepcion, WBae, C. Philippi;
Chiloe, Captain King ; Yaldivia, crevices of rocks along the coast, Bridges, n. 809. Juan Fernandez,
sea-rocks in English Bay, Bertero (Asplenium chondrophyllum, Bert. Mol. n. 1531). Pitcairn's
Island, Bennett, Mathews, n. 2 2 ; and Oahu, Br. Bill (both, when dry, with dark-coloured fronds,
longer and more crowded sori, and narrower rachis, more approaching Asplenium marinum of Europe).
Norfolk Island, bare rocks on the coast, All. Cunningham (var. with mostly bipinnate fronds).
Cultivated in Kew Gardens, etc.

DESCR. Our description will be mainly confined to what we consider the normal form, or that
which represents the Asplenium obtusatum,, Porst. Caudex short, thick, creeping, sparsely rooting, very
densely clothed with imbricated, large, pale brownish, lanceolato-acuminate, membranaceous, reticulated scales, with very much the texture and appearance of the discoloured foliage of a Sphagnum,
or of t h a t group of Dicranum now called Leucobryum, to which our well-known Dicranum glaucum
belongs, but thinner and of a more dingy hue. Stipites rising in fascicles, chiefly from the extremity of
the caudex, four to six inches long, stout, semiterete, channelled on the upper side, scaly only at the base,
Fronds from four to six or even ten inches long, ovato-lanceolate, pinnated, coriaceous, palish-green,
very pale when dry, glabrous and smooth, or here and there beset with very minute scales scarcely
visible to the naked eye. Pinnce one to two inches long, more or less approximate, sometimes almost
imbricated, patent, alternate, oblong or oblongo-lanceolate, more or less obtuse, crenato-serrate, with
a very narrow pellucid edge when held between the eye and the l i g h t ; the base obliquely cuneate,
not auricled, tapering into a rather broad petiole (of the colour and texture of the frond), scarcely a

line long, and decurrent with the wing of the rachis. Veins broad, simple (undivided), terminating
in a blunt apex a little within the margin, rather remote; costa of the same colour and texture
as the frond. Sort placed with much regularity upon nearly all the veins of the fertile pinnae
between the costa and the margin, oblong or linear. Involucre of the same shape, white, and membranous.
Our figure is confined to the legitimate Asplenium obtusatum of Forster,—a most variable species,
it must be allowed; so much so, that one or more of the varieties deserve to be separately figured,
and then some observations on the abnormal forms will be the more conveniently introduced.
Dr. Hooker has well observed that " this is an extremely abundant Fern in the southern hemisphere, especially on maritime rocks, and represents in those regions its very near ally the common
A. marinum of England, from which it differs chiefly in the upper pinnae being confluent, and in the
generally simple veins, characters which I fear may break down." Indeed, our specimens from
Pitcairn's Island and Oahu are hardly distinguishable from that species, and even those are by no
means the most remarkable or distinct variations. The A. obliquum, Forst. (Schkuhr, Fil. t. 71, and
LabilL, I.e. 242. f. 1), has already, both by Brown and Dr. Hooker, been considered a form of A.
obtusatum ; and of this latter, Dr. Hooker (who has had the advantage of seeing all these in their
native localities) says, "As the fronds become more flaccid, the pinnae larger, broader, more acuminate,
and the rachis more slender, this passes into the A. lucidum, Forst." These two varieties will form
the subject of a future Plate. Another variety from Norfolk Island I have briefly mentioned under
the present form, for the outline more resembles this, but the pinnae are most of them again
pinnated.

Barren and fertile fronds of Aspidium obtusatum, ordinary form.
showing the veins and sori, magnified.

Fig. 1. Portion of a fertile pinna,

Ram ILWL

^

^
OiS^y,

WEttk i s l e t litL

Vixuceirt Broa*u> i"ix£p.

PLATE

XLVII.

GYMNOGRAMME FLAVENS, Sw.
Bright-yellow Oymnogramme.
(§ Eugymnogramme),/^^; caudice brevissimo subnullo erecto dense ferrugineo-squamoso, frondibus fasciculatis spithamseis ad pedalem (stipitem includentibus) triangulari-ovatis 3-pinnatis subtus flavo-pulverulentis, pinnis primariis secundariisque sublonge petiolatis, pinnulis oppositis in petiolum articulatis brevissime elliptico-rotundatis deciduis, venis bis furcatis apice liberis
clavatis, soris linearibus in venularum furcaturis e capsulis paucis ferrugineis constantibus, stipite
rachibusque gracilibus aterrimis nitidis.

GYMNOGBAMME

GYMNOGBAMME flavens. Kaulf. Fn. Fit. p. 77. Kze. Ind. Fit. Sort. Furop. p. 255.
ACBOSTICHUM flavens. Sw. Syn. Fit. pp. 16 and 204. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 125. Humb. et Ponpl. Nov.
Gen. Am. v. 1. p. 2. Desv. in Ann. Soc. Linn, pars 6. p. 212. (who quotes " Acr. teretifolium,
JDesv. Mag. Nat. Per. 1811, p. 320, et Journ. Pot. Appliq. v. 1. p. 274").
CINCINALIS ? flavens. Desv. in Perl. Mag. v. 5. p. 329.
CINCINALIS flavens. Fee, Gen. Fit.p. 161. t. BOP. J. Sm. Cat. Cult. Ferns,p. 31.
NOTHOCHL^INA flavens. Moore, Ind. Fil.p. 9.
HAB. South America, Nee: Andes of Quindiu, elev. 4000 feet (Doradilla incolarum, Humboldt and Ponpland); Loxa, Ecuador, Seemann, in Herb. Nostr. Cultivated in Kew Gardens, etc.

DESCR. Our native specimens are less than a span high; our cultivated ones a foot and even
more, growing in a tufted or fasciculated manner, and springing from a very indistinct, erect rhizome
or caudex, whose presence is best recognized by the ferruginous, lanceolate scales, conspicuous
among the black stipites. Roots fibrous, black, wiry, branched, downy. Fronds generally shorter
than the stipites, triangular-ovate, dark green above, beneath clothed with a deep-yellow pulverulent substance, tripinnate. Primary and secondary pinna opposite or alternate, on long, slender
petioles, remote; ultimate ones, or pinnules, articulated upon very short petiolules, and caducous
when dry, small, one to three lines long, elliptical or elliptical-rotundate, somewhat cordate at the
base, of a firm subcoriaceo-membranaceous texture, costate, and penniveined. Veins generally twice
dichotomous; the free veinlets clubbed at the apex, and terminating just within the slightly crenated
or sinuated margin. Sori much sunk in the pulverulent yellow substance, forming lines on the
dichotomies of considerable length between the costa and the margin. These consist of comparatively
few capsules of a brown or ferruginous colour. Stipes, rachises and petiolules slender, brittle, intensely
black and glossy.
The Royal Gardens of Kew are indebted for plants of this rare and delicate Fern, to Messrs. Rollison and to Mr. Backhouse. It seems to be exclusively an inhabitant of the Andes of Peru, and
Ecuador. The fructification is so entirely that of a Gymnogramme, that we do not see why it should
be referred to Nothochlana, as Mr. T. Moore has done, nor to a genus called Cincinalis, a name of
Gleditsch, established by Desvaux in the Berlin Mag., and where that author had placed it
doubtfully; while M. Fee and Mr. J. Smith retain it there, without any mark of doubt, along with

Nothochkena nivea, Desv., N. tenera, Gill and Hook., etc. Desvaux himself afterwards (' FamiUe
des Fougeres/ in the Ann. Soc. Linn, de Paris, 6) seems to have abandoned the genus, referring
some of the species to Nothochlcena, and, strangely enough, restoring others to Acrostichum, amongst
which we find Acrostichum flavens of Swartz.
Assuredly if the present plant had a marginal line of sori it would be a Nothochlcena, but having,
as well represented by Fee himself (Gen. Fil., 1. a ) , the sori and all the characters of Gymnogramme,
we prefer placing it under that genus.

Plant of GymnOgrammeflavens,nat. size. Fig. 1. Fertile pinnule, nat. size. 2. Portion of the same,
showing the arrangement of the sori on the bifurcations or dichotomies of the veins.

Plate, ILYLIP

W.ELtdidd.etlith.

V i n c e n t BioiVits TJJ

PLATE

XLVIII.

PELLiEA ROTUNDIFOLIA, Hook.
Bound-leaved Pellaa.
rotundifolia; caudice longo repente subsquamoso, frondibus pinnatis linearibus rigidis laxis subdecumbentibus coriaceis subtus pallidis, pinnis numerosis eordato*ovatis subpetiolulatis obtusis
mucronatis glabris inferioribus suborbicularibus, venis obsoletis dichotomis, soris latissimis, involucris
angustissimis fere nullis, stipitibus elongatis rachibusque castaneis nitidis rufo-villosis squamosisque,

PELLJEA

P E L M A rotundifolia. Hook. Gen. et 8p. Fil. v. 2. p. 136.
PTERIS rotundifolia. Worst. Prodr. n, 420. 8w. 8yn. Fil. pp. 102 et 297. Schkh. Fil. p. 90. t. 99.
8p. Plant, v. 4. p. 363. Rook. Ic. Plant, t. 422. Hook, fil Ft. N. Zeal. v. 2. p. 24.
PLATYLOMA

Willd.

rotundifolia. J. 8m. Oat. Kew Ferns, p. 4; Gat. of Cult. Werns,p. 32.

ALLOSORTTS rotundifolius. Kze. in Linncea, v. 18. p. 219.
p. oblongifolia; pinnis cordato-oblongis. Hook. Gen. et 8p. Fil. I.e. p. 136.
PTERIS

oblongifolia. Oolenso M88. in Herb. JVostr.

HAB. Common in New Zealand, Forster, and all succeeding botanists, Norfolk Island (Kunze) ?
vated in Kew Gardens, etc.

Culti-

DESCR. Caudex not much thicker than a crowVquill, creeping, flexuose, branched. Roots wiry,
with many fibrous branchlets. Fronds, including the stipe, one to two and more feet long, springing
more or less closely from the upper side of the caudex, linear in outline, pinnated, coriaceous, glossy
above, pale green on the under side. Pinna in the largest specimens an inch long, alternate, rather
remote, subpetiolulate, broad ovato-cordate, sometimes a little auricled at the upper base; lowest one
often rotundate; sterile ones, obscurely dentate, glabrous, dark green above; all obtuse, with amucro.
Veins sunk in the substance of the pinnae, and only to be seen when backed by a strong light; with
no distinct straight costa; a main flexuose branch indeed occupies the centre, from which diverge the
once or twice (or more) dichotomous veinlets, extending to very near the margin; of these the ultimate
furcatures are soriferous, in lines which become confluent, and form a broad, bright reddish-brown
band on each side close to the margin. Involucre, none that can distinctly be called so; there is a
very minute, slightly indexed, cartilaginous margin, but never in any way concealing or covering
the sori. Stipes and rachis wiry, rigid, brittle, rich chestnut-brown, glossy, clothed with ferruginous
hair mixed with patent, subulate or lanceolate scales.
This very handsome greenhouse Fern is of easy cultivation, and a great ornament in any collection,
from its copious, long, graceful fronds, with the dark glossy upper sides of the pinnse, while the lower
side is pale and opaque and is varied by the two broad bands of confluent sori. It forms one of the
species of the genus Platyloma constituted by Mr. J. Smith, which Mr. Moore (' Index Filicum') retains
in all its integrity, and removes from the Pterideous Ferns, with which he finds it to have no affinity.
Recently Mr. J. Smith has curtailed the species, and confined it to those with the unusually broad
lines of sori, P. Brownii (our Pellcea paradoooa), P.falcata, and the present P . rotundifolia,—while M.
Fee further agrees in our view of considering the genus identical with Pellaa, Lk. (Allosorus, Auct,).
As a species, and as far as our researches extend, it is exclusively a native of New Zealand, from the
extreme north of the group to Banks's Peninsula; and it is probably through some error that Kunze
has given it as a native of Norfolk Island; nor does he state upon what authority it is so.

Sterile and fertile plant, nat. size. Fig. 1. Sterile pinna, showing the venation. 2. Fertile pinna, seen
from beneath. 3. Portion of ditto, exhibiting the sori and their receptacles more distinctly:—magnified.

Rate XLIX.

"Vincent Jirodks Iinp.

PLATE

XLIX.

LOMARIA PATERSONI, Br.
Patersons Lomaria.

Patersoni; csespitosa, caudice brevi crasso, frondibus pedalibus subcoriaceis erectis, sterilibus
lanceolatis brevi-acuminatis subsinuatis erenato-dentatis basi in stipitem brevem sensim attenuatis,
fertilibus linearibus elongatis, ambabus plerumque indivisis rarissime supra medium laciniis paucis
elongatis pinnatifidis, stipite basi paleaceo.

LOMABIA

Patersoni. Spreng. Sgst. Veget. v. 4. p. 62. Kunze in Linncea, v. 23. p. 261, in SchkuJir, Fit.
Suppl. p. 69. t. 34. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 4; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 40.

LOMARIA

STEGANIA

Patersoni. Br. Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. p. 152.

SALPICHL^ENA
BLECHNTJM

Patersoni. Fee, Gen. Fit. p. 79.

Patersoni. Metten. Fil. Sort. Bot. Lips. p. 64.

HAB. Tasmania, Paterson. Victoria, South Australia, frequent on the shady banks of the Broadribb and
Cabbage-tree rivers and at Sealer's Cove, Ferd. Mueller, 1854-5. Cultivated at Kew since 1830.

A very short nearly horizontal subterraneous rootstock sends down several wiry fibres.
Fronds rather pale-green, tufted, sterile and fertile from the same root, about a foot long, subcoriaceous; sterile lanceolate, shortly and rather suddenly acuminate, costate, broader (about an inch) a
little below the acumen, and thence tapering down gradually into the short stipes, the margin waved,
crenato-dentate: in cultivation, at least, the fronds are, near the middle, pinnatifid with 1-6 or 7
lanceolate spreading segments. Stipites 2-4 inches long, pale-brown, darker in the lower half, and
at the base chaffy with dark brown subulate scales, which also, invest the very young unexpanded
fronds; costa pale and prominent beneath; veins horizontally patent, simple, or once or twice forked,
each ultimate vein or veinlet terminating in a tooth of the margin and clavate. Fertile fronds as long
as, or longer than, the sterile ones, and generally on longer stipites, linear, slightly acuminated, quite
simple or (in cultivation) bearing one or two spreading branches or segments 3-4 inches long; sorus
continuous the whole length of the margin to the very apex. Involucre submembranaceous at first,
incurved so as to be semicylindrical, at length spreading. Capsules occupying nearly the whole space
between the broad costa and the setting-on of the involucre, and attached to a longitudinal receptacle.
One of the rarest of Ferns in herbaria, and yet one that has been cultivated at Kew ever since
1830, when it was reared by Mr. J. Smith, from spores, which probably came over in the native
soil. Mr. Brown is the only person that has described it from native specimens, which are in the
Banksian Herbarium, found in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), by Colonel Paterson, whose name it
bears. I find no other locality recorded, and our own herbarium was deficient in it till the indefatigable Dr. Ferd. Mueller sent specimens recently from Victoria. All the native ones bear quite
entire fronds: by cultivation not a few, both of the sterile and fertile ones, become partially pinnatifid,
but it would seem to be an abnormal state. A cool greenhouse suffices for its cultivation, and there
can be little doubt but it might safely be cultivated in the open border.
It appears to be as good a species of Lomaria (Stegania, Br.) as any of the genus, of which it
DESCR.

has all the characters, and we wonder at Mettenius referring it to Blechnum; still more at Fee's
placing it (together with Blechnum orientale and its allies) in Salpichlcena, J. Sm., of which it has,
in our view, neither the habit, nor fructification, nor venation.
Specifically its near affinity is with a Lomaria found by Cuming* in Luzon, and distributed as
n. 200 of the Philippine Islands Collection, not, as far as I can find, taken up by any author. Mr.
J. Smith, in his Fil. Philip., in Hook. Bot. Journ. v. 3. p. 406, simply remarks that his specimens
were not perfect. Ours have sterile and fertile fronds quite simple; but specimens of the same species, gathered by Milne in the Feejee group of islands, show that both are, occasionally, divided.

PLATE XLIX.—Sterile and fertile fronds, nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile frond, showing the
venation. 2. Portion of a fertile frond:—magnified.

* Lomaria Cumingiana, Hook.; frondibus siraplicibus, sterilibus exacte lanceolatis brevi-acuminatis indivisis basi obtusis, stipite frondeni aequante, fertilibus linearibus stipite brevioribus, ambabus nunc segmentis paucis pinnatifidis.
HAB. Luzon, Cuming, n. 200. Ovolau, one of the Feejee group of islands, Milne, Voyage of H.M.S.
Herald, under Captain Denham, Jd.JST.

Hate 1.

•• i. xrxja dpi etiith.

"Ybicent IBrooks -fcnp-

PLATE L.

PELLiEA HASTATA, Lh
Hastate PellcBa.

P E L M A hastata; caespitosa, caudice nodoso, frondibus spithamseis ad sesquipedalem coriaceis glabris
oblongis pinnatis vel bi- rarius tri-pinnatis, pinnulis brevissime petiolulatis ovatis ovato-lanceolatisve
obtusis acuminatisve, basi hastata vel hinc auriculata, margine crenulato, terminali ssepe majore,
venis dichotomis Hberis, soris utrinque continuis, involucris subangustis, stipitibus elongatis basi
setoso-squamosis rachibusque atro-purpureis ebeneis nitidis.
PELUEA hastata. Link, Fil. Sort. Berol. p. 60. Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 129.
t. 116 B. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 4 ; Cat, Cult. Ferns, p. 32.
ALLOSOETTS hastatus. Fr. Tent. Fterid. p. 153.

Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 2. p. 145,

Hook. Gen. Fil. t. 5.

PTEEIS hastata. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 105. Willd. Sp. Fl. v. 5. p. 391.

SchlecU. Fil. Cap. p. 42.

CASSEBEEEA hastata. J. Sm. Gen. of Ferns, p. 4 7 ; Fn. Ferns Kew, p. 14.
ADIAOTTTM hastatum. Linn. Fil. Suppl. Flant. p. 447.
CHEILAOTHES hastata. Kze. in Linncea, v. 10. p. 532, and v. 23. p. 243.
PTEEIS adiantoides. Willd. Sp. Fl. v. 5. p. 391 {Schleelit.).
/3. macropJiylla; omnibus partibus multo majoribus. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 2. p. 146. t. 116 B.f.

4.

CHEILAKTHES hastata, var. macrophylla. Kze. in Linncea, v. 10. p. 532.
y. stenophylla ; bipinnata, pinnis pinnulisque lineari-lanceolatis acuminatis indivisis vel hastatis, lobis elongatis, rachibus partialibus pubescentibus. Kze. in Linncea, v. 10. p. 533. {under Cheilanthes).
PTEEIS hastifolia. Sclirad,
P T E E I S spiculata. Schkuhr, Fil. t. 100.
H A B . South Africa: abundant, from the neighbourhood of Cape Town, east to Graham's Town, Natal.
Island of ISTissobi, Mozambique Channel, Madagascar, Dr. Lyall, Bojer. Mauritius, Telfair, Carmichael, Sieber, Syn. Fil. n. 80, Wallich.
Bourbon {ex Herb. Mus. Faris).
Cultivated in Kew
Gardens, etc.

DESCR. Caudew very short, somewhat tuberiform. Fronds tufted, varying greatly in length,
from a span to two feet high, including the stipes, ovate or oblong, rarely simply pinnate, usually biand even tri-pinnate, coriaceous, dark green above, paler beneath. Primary pinna petiolate. Pinnules
varying much in size and form, from three-fourths of an inch to two and even three inches long, ovate
or ovate-lanceolate, subpetiolulate, obtuse or acuminate, the base cordate or truncate, sometimes semihastate and sometimes quite hastate, slightly crenate at the margin. Veins oblique, rather distant,
more or less dichotomously divided, the ultimate veinlet reaching to the margin. Sorus extending all
round the margin except at the very apex; involucre membranous, closely pressed upon the capsules,
often jagged at the edge. Of the two varieties one is remarkable for the larger size of the pinnae, the
other for being very narrow and sharply acuminate, often hastate. Stipes often as long as the frond,
setose at the base, and, as well as the rachises, dark purple, ebeneous, very glossy.
A very handsome greenhouse Fern, with glossy purple-black stipites and rachises; one of the
most common of Ferns at the Cape of Good Hope, and probably extending all along the eastern coast
till it reaches Madagascar and Mauritius and Bourbon. I n Kew Gardens it has been cultivated
since 1822.

PLATE L.—Fertile plant, nat. size.
magnified.

Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile pinnule.

2. Portion of a fertile ditto:—

Rale, LI.

W.Htoh daL.etlith.

"fonuent Brook,-. Imp.

PLATE

LI.

ADIANTUM PARISHII, Hook.
Mr. Parish's Adiantum.

(§ Euadiantum) Parishii; parvum esespitosum, caudice subnullo, radicibus paucisfibrosistomentosis, frondibus orbiculari-flabellatis membranaceis pellucidis, sterilibus crenato-dentatis, fertilibus
pauci-(3-5-)lobatis, sinubus profundis soriferis, venis e basi flabellato-divergentibus remotis repetitim dichotomis, involucris coriaceis subreniformibus, stipite gracili aterrimo nitido apice articulate

ADIANTUM

HAB. On a limestone, rocky mountain near Moulmein, called Twa-Kabin, at an elevation of 2000 feet above
the sea (1857), Rev. C. S. P. Parish. Not yet in cultivation in Europe.

DESCR. This elegant little plant grows in tufts, having no visible caudex. A few fibrous, tomentose radicles descend into the limestone soil; and, from the summit of these, at one season of the
year, are seen little else but jet-black, needle-like, very slender, but firm and brittle stipites, from
which the fronds have fallen. At a more favourable period a new crop of fronds, with their stipites
(shorter than the fronds), have appeared. These fronds are an inch in length at the utmost, rather
more in breadth, quite simple (undivided), flabellately orbicular, membranaceous, subpellucid;
the somewhat cuneate base entire; the rest of the frond, in the sterile plant, crenato-dentate; in the
fertile, three- to five- or six-lobed, soriferous in the sinuses; the lobes themselves sinuato-crenate,
much less deeply than the sterile fronds. Involucres of a thick, subcoriaceous texture and dark colour,
subreniform, large for the size of the frond, and closely applied to it. All the veins originate from
a thickened common point at the base of the frond, are many times dichotomous, distant from each
other, very conspicuous, some extending into the involucre, and there bearing the sort; the rest terminating just within the margin of the frond, and clubbed at the apex. Stipites very slender, erect,
rigid, glabrous, intensely black and glossy, jointed at the setting-on of the frond, which is there
deciduous.
The Rev. C. S. P. Parish, Chaplain to the H.E.I.C. at Moulmein, did me the favour lately to
send specimens, in a letter, of this most beautiful and very distinct Adiantum; for, though it is a
monophyllous species, and so far has affinity with A. reniforme, L., and A. asarifolium, Willd. (both
figured in this work, the one at Plate VIII., the other at Plate XI.), yet this is extremely different,
both in form and texture; and in the very slender, brittle, and quite glabrous, tufted stipites, jointed
at the top, resembling so many needles made of the blackest ebony; and still more remarkable is the
appearance of these when they have lost the delicate and semipellucid membranaceous fronds. The
plants were in that state, or writh only here and there an imperfect frond upon them, when Mr. Parish
was so fortunate as to discover them, and the history of that discovery will not be uninteresting.
My first information respecting it was in May of last year (1857), when my valued correspondent sent from Moulmein, along with a list of Ferns found in Tenasserim, a very clever sketch of
this Adiantum, marked, " Adiantum, like reniforme, but having a jointed stipes; consequently, in the
dry season all the fronds fall off and leave a small tuft of stipites.—From a limestone rock near Moulmein/' In the month of September, at a better season, this gentleman paid another visit to the
place of growth, and sent me beautiful specimens in a letter, from which our figures and description

are made. A most interesting account of the nature and general vegetation of the country is sent
with them, too long, I regret, to be here inserted."* Suffice it on the present occasion to say that the
limestone mountain, of 2000 feet elevation, is quite isolated, and of very difficult access; on the
south-western side perpendicular from the top to the bottom. I t abounds in caves, in which are
masses of shell-conglomerate. To gather the Adiantum, " you descend, from the summit, a precipitous spot, on the north side, holding on by grass and branches of shrubs for about 200 feet, till you
come to a small grotto, apparently formed by the falling forward of a large mass of rock, the rock
remaining at the mouth of the grotto so formed, and affording good standing ground. On this rock
you step, and just reaching the edge of the rock above, you gather the little novelty. I t appears to
grow in some lime, the result of the continued filtering and dropping of the rains. Here it is tolerably abundant over the space of a few feet, as Woodsia hyperborea grows on the eastern precipice of
Snowdon, but nowhere else have I seen it at all. Cheilanthes farinosa and other interesting Ferns
grow in its vicinity abundantly."
As to the affinities of this, they are, as already hinted, naturally with Adiantum reniforme and
A. asarifolium, which differ remarkably in their larger size, firmer texture, different shape (never
approaching to flabelliform), but above all in their undivided margin, and copious involucres from
that entire margin, never from a sinus. It is true that Linnseus and Willdenow notice an A, Philippinense, which they place in the division "fronde simplici;" but Petiver's figure shows it to be
pinnated, and it is probably only an imperfect state of A. lunulatum, Sw.

PLATE LI.—Tufts of plants of Adiantum Parishii; nat. size: some are represented from which the fronds
have fallen at the joint, and a solitary specimen apart. Pig. 1. Portion of sterile frond, showing the venation
and the point at the top of the stipes where it is articulated. 2. Portion of a fertile frond, with three sori.
3. Smaller portion of a frond, with the involucre forced back to show the capsules: —magnified.

* This has been published in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle' for February 27, 1858.

Rate III.

"W.B.tchael.eLlifli.

"\frn.csnt Brooks Imp.

PLATE

LII.

POLYPODIUM BIFRONS.
Two-fronded Polypody.
(§ Drynaria) bifrons, Hook.; caudice longe repente ramoso squamoso, squamis sparsis ovatoorbieularibus appressis peltatis, frondibus sparsis sessilibus biformibus, sterilibus digitalibus lanceolatis
acuminatis subniembranaceis pinnatifidis basi attenuatis venis anastomosantibus areolis hie illic appendiculatis, fertilibus sterili longioribus linearibus acuminatis sinuato-sublobatis basi longe attenuatis, venarum areolis paucis magnis elongatis, soris biserialibus apice venularum areolam fere replentibus ellipticis.

POLYPODITJM

HAB. " Pound on a tree by the river-side, near Archidona, Ecuador (124 miles south-east of Quito, on an
affluent of the Napo) ; it was partially immersed in the water, and from the root were appended
hollow succulent tubers, in which the ants had taken refuge," Prof. W. Jameson. Not yet in cultivation in Europe.

DESCR. Caudex elongated, creeping, branched, not much thicker than a crow's quill, terete,
scaly, radicant below. Scales small, broad, ovate or oval, peltate, very obtuse, most copious at the
apices of the young branches. Fronds scattered, arising from the upper surface, erect or nearly so,
dimorphous; the sterile and fertile fronds being different in shape and texture; both sessile. Sterile
about as long as one's finger, lanceolate, attenuated at the base, acuminated at the apex, pinnatifid
nearly halfway down to the costa with linear-oblong, obtuse, spreading segments; cost a conspicuous.
Primary veins pinnated, one to each segment; a transverse basal nerve connects each primary vein
with the adjacent one, forming an oblong areole next to and parallel with the costa, and which has a
forked free vein within i t ; the rest of the veins form snbhexagonal areoles, a few of which only are
appendiculated, all terminate apparently within the margin. Fertile fronds half as long again as the
sterile ones, of a thicker texture, linear, acuminated and attenuated at the base, costate, the margin
sinuato-lobate; veins few, forming large, oblong areoles. Sori arranged in two series, one on each
side the midrib, large, elliptical, yet sunk in a cavity, which forms a corresponding protuberance on
the upper side, each situated on a lobe and occupying nearly the whole of an areole.
This is quite a new and very peculiar species of Poly podium (§ Drynaria, Fee, but probably a
Microgramme of Presl), and is not only interesting on account of its semiaquatic place of growth, but
also from the presence of tubers, a good deal resembling very small potatoes, attached to the creeping
caudex. Whether these are a natural production of the plant and destined for a means of increase, or,
as is not improbable, something adventitious,* arising from the puncture of an insect, and constituting a
nidus for rearing the young of that insect, as in the case of the Oak-galls, Rose-galls, etc., of our own
country, I cannot take upon me to say; nor have we any further information from the discoverer,
#

Perhaps analogous to what is found on the Malayan Hydnojpliytum formicarum of Jack, or " Nidus
germinans formicarum nigrarum" of Itumphius, Herb. Amboyn. v. 6. p. 119. t. 55. "Truncus tuber irregulare ludit,—intus cavus et formicarum domus." This tuber, Dr. Jack further tells us, is hollowed by the
ants into numerous winding passages. Mr. Brown has been so good as to show me fine specimens of this
curious production in the British Museum.

Professor Jameson, than what is given above, namely, that they are hollow and occupied by ants.
We are sure our intelligent friend will give us, at a future time, some further information respecting
these tubers.
The discordant views of Pteridologists in regard to the multiplication of genera derived from the
old Polypodium, must throw an insurmountable obstacle in the way of the student. The great variety
of venation in this group of Ferns, is shown in the extensive series of figures of the different distribution and arrangement of their veins, given by Mettenius in his Fil. Hort. Bot. Lips., and in his
i
Monograph of Polypodium/* No author that I know of has studied the venation so deeply, and
none has made less use of it in the formation of genera. In referring the present Polypodium to
the subgenus or section Drynaria, I had the Drynaria of Fee in view, who unites under that name
of Bory, Pleopeltis, Dictyopteris, and Phymatodes of other authors.

Plate LII. exhibits a fertile plant of Polypodium bifrons, with its two kinds of fronds (sterile and fertile) and one of the tuberous appendages attached to it, nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile frond. 2. Portion of a fertile one, with sori and a receptacle from which the capsules have been removed. 3. Scales
from the caudex:—magnified.

* Ueber einige Farngattungen. 1. Polypodium, von Prof. Dr. G Mettenius, aus Frankfurt-am-Main.
L
AbhandL d. Senckenb. naturf. G-es. Bd. II.

PLATE

LIII.

ASPIDIUM FALCINELLUM, Sw.
Coulter-leaved Shield-fern.
(§ Polystiehum) falcinellum, Sw.; csespitosum, rhizomate crasso brevissimo subnullo, frondibus
sublonge stipitatis 1-2-pedalibus lanceolatis coriaceis pinnatis, pinnis subfalcato-ensiformibus brevipetiolatis argute serratis (serraturis muticis) basi sursum rarissime deorsumque aurieulatis, soris biserialibus approximatis distinctis, iuvolucribus orbicularibus peltatis fuscis medio nigro marginibus
lacerato-dentatis, stipite rachique copiose paleaceis, paleis lanceolatis acuminatissimis inferioribus
nigro-fuscescentibus nitidis superioribus pallide fuscis deciduis.

ASPIDITJM

falcinellum. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 46 et 243. Lowe, Primitiw Fhrm et Faunae Mad. p. 5.
Niger Fl. p. 83.

ASPIDITJM

POLYSTICHTTM

Hook.

falcinellum. Fresl, Tent. Fteridogr. p. S3. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 6; Cat. Cult. Ferns,

p. 60.
/3. subhastatum; pinnis basi utrinque aurieulatis.
HAB. Madeira, Masson: summits of the mountains ("in cacuminibus montium"), especially in cool, shady
places, Lowe ; Rdbiero Frio and Curral, Vogel, Lippold, Lemann, J. L>. Hooker.—TAB. /3. North side
of Paul da Serra, near 5000 feet elev., Lowe (in Herb. JSTostr.), Lemann. Cultivated in Kew Gardens, where it was introduced by Masson, about 1779.

DESCR. There is scarcely any visible caudex. The tufted, singularly scaly stipites combine with
the roots, and form an imperfect, thick, erect rhizome. Fronds a foot to two feet long, lanceolate,
erect, coriaceous, when young more or less clothed with deciduous scales, when mature glabrous, pinnated. Pinna horizontally patent, on short petioles, two to two and a half inches long, ensiform, more
or less falcate, especially the upper ones, subacute or acuminate, auricled at the base above (the
auricle never forming a separate lobe or pinnule, as in the allied Asp. auriculatum), more rarely also
at the base below, as in our var. /3, when the pinnules become hastate; the margins are rather
strongly and sharply serrated, sometimes minutely biserrate, but never mucronate or bristle-pointed;
uppermost small ones confluent. Veins once or twice forked, sunk, as it were, in the substance of
the opaque coriaceous pinnules, and difficult to be seen. On the back of a vein, in two rows on each
pinnule, between the costa and the margin, are the sori, approximate but distinct, never confluent.
Involucre a very beautiful object when perfect, quite orbicular, membranaceous, peltate, rich brown,
fimbriately toothed all round; the disc or centre black. Stipes stout, about as long as the frond,
densely clothed with scales, which are largest (and sometimes half an inch long) at the base, ovate,
finely acuminate, waved and serrulate, deep jet black and glossy, the margins ferruginous; higher
up the stipes the scales become gradually smaller, narrower, tawny in colour, and continue gradually
diminishing on the rachis, where indeed they are often in time deciduous.
The excellent Swartz was the first to describe this handsome Fern, but, from his ignorance of
its locality, botanists were misled, and gave little heed to that author's very good description, and the
species was confounded with other allied ones. Thus, after Masson introduced this plant to Kew,
it was, according to Swartz, distributed from these gardens under the name of Aspid. auriculatum.

an East Indian plant, while Sprengel mistook it for a West Indian one, and made Aspid. falcinellum
syaonymous with Aspid. trapezioides, Sw. The Rev. Mr. Lowe, in his valuable c Prioritise Faunae et
Florae Maderse/ was the first to show, from an investigation of authentic specimens in the Banksian
Herbarium, that Aspid. falcinellum was a Madeira species; and indeed it is peculiar to that island.
It is nearly allied to two North American species, Aspid. acrostichoides, Sw., from the United States,
and Canada, and Aspid. munitum, Kaulf., from California and Oregon: the former of these two is at
once distinguished by the confluent sori on changed or contracted pinnules; the latter by the larger
size and its copious bristle-pointed serratures of the pinnae, besides other characters.
Aspid. falcinellum is cultivated in the greenhouse in Kew; but we have lately seen remarkably
fine specimens from the open ground at Carcleugh, Cornwall, the seat of Sir Charles Leman, Bart.;
and that is not a matter of surprise, seeing that it flourishes most in Madeira, at elevations of from
3-5000 feet above the level of the sea.
We have offered some remarks, under Nephrodium Sieboldi (Plate XXXI.), on the views we are
disposed to adopt in maintaining the genera Nephrodium and Aspidium; and to consider Nephrodium
to be mainly distinguished by its reniform involucre, and Aspidium by its orbicular and peltate one.
Consequently our Aspidium deparioides, " provisionally" placed in that genus at Plate I I I . , will be
referred to Nephrodium (§ Nephrolepis).

PLATE LIII. represents a fertile plant of Aspidium falcinellum, not. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a fertile
frond, showing the sori and venation. 2. Sorus, and a receptacle from which the capsules are removed,
showing the attachment to the vein. 3. Scale from the lower part of the stipes:—magnified.

i t o IIV

W ^ i t d i acL.«t3itti

%ncent Brooks Ixiip.

PLATE

LIV.

LINDSiEA PANAMENSIS, Mett.
Panama Lindsaa.
(§ Dietyoxyphium) Fanamensis; caudice perhrevi erecto, frondibus csespitosis difformibus brevistipitatis membranaceis simplicibus costatis, sterilibus lanceolatis acuminatis basi angustatis, fertilibus lineari-elongatis steriles subduplo superantibus lineari-loratis basi apiceque attenuatis, soris
utrinque continuis, venis ubique anastomosantibus, areolis appendiculatis.

LINDSJEA

LINDSJEA

Panamensis. Metten. Fit. Hort. JBot. Lips. p. 102.

Panamense. Hook. Gen. Fit. t. 62; Sp. Ml. v. 1. p. 224. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 7;
Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 64.

DICTYOXYPHIUM

HAB. Isthmus of Panama, on the Pacific side, Cuming, n. 1124. Isle of Caybo, Seemann. St. Antonio of
Santa Martha, New Granada, in a wood of the Avocado Pear (Persea gratissinia), elev. 3000 feet,
rare, Fur die. Cultivated in Kew Gardens.

DESCR. Caudex short, erect, thick, mainly formed by the united bases of the ascending stipites
and of the descending rather stout fibrous roots. Fronds tufted, of two kinds, simple (undivided),
varying exceedingly in length, from one foot to two and a half or three feet (including the short
stipes) in some of our native specimens, membranaceous, but firm, opaque, costate, costa central.
Sterile fronds rather broad-lanceolate, acuminate, quite entire, becoming narrower from near the
middle downwards, but scarcely decurrent upon the stipes. Fertile fronds always the longest, sometimes twice the length of the sterile ones, usually thinner and more membranaceous, linear-lorate,
from near the middle very gradually attenuated at both extremities, not sharply acuminated at the
point, below decurrent on the stipes. Sorus marginal, continuous on both sides from the base
to the apex. Involucre linear, opening outwardly, double, formed as it were (and as in other
IAndscece) by a cleft in the margin; the superior one is much narrower, thick and herbaceous (texture
of the frond); the other, nearly parallel with it, thinner, scariose: this latter in age becomes more
or less reflected, and loses its parallelism with the other more herbaceous one. Between these two in
the sinus, but not on a conspicuous receptacle, the pedicellated capsules are seen. Venation alike in
both kinds of fronds. Some pinnated primary veins diverge at almost right angles from the costa,
branch and anastomose, forming a network over the surface, not quite extending to the margin, and
within the areoles are free simple or branched and spreading veinlets, clubbed at the extremity.
Stipites short, one to three inches long, more or less paleaceous, with deciduous, linear subulate, lax
scales,
A very rare and apparently local Fern, having hitherto only been found in the above-mentioned
countries, in, or adjacent to, the Isthmus of Panama. Rare too in cultivation, having only been
received in a living state from our collector, Mr. Purdie, in 1848, from Santa Martha, and it is found
difficult to propagate. Cultivation is ordinarily found to increase the size of Ferns, on account, probably, of being so freely supplied with moisture. Of this plant our native specimens are much the
largest. Fertile fronds are, however, readily produced in our stoves.
Cordially do I agree with Mr. T. Moore (' Index Filicum/ p. xxxvi.) that " the genus Dictyo-

xyphium, though distinct in aspect, presents no technical difference of generic value to distinguish it
from IAndscea, except the compound reticulation and free included branches of its veins are admitted
to be differences thus important;" and I have really much more pleasure in sacrificing a genus constituted by myself, where I believe such a measure to be required, than in condemning those of my
brother botanists. Indeed had I seen as much of the uncertainty of the venation of Ferns at the
time I published Dictyoxyphium, in the first volume of the ( Species Filicum/ as I have since, I
should, I hope, have done what I do now, make it a group or section of Lindsaa. As that genus
(Lindsaa) there stands, it professes to include species with reticulated as well as free venation, and
Dictyoxyphium only differs from Lindscea cor data, Gaud., for example (Sp. Fil. p. 219. t. 66), and
from L. davallioides, Nobis (1. c. p. 224. t. 68), in the presence of free veinlets within the areoles, and
all the three exhibit simple (undivided) fronds.

PLATE LIV. represents a small growing plant of IAndscea Pananiensis, Metten., and a portion at the
back of a native frond, nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile frond, showing its venation. 2. Portion of a
fertile frond, exhibiting the double involucre:—magnified.

TlccteLV.

"WTiidi aeLet/M-.

"Vincent Brooks Tmp.

PLATE LV.

ADIANTUM MACROPHYLLUM, Sw.
Large-leaved Adiantum.

(§ Euadiantum) macrophyllum; caudice subterraneo brevi-repente, frondibus pinnatis submembranaceis firmis inferioribus prsecipue oppositis sessilibus vel brevissime petiolatis subtus glaucescentibus (junioribus purpureo-rubris), sterilibus cordato-ovatis acuminatis sublobatis serratisve, fertilibus angustioribus subrhombeis basi oblique angulato-cuneatis, costa subnulla, venis flabellatis
omnibus liberis dichotomis, soris linearibus continuis vel magis minusve interruptis, stipite raehique
aterrimis ebeneis.

ADIANTUM

macrophyllum. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 122. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 429. H.B.K. JSfov. Gen. Am. v. 1.
p. 16, et 1. t. 666. Hook, et Grev. le. Fil. t. 132. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 2. p. 3. J. Sni. Cat. Kew
Ferns, p. 4; Gat. Cult. Ferns, p. 33.
Adiantum simplex aut vix divisum, caule tereti, foliis amplis triangularibus impetiolatis. Br. Jam. p. 87.
t. 38. f. 1 (sterile pinnce).

ADIANTUM

Trichomanes majus nigrum, pinnis trapezii figura latissimis tenuibus. Shane, Cat. v. 17. n. 1. p. 81.
JEAB.

Jamaica, Browne, Shane, Wiles, etc. etc., and probably in most of the other West India Islands,
though it is remarkable that it is not noticed by Plumier. We have ourselves indeed received
it from Guadaloupe, M. Beaupertuis, and Cuba, O. Wright, n. 874. Columbia, Moritz. Santa
Martha, Sclilim, n. 915, Funck, n. 438, Linden, n. 1494. Central America, west coast, Barclay.
Yera Cruz, Mexico, Galeotti, n. 6278. Woods, Canta-Gallo, Brazil, Gardner, n. 5932. Cultivated
in Kew Gardens, etc.

The caudex is short but repent, scarcely rising above the surface of the ground. Fronds
from a span to a foot and a half or two feet long, pinnated with from 7 to 15-17 large, glabrous, submembranaceous, mostly opposite, sessile or very shortly petiolate pinnae, varying in length from two
to four and a half inches in our largest specimens, varying much also in shape: the sterile ones are
the most membranaceous and the largest, more uniform and less angled, generally broad, subcordatoovate, acuminate, more or less lobed at the margin, and serrated; the fertile ones are narrower, the
lowest pair commonly truncate and somewhat hastate at the base, often deflexed; intermediate ones
subfalcate, obliquely cuneate at the base, so that the form is subrhomboidal, acutely angled, somewhat auriculate: the uppermost pinna is petiolate, rhomboid, with an acute angle below the middle
on each side, or it is broad hastate, or three-lobed: all are destitute of distinct costa. The veins,
very slender, commence at the point of junction with the petiole, diverge in a flabellate manner, in
repeated close-placed dichotomies or forks towards the margin. Sori narrow, linear, brown, membranous, continuous or, more rarely, towards the apex, interrupted, eventually reflexed and exhibiting
the capsules covering their under side. Stipites about as long as the fronds, rather stout, and, as
well as the rachis and petiole, jet black, ebeneous, glossy.
The various species of Adiantum are great favourites among cultivators, in consequence of their
graceful forms, the delicate nature of the pinnae, and their glossy black stalks, which contrast well
with the bright green of the foliage. If the present fine species wants the pale bright and tender
green, and the slender thread-like stalks of the well-known Ad. Capillus- Veneris, that loss is amply
DESCR.

compensated by the large size and peculiar forms of the pinnse in this, and especially by the rich redpurple colour of the young fronds, gradually becoming a bright and deep green as they advance to
maturity. The involucres exhibit a peculiarity not common to the genus Adiantum, where the involucres are usually small and rounded or kidney-shaped, having their origin in a little cleft or notch
in the margin of the pinnse: here, and in a few other species, they are continuous, sometimes for
the whole length of the margin, and the plant might, at first sight, be supposed to be a Pteris, or
rather a Pellcea (Allosorus, Pr.), but a more careful inspection will show that the sori originate on
the involucre itself, as seen at Fig. 1. It is an old inhabitant of the stoves of Kew, having been introduced from Jamaica by Rear-Admiral William Bligh, in 1793.

PLATE LV. represents a young sterile frond and a mature fertile one of Adiantum macrophyllum, nat.
size. Pig. 1. Portion of a pinnule, showing the venation and involucre, on the under side of which the
capsules are produced, magnified.

"WHteh
"Vincent Hcoofes Ixnp.

PLATE

LVI.

SELAGINELLA PCEPPIGIANA, Spring.
Dr. Pceppig's Selaginella.

SELAGIITELLA Poeppigiana; caule elongato ascendente tripinnatim ramoso infra axillas ramorum copiose
longissime radicante, foliis caulinis remotis ramorum approximatis subimbricatis omnibus oblique
patentibus oblongo-ovatis acutis obtusisve minutissime denticulatis costatis basi subcordata ciliata,
stipulis multo minoribus cordatis appressis apice subito aristato-acuminatis serrulatis infra medium
ciliatis dorso costato-carinatis basi utrinque deorsum auriculatis, spiculis in ramulos breves terminalibus 2-3 lineas longis linearibus tetragonis, bracteis ovatis brevi-acuminatis concavo-carinatis
serrulatis.
SELAGINELLA Poeppigiana. Spring in Bot. Zeit. 1838. v. 1. p. 185.
Miguel, Sert. Exot. p. 1. t. 1.

Monogr. Lycop. Pars II. p. 217.

LYCOPODITTM Pceppigianum. Eook. et Grev. in Bot. Misc. v. B.p. 106. (not v. 2. p. 392). Kze. Synops. in
Linncea, 1854. p. 11.
LTCOPODIUM stoloniferum. Hook, et Grev. En. Ml. in Bot. Misc. v. 2. p. 392 (not Sw.).
LYCOPODITJM marginatum. Presl, Beliq. Scenic, v. 1. p. 78.
LTCOPODIUM sulcatum? Kunze, Ml. Leibold, in Linncea, v. 1 8 . p . 304 (not Desv.).
H A B . Tropical America: Peru, Mathews, Peeppig, Hcenlce, JDombey; Bolivia, D'Orbigny, (Spring)-, Guiana,
Le Prieur, Parker, Splitzgerber ; Mexico, Schiede and Deppe; Brazil, Gmllemin.
Cultivated at
Kew, etc.

DESCR. W e shall confine our description to t h e living plant from which our drawing was made, as
grown in pots in a moist stove. I t forms large but lax patches or tufts, of which the stems, scarcely
a foot long, rise upward from the ground (not decumbent, but ascending), with main stems about as
thick as a small crow-quill, pale yellow-green, firm, subterete, sending down roots from various parts
of the under side, always, I believe, from near the fork of a b r a n c h ; these roots are about as thick as
pack-thread, firm in texture, several inches long, filiform, pale green, branched mostly towards t h e
extremities, the longest of these taking root in the soil; others often do not touch the g r o u n d : they
are so copious as to give a peculiar feature to the mass of p l a n t s ; branches most copious towards the
extremity of the main stem, tri- and even quadri-pinnate. Leaves bifarious, springing alternately
b u t rather distantly on the main stem from beneath, but near the sides, patent (by no means horizontally so), sessile, oblong-ovate, obtuse or acute, costate, the margins finely serrated, the base cordate,
the superior base dilated and slightly ciliated : on the upper side are the stipules ("folia intermedia" of
Spring), alternate and alternating with the leaves, four or five times smaller, of the same pale-green
colour and texture as t h e leaves, closely pressed on the stem or branches, cordate, suddenly and
spinulosely acuminated, serrated (to the point), the lower half ciliated at t h e margin, costate, t h e
base with a small rounded ear or descending lobe on each side the point of insertion. Spikelets terminal on the smaller branches, two to three lines long, linear, four-sided; t h a t is, t h e bracts which

are concave and carinated and costate are imbricated in four rows, and in the axis of each bract,
which is serrulate but not ciliated, is a nearly globose, compressed, bivalved capsule, containing a
minute powdery substance.
Of the old genus Lycopodium there are two extensive groups or sections:—1st, such as have only
one kind of fructification, and the foliage generally uniform and with a moss-like character (Musciformia, as Spring terms them), of which we have given a very fine example at our Plate X X I I I .
(Lycopodium ulicifolium, Vent.); and 2nd, those with two kinds of fructification, and the leaves
generally in four rows, of which the two superior are smaller and differently shaped from the rest
(here called stipules), of which we now give an example in the accompanying Plate. The latter have
often the appearance of Jungermannia, or, being more leafy and herbaceous than the former section,
are Fern-like (Jungermannoidece and Filicoidece of Spring). These differences have led to a distinction
into genera. To the first the term Lycopodium is retained, and to the latter Spring has given the
name Selaginella of Palisot de Beauvois. Of Lycopodium 101 species, of Selaginella no less than
209, are enumerated in Spring's valuable c Monographic des Lycopodiacees/ published in vol. xv. of
the Memoires de F Academic Royale de Bruxelles.
We possess several true Lycopodia in temperate climates, even in England. Of Selaginella we
have only one, our little Lycopodium selaginoides, Linn., which extends even to the Polar regions (and
that is an abnormal form of this group), while there are 148 kinds found within the tropics!
The species of the genus now specially under consideration are extremely difficult to determine
accurately, partly owing to the minuteness of the foliage and its liability to vary, and partly owing
to imperfect descriptions. We ourselves,* in vol. ii. of the ' Botanical Miscellany/ mistook this plant
for the true Selaginella stolonifera of Sw., and afterwards corrected our error in the following
volume, p. 106. It is indeed, we believe, commonly cultivated in stoves under that name, and not
under that alone, for, from different garden establishments we have received what we consider to be
the same species under the names of S. formosa, S. robusta, and S. scandens. This species is very
handsome and easy of cultivation, and remarkable for the numerous stout roots it sends down without
running upon the ground, which, when they do reach the ground, seem to serve for props for the
stems. MiqueFs figure above quoted well represents our plant of the natural size, but the magnified
stipules are very defective.

PLATE LVI.—Plant, nat. size. Pig. 1, Apex of a branch with fertile spikes. 2. Upper side of a portion of a branch, with leaves and stipules. 3. Under side of the same portion. 4. A stipule. 5. Bract
from a fertile spike, including a bivalved capsule:—magnified.

* Hooker and Greville, l Enumeratio Pilicum,' Part I.

LYOOPODI^EJE.

PLATE

LVIL

DAVALLIA SOLIDA, Sw.
Firm-leaved Davallia.

DAVALLIA (§ Eudavallia) solida; caudice longe repente crasso squamis lanceolatis longe ciliatis dense imbricatis tecto, fronde triangulari acuminata ampla coriacea nitida tri-subquadripinnata, pinnis latolanceolatis acuminatis, pinnulis trapeziiformi-acuminatis pinnatifidis parallelo-venosis, terminalibus in
acumen crenatoserratum coadunatis, involucris frondis dente omnino immersis oblongis tubulosis?
stipite elongato nitido nudo.
DAVALLIA solida. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 132. t. 345. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 470. Schk. Fil. t. 126.
Fil. J. Sm. Gat. Kew Ferns, p. 7. Brackenr. in Fil. of TJ. S. Fxpl. Exp. p. 344.

Hook. Sp.

TKICHOMAKES solidum. Forst. Prodr. p. 86.
/3. latifolia; pinnulis majoribus. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. l.p.
lobus ornatus (name only), Pr.

163. t.4<2B.

D. ornata, Wall. Cat. n. 246. Steno-

y. caudata; pinnulis angustioribus, apicibus pinnularum caudato-acuminatis. Hook. Sp. Fil. I.e. D. caudata,
Wall. Cat. n. 2220 ; an Cav. Prcel. 1801 ? (v. Sw. Fil. p. 346.) Stenolobus Kunzeanus, Pr. Tent.
Pterid. p. 130. t> 4 . / . 30 (name and fragment only figured). D. solida, var. lacera, El. Fn. Fil. Jav.
p. 234.
H A B . Pacific Islands, Forster.
Otaheite, Menzies, Nightingale.
New Ireland, Barclay. Tongatabu, Society and Samoan Islands, Brackenridge,
Solomon's Group and New Hebrides, Milne, in Voy. of
H.M.S. Herald. Malay Islands (especially the var. latifolia), Pulo Binding, and Singapore, Wallich. Java, Blume, Titos. Lobb. Luzon, Cuming, n. 78.—VAR. caudata, Singapore, Wallich. Java,
Blume. Feejee Islands, Br. Harvey.
Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. Caudex long, stout, as thick as the h u m a n finger, branched, creeping upon the surface of
the ground, and rooting here and there by means of fibrous radicles, clothed with a dense mass of imbricated, subulate, copiously ciliato-fimbriated, compact scales, of a pale brown colour, broad, and of a
firm texture at the base, and there glossy black; in age all decays away except the black, slightlymargined, blunt bases, resembling the very compact scales of a snake. Stipites long, 1 - 2 \ and more
feet, stout, glossy, erect, remote on the caudex, perfectly glabrous and free from scales, glossy, jointed
upon a scaly tubercle of the caudex. Frond 1-2 feet and more long, almost as broad at the base,
coriaceous, glossy, glabrous, triangular (subpedate), acuminate, bi- tri- rarely quadri-pinnate. Pinnce
spreading, petiolate, broad-lanceolate, acuminate; pinnules rhombeo-lanceolate, pinnatifid, acuminate
(sterile ones always larger, and less deeply divided); segments entire or more or less toothed, unequally cuneate at the base, and sessile; terminal ones confluent into a crenato-serrated apex. Veins
all forked, parallel, and approximate. Sort sunk entirely within a lobe or tooth, terminating a vein.
Involucre oblong, tubular, coriaceous, truncated and entire at the mouth, winged as it were on the
outside with the margin of the frond, sometimes toothleted by a prolongation of the tooth or lobe
beyond the mouth of the involucre. Capsules protruding, when mature, a little beyond the mouth of
the involucre, attached to the receptacle at the base within by pedicels equal in length to the tube.

It is nothing new to say of a Fern that it is very variable; but such is eminently the case with
this fine species, an inhabitant, as far as we at present know, exclusively of the tropical islands of the
Pacific. Brackenridge remarks, and I have no doubt justly: " The great variety of forms which
this species assumes in the divisions of the fronds, and the length of the indusium, is more or less
the result of local causes. Those plants inhabiting arid and rocky places, growing on trees, or overhanging the scorching coral shores of those islands, produce small, compact, and very coriaceous
fronds, with an indusium usually longer than in the individuals inhabiting forest regions, where the
atmosphere is humid: in such localities the fronds are much larger, flaccid, and more compound.
Our var. S, although a wide removal from the usual form of the species, approaches the var. /3 latifolia of Hooker's c Species Filicum;' but the fronds are much smaller, and the indusium longer."
Still it is, as a species, by no means difficult of recognition. Mr. J. Smith has in cultivation what he
is disposed to consider a distinct species; it is smaller and of a less coriaceous texture, and the caudex
or rhizome is clothed with more lax ferruginous scales. I have observed however the same kind of
difference, as far as the caudex is concerned, in the subject of the next Plate (LVIIL, Oleandra neriiformis), and even in my native specimen of the present plant, and am not disposed to lay much
stress on such a character. The fertile fronds or pinnae are always narrower in proportion than the
sterile ones, a character that holds good in most Ferns.

Plate LVII. exhibits a caudex, base of stipes, and a portion of a sterile and of a fertile frond, nat. size.
Fig. 1, Segment of a pinnule, with sori; one involucre cut through vertically to exhibit the long, pedicellate
capsules, attached to the receptacle at the very base of the involucre; magnified.

Rate ZYIII.

•W.Btdiaa.«fcli£K.

Tftncoit Brooke icon.

PLATE

LVIII.

OLEANDBA NERIIFORMIS, Cav.
Rosebay-leaved Oleandra.
neriiformis; caudicibus valde elongatis ramosis arete hnbricato-paleaceis hie illic nodosis aliis
repentibus tortuosis longe radicantibus aliis ascendentibus vel etiam erectis frondiferis, frondibus
]breviter stipitatis ternim-quaternimve verticillatis oblongo-lanceolatis aeuminatis papyraceo-coriaeeis
nitidis aeuminatis glabris vel subtus magis minusve pilosis, stipite (seniiunciam longo) paree squamoso ad basin nodoso-articulato, soris prope costam in seriem continuam subnexuosam, involucris
exacte reniformibus.

OLEANDRA

neriiformis. " Cav. Brcel. 1801. n. 623. et Sort. Beg. Madrit. cum Tab" (Sw.).
Kew Ferns, p. 7; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 63. Brackenr. Fil. U.S. Fxpl. Fxped. p. 213.

OLEANDRA

OLEANDRA

J. Sm. Cat.

neriifolia. Bresl, Tent. Bterid.p. 78.

OPHIOPTERIS

verticillata. Beinw. Syllog. Batisb. v. 2. p. 3 (Bl.).

neriiforme. Sw. Syn. Fil. pp. 42, 237. Willi. Sp. Bl v. 5. p. 212. Bl. Fn. Fil. Jav. p. 140.
Kunze, Schkuhr, Fil. Suppl. v. l.p. 25. t. 18.

ASPIDIUM

ASPIDIUM

subcostale. Wall. Kerb. 1823.

ASPIDIUM

Wallichianum. Belang. et Bory, Ind. Or. Crypt.p. 56. t. 9 (non Hook.).

HAB. Tropical and Subtropical Asia: Java, Thunberg, Blume, Beinwardt, Belanger; Luzon, Nee, Cuming,
n. 94; Mishmee, Assam, Griffith; Khasya, and as far north as Sikkim, Hook. fil. and Thomson; Nepal,
Wallich (Aspid. subcostale, Wall. Herb. olim). Ovalau and Feejee Islands, Brachenridge, Milne in
Voy. of H.M.S. Herald. Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. This will be taken exclusively from our fine living plant in the stove, which exactly
accords with the 0. neriiformis of Kunze. Caudices of a very peculiar character, for they are very long
(three, four, or five feet) and numerous, and intertwined like a cluster of snakes, branched, as thick
as one's little finger, here and there nodose, covered with the bases or remains of scales in the older
portions, black and glossy; in the young shoots with subulate, ciliated, reddish, appressed scales, sometimes forming a tuft at the very apex; of these caudices some lie more or less close to the ground,
and throw out long, branching, wiry roots, thicker than packthread, while others are ascending or
almost erect, occasionally rooting, bearing the fronds. These fronds are from a span to ten inches
long, subverticillate, in threes or fours at or near the apex of the young terminal shoots, or from
short, lateral, scaly branches, papyraceo-membranaeeous, bright yellowish-green, entire, costate,
glabrous, or a little villous below and ciliated at the margin, lanceolate, rather broader above the
middle, acuminate, moderately attenuated at the base into a short, more or less scaly stipes,
scarcely half an inch long, and nodose and jointed at the base; the joint is generally concealed by the
scales of the caudex which surround i t ; costa moderately stout, pale green, as is the stipes. Veins
copious, parallel, almost horizontally patent, simple or twice or thrice forked a little above the base
and extending to the margin, where they reach to the slight cartilaginous edge; but it can scarcely be
said they unite so as to form a longitudinal vein. Sort copious near the base of the veins, but gene.

rally at some little distance from the costa, one on each cluster of veins, and placed with so much
regularity as to form an almost uninterrupted line or series, straight or a little waved, at a little
distance from the base to within an inch of the point. Involucres exactly reniform, orange-brown,
as well as the capsules, in our plant placed horizontally (or transversely) with great regularity, so that
the centre of their opening is towards the apex of the frond. Others of our specimens (native ones)
depart from this uniformity of direction.
I have been almost tempted to refer to this original Oleandra of Cavanilles other supposed species,
some from widely different countries, but the difficulty would be to know where to stop; and I confess
to some doubts as to some of my herbarium specimens which I have referred hither, for they differ
in size and shape and texture of fronds, and in some the sori are placed as close to the costa as in
the Oleandra Wallichii (Aspidium, Hook. Ex. Flora, t. 1). My copious specimens require more
study than I can now devote to them before it is possible to come to any correct conclusion respecting
the limits of the species of this genus. Perhaps one of the most characteristic marks of the present
one is to be found in the short stipes jointed on to the caudex or to a spur of the caudex.
All the kinds have the same general peculiarity of structure, and Brackenridge observes of the
species of the Feejee Islands, which he considers to be identical with O. neriiformis (though it has
probably as much claim to be considered 0. Wallichii) : " There is not perhaps among the whole
family of Ferns a more remarkable or striking species than this: its peculiar hard, erect, branching
rootstock, bearing its leaves or fronds in tufts at the extremities, reminding one, in the living state,
more of a Nerium Oleander (whence I suppose Cavanilles derived his generic name) or a Willow than
a Fern." This is at least a natural genus, and if the jointed fronds and the position of the nephrodioid sori be considered, it is easily recognized.

Our Plate, L'VTIL, represents a portion of a lower and rooting and frondless caudex, together with that
of a nearly erect and frondiferous caudex, nat. size. Fig. 2. Section from a fertile frond, seen from beneath,
with sori, magnified.

Rate, III.

WRteh 41.et]ith

PLATE

LIX.

POLYPODIUM PERCUSSUM, Cav.
Sharp-pointed Polypody.

POLTPODIUM (§Drynaria) percussum; caudice elongato subfiliformi ramoso imbricatim paleaceo fronde
simplici lanceolata coriacea anguste acuminata basi in stipitem 3-4-uncialem attenuata subtus prsecipue
squamulosa pallida, venis ubique anastomosantibus, soris ovalibus rotundatisve pulvinafcis seriatim dispositis, junioribus squamis peltatis deciduis tectis, capsulis sublonge stipitatis paraphysibus articulatis
immixtis.
POLTPODIUM percussum. Cav. Prcel. 1 8 0 1 , ^ . 243. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 26. Wllld. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 157. Langsd.
et Fisch. Ic.p. 8. t. 6. Mettenius, Fil. Sort. Zips. p. 36. t. 25. f. 3 (venation only) ; Poly pod. p. 90.
PLEOPELTIS percussa. Hook, et Qrev. Ic. Fil. t. 67.
Ferns, p.l-, Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 5.

Thos. Moore, Ind. Fil. p. Ixxvii.

J. Sm. Cat. Kew

PHLEBODITJM percussum. J. Sm. in Hook. JBot. Jour. v. 4. p. 59.
DRTNARIA (§ Pleopeltis) percussa. Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 270.
POLTPODIUM cuspidatum. Fr. Beliq. Hcenk.p. 20. f. 3.
POLTPODIUM avenium. Desv. Journ. Bot. v. 4<.p. 249. t. 41.
POLTPODIUM stigmaticum. Fresl, Beliq. Hcenk.p. 20, t. B.f. 2.
H A B . Abundant in tropical America: Peru, Cavanilles, Hcenke, Buiz and Favon {Herb. Nostr.),
Maclean,
Mathews, n. 1837 ; Brazil, frequent, Baddi, Spruce (Amazon), Gardner, Sellow, etc. etc.; Caracas and
New Granada, Fur die, Fendler, n. 250, Holton, n. 32, Linden, n. 536; Berbice, Schomburgk; Galapagos,
Capt. Wood, B.N.
Cultivated in Kew Gardens, etc.

DESCR. This Fern has the long, creeping, branched caudew, too stout to be strictly called filiform,
rather thickly imbricated with lanceolato-subulate scales, rooting from beneath. Fronds scattered,
distantly placed on the caudex, a span to nearly a foot in length, coriaceous, lanceolate, rather broad,
undivided, tapering suddenly into a narrow acumen, attenuated at t h e base, partially clothed above,
but more so beneath with ovate or lanceolate peltate, small, entire or erose scales; these scales are
largest among the sori, which they thickly cover in their early formation, but are quite deciduous as
the sori become mature. Veins all anastomosing into subhexagonal meshes, very irregular, yet some
series of them seemed to be arranged symmetrically, so t h a t a compound areole may be said to be
formed, in the centre of which the sorus is placed, and which is densely pulvinate from the quantity
of paraphyses or abortive capsules mixed with the perfect ones. The sori are produced at the union
of two or more veins, and sunk into a cavity, the formation of which causes a corresponding elevation
of the frond on the upper side: while immature more or less covered with peltate scales, as just
observed, and arranged at pretty nearly equal distances, in two lines, one on each side (but rather
remote from) the costa. Capsules on long pedicels. Paraphyses
(or abortive capsules) somewhat
club-shaped, jointed, generally overtopping the capsules.
W h e n Humboldt and Bonpland constituted the genus Pleopeltis in their Nov. Gen. et Spec.

Plant. Americ, founded on the presence of numerous scales, forming a cover to the sori, we, as well
as others, adopted the genus; but we now quite agree with M. Fee, who says, " Nous n'avons pas
cru possible de les imiter, autrement il aurait fallu donner aux sporangiastres, et aux poils, une importance quails ne peuvent avoir." M. Pee unites it (making however a section of it) with Drynaria,
with which it sufficiently accords.
As a species it is remarkable for the almost cuspidate points of the fronds. All the sori are sunk
in a hollow or cavity, which occasions a corresponding prominence on the upper side, looking like an
impression stamped upon it, hence Cavanilles* specific name of percussum.

Plate LIX. represents the caudex of Polypodiim (Drynaria) percussum, nat. size. Pig. 1. Scales from
the caudex. 2. Portion of a frond, with sori, seen*from beneath, 3, Sori and paraphyses \—magnified.

PLATE LX.

NEPHROLEPIS DAVALLIOIDES, Kze.
Davallia-Mke Nephrolepis.
davallioides; caudice nullo vel brevissimo stolonifero, frondibus amplis longe stipitatis esespitosis coriaceo-membranaceis ovato-lanceolatis glabris pinnatis, pinnis subsessilibus articulatis, inferioribus sterilibus lanceolatis acuminatis obtuse serratis basi oblique cuneatis, reliquis fertilibus
angustioribus pinnatifidis laciniis obtusis apice unisoris, stipitibus rachibusque subtus partialiter
hispido-paleaceis.

NEPHEOLEPIS

davallioides. Kze. in JBot. Zeit. v. 4i.p. 460. Metten. Ml. Hort. Fot. Lips. p. 100. J. Sm. Cat.
Kew Ferns, p. 7; Gat. Cult. Ferns, p. 63.

NEPHEOLEPIS

davallioides. Sw. Syn. Fil.p. 48 et 247. Willd. Sp. Fl. v. 5. p. 242. Flume, Enum. Fil. Jav.
p. 148. KooTc. Ic. Fl. (§ Nephrolepis) v. 4. t. 395-6.

ASPIDIUM

OPHIOGLOSSUM

acuminatum. Routt. Linn. Ffl. Syst. v. 10. p. 53. t. 94./. 3.

HAB. AS far as we yet know, this Fern has only been found in the mountains of Java, by Thunlerg, Flume,
CJias. Millett, Esq., and Mr. TTios. Ldbb (Collector for Messrs. Yeitch and Sons). Cultivated in the
Dutch Gardens, and at Kew.

Caudex none. Root fibrous, and sending forth filiform stolones of some length, which
are radicant and bear new fronds. Stipites few from one root, rather stout, a foot or more long,
channelled in front, setosely scaly at the base only. Fronds two or more feet long, ovate-oblong, acuminate, pinnated; lower pinnae barren, upper ones fertile, all of them patent, nearly sessile, articulated
upon the rachis,|four to six or eight inches long, oblong- or linear-lanceolate, acuminate. Sterile
pinnce the broadest, and simply but coarsely serrated at the margin; fertile ones narrow, pinnatifid
almost to the apex, and for one-third or halfway down to the costa. Segments oblong or oval, obtuse,
soriferous, monosorous; Veins rather distant, once or twice forked, terminating below the margin,
and clavate at the apex. Sorus (as in the genus) terminating a vein or veinlet, just within the apex
of a lobe. Involucre short, reniform, almost as broad as the lobe.
We have already, when remarking on the Aspidium (so named provisionally) deparioides, Plate
I I I . of this Work, alluded to the peculiarity of that Fern in having the involucres placed solitary at
the apex of a vein, and of the narrow segments or marginal teeth of the pinnules: in short, that
plant is Nephrodimn (Mich, and Br.) with the sori terminal on the veins, as in Nephrolepis, but differing from the latter genus in habit and in the inarticulate pinnules: and if it be doing too great a
violence to nature to unite it with Nephrolepis, it may form a section of Nephrodium, called "Acrosori"
Nephrodium (§ Acrosori) deparioides. Our present Fern further accords with that in the monosorous
teeth; and there is an approach to that structure also in the Aspidium (Nephrolepis) floccigerum of
Blume, equally a plant of Java, in which however the teeth or segments are shorter, and the sori not so
exactly terminal upon them. All these three plants have, in their fructification, a considerable affinity
with the Davallia and Dicksonia groups of Ferns, a circumstance that did not escape the notice of the
accurate Swartz, when he described our present species, I.e.: "Filix omnium Aspidiorum maxime singularis, cujus sori ad apicem laciniarum frondis rotundatum concaviusculum, indusio quasi duplici tecti,
DESCR.

Davallice et Dicksonim speciem referunt." I have myself, too, had occasion (see ( Species Filicum/
p. 150) to allude to the close affinity of certain Davallice (2). Imrayana for example) to Nephrolepis of
Schott; and again, Mr. J. Smith, in his many excellent remarks in his ' Genera of Ferns/ published
in the ' Journal of Botany y for 1841, says of this genus: "Although the habit is very distinct from
either Lastrea or Polystichum, yet the terminal sori and form of the indusium are also common to
some species of those two genera; but the articulated petiole of Nephrolepis clearly indicates its being
a distinct genus, evidently however forming a transition from Aspidiece to the Dicksoniece through the
genus Humata."
On the whole I am disposed to retain Nephrolepis as a genus. Its habit is very peculiar; several
species are found dispersed over the tropical world; all yet known have simply pinnated fronds,
fibrous, very hard and wiry roots, no distinct caudex, but they increase and extend themselves by
means of filiform stolones, which send up new tufts of fronds from different distances. It is, in
short, a genus very easily recognized.

Plate LX. represents a fertile frond, nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile pinna, showing the venation.
2. Portion of fertile pinna, seen from beneath, showing the venation, and showing the sorus, terminating a
vein and situated at the apex of a tooth or segment:—magnified.

FLat&ZM.

"Tmcent Itrooks I m p .

W.fitdh aeLetith..

PLATE LXI.

ASPLENIUM SINUATUM, Beauv.
Sinuated Spleenwort.
(§ Euasplenium) sinuatum ; caudice nullo, frondibus fasciculatis sesquipedalibus coriaceis latolanceolatis vix acuminatis integerrimis subsinuatis basi sensim in stipitem breviusculum aterrimum
nitidum semiteretem antice canaliculatum attenuatis, costa inferne dorso planiuscula superne insigniter elevata leviter canaliculata, soris linearibus angustissimis e basi fere venaruin ultra medium
extendentibus.

ASPLENITTM

ASPLENIUM

sinuatum. Beauv. Fl. d'Oware et de Ben. v. 2. p. 33. t. 79./. 1.

HAB. Oware, tropical "Western Africa, Balisot de Beauvois. Eiver Nun, Vogel (Trotter's Niger Expedition) , n. 45. Fernando Po, Vogel, n. 129; on Oil-Palms (JElais Q-uineensis), Barter, in Baikie's
Second Niger Expedition. Cultivated in Kew Gardens, and in the Apothecary Company's Physic
Garden, Chelsea, under Mr. T. Moore.

DESCR. This Pern grows in so densely tufted a manner that at the very base there is
such a union of stipites and of the fibrous roots, as to form a short pseudo-caudeat. Fronds about
one and a half foot long, simple, erect, coriaceous, bright-green, somewhat glossy, paler beneath,
broad lanceolate, the broadest part above the middle, acute rather than acuminate, the margin occasionally a little sinuate (otherwise quite entire), with a cartilaginous edge, the base gradually
attenuated and decurrent into a semi-terete, canaliculated, black, glossy stipes, free from scales (in age),
except a very few subulate or bristle-shaped ones where it springs from the roots. Costa stout, at
the back it is unusually flattened or depressed and black below, the rest green: in front the costa is
almost wholly green, and singularly prominent for nearly the whole length, below especially forming
quite an elevated ridge, channelled (like the stipes) on the top, but gradually losing the groove from
below the middle upwards (the forms of the costa above are clearly shown at our Plate LXI.,
in the transverse section of the fronds, natural size, attached to the roots: and higher up the frond, at
Fig. 1, magnified). Veins very patent, but not horizontal, rarely simple, generally forked near the
base, and often again above the middle, rather close-placed, terminating in a clubbed apex a little
within the margin. Sori long, linear, very slender, copious, commencing near the base of the veins,
and extending beyond the middle, all terminating at nearly equal distances from the margin.
Involucre very narrow, entire, thin, membranaceous.
If this were a West Indian, instead of a tropical African Fern, it would probably have
been passed by as Asplenium serratum, L., or Aspl. crenulatum, Pr. (A. Nidus, Raddi, not L.),
if indeed the two be really different. M. Palisot de Beauvois however made a distinct species
of the present, under the not very appropriate name of A. sinuatum (for perfect specimens are
scarcely sinuated at the margin), drawing the principal distinctive character from the entire, not
serrated or crenated margin of the frond. We have seen specimens of the West Indian type nearly,
if not quite, entire at the margin: and we have been bound to look for other characters; and there
certainly is a peculiarity in the lower part of the costa, for it is singularly depressed or flattened at the

back, and is remarkably elevated on the opposite or superior side, as shown in the transverse
sections of our figures. This is constant and very conspicuous in the living plants, both in those
received from Dr. Vogel and more recently from Mr. Barter. I t is the reverse in AspL serratum
and AspL crenulatum, where the back of the cost a is prominent, and the front depressed. There is
reason to suppose therefore that such a character is permanent, and, taken in conjunction with the
integrity of the margin, sufficient to justify us in considering it a good species.

Plate LXI. exhibits fertile fronds of Asplenium sinuatwm; and transverse sections made at a little
above the stipes where the peculiarity of the costa is best seen, nab. size. Fig. 1. Transverse section of
a frond with sori, seen from beneath, and also showing the nature of the costa on the superior side in a
section someway above the base of the frond, magnified.

Bate, IM.

WHtdidfiLetlith.

^/incerct Brooks hym.

PLATE LXII.

NEPHRODIUM JAVANICUM, Hook.
Javanese Nephrodium.

(§ Eunephrodium) Javanicum; caudice subnullo, frondibus csespitosis amplis subcoriaceis
villosis ciliatis circumscriptione ovato-oblongis caudato-acuminatis inferne attenuatis pinnatis subtus glandulosis, pinnis sessilibus lineari-acuminatis ultra medium pinnatifidis apice integerrimis,
lobis ovatis marginibus ssepe renexis integerrimis, pinnis summis integris confluentibus infimis hrevibus triangulari-acuminatis basi pinnatifidis, venis 2-3 inferioribus unitis, soris copiosis prope
medium venarum, involucris membranaceis hippocrepicis sinu profundo villoso marginibus glanduloso-pilosis demum reflexo-conduplicatis, stipitibus robustis basi dorso marginibusque squamosociliatis.

NEPHEODITJM

Javanica. Br. M88. J. 8m. Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 55. T. Moore, Ind. Fil. p. Ivii.
Fil. Sort. Bot. Lips. p. 96. pi. 18. f. 13 (involucre only, excellent).

MESOCHL^NA

MESOCHLJENA

Metten.

asplenioides. J. 8m. in Gen. of Ferns, p. 77. T. Moore, Ind. Fil. p. Ivii.

SPHJEEOSTEPHA^OS

asplenioides. J. 8mith, in Hooh. Gen. Fil. t. 24 (figure, by Bauer, very faulty).

STEGKOGEAMME Mesochlsena. Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 204 (but not a Stegnogramme of Bl.).
POLYPODIUM caudigerum. Wall. Cat. n. 298.
POLTPODITJM villosum. Wall. Kerb. 1823.
ASPIDIUM

polycarpum. Bl. Fn. Fil. Jav.p. 156 (specini. ex Herb. Lugd. Batav.).

ASPIDITJM

brachyotum. Bl. M88. (specim. ex Kerb. Ludg. Batav.).

LASTEEA

microchlamys. Be Vriese, M88. (ex Kerb. Be Vriese).

HAB. Malay Islands: Java, Blume, Be Vriese, Millett. Singapore and Penang, Wallich, G. Porter, 8ir W.
Norris. Island of Nusa Kambagan, Blwne. Molucca, Brown, in Kerb. CarmicJiael. Cultivated
at Kew, etc.

DESCR. The fine fronds of this Fern rise boldly with their stipites in tufts directly from the root,
with no visible caudex. While young and still involute they are copiously covered with scales; when
fully developed the scales are confined to the back and margin of the base of the stout stipites. The
frond itself is two feet and more long, broad, oval-lanceolate, coriaceous, hairy, especially beneath,
where are also copious, sessile, pellucid, globular glands; the apex suddenly caudato-acuminate, the
base as suddenly contracted, pinnated. Pinna sessile, patent, five or six inches to a span long, linear,
gradually and finely acuminated, the apices entire, the rest pinnatifid more than halfway down; segments ovate; uppermost pinna entire and confluent; lowest pinna contracted and gradually lessening
downwards, triangular, acuminate, pinnatifid with few segments at the base. Veins stout, rigid, lowest
opposite pinnae below the sinus uniting at an angle, and forming there a kind of costule. Sori at first
nearly orbicular, afterwards oblong. Involucre very thin, membranaceous, fringed with subulate hairs,
glandular at the points; the form is hippocrepic, that of a horse-shoe; the deep sinus bearing several

long hairs and attached to near the middle of the veins; in age the sides are forced up by the increasing number of capsules, so as to meet at the back and they form a kind of crest in the centre of the
now elongated sorus.
It is with no small pleasure that I am enabled, from recent specimens in the most perfect state
of fructification, to settle the conflicting accounts that have been given of this fine Malayan Fern, of
which the fructification, with the exception of the recent figure of Mettenius, has been figured from
old specimens, where the sori have been altered by the concealment altogether of the involucre from
the increase of the capsules and spores, or by the altered form of the delicate involucre in age and
by the pressure of the capsules upon it.
The first account, as far as I know, of the fructification of this Fern, is among the many important observations on Ferns given by Mr. Brown in the (Plantse Javanicse Rariores.' " Lastrea,"
he remarks, (c even may be considered as approaching in affinity rather more nearly to that section of
Nephrodium which M. Gaudichaud has separated under the generic name of Polystichum, than to
any subdivision of Polypodium,—an approximation which appears to be more than confirmed by more
than one Fern, entirely agreeing in habit, in undivided veins, and lateral fructification, with the group
of Nephrodium, but having a short linear sorus, with an indusium of corresponding form, inserted by
its longitudinal axis in the middle of the sorus. To this group the name of Mesochlcena may be
given; and though in general appearance it is abundantly different from Didymochlcena, it can only
be distinguished from that genus, according to my view of the structure of its indusium, by its simple
veins and lateral sori."
I n 1828 appeared Dr. Blume's En. Fil. Jav., where a Fern is published under the name of
Stegnogramme, resembling this in the venation; but, in describing the indusium of which, the
author afterwards acknowledged he was in error, and he subsequently figured and described the
plant as a Gymnogramme in his splendid c Filices Javanicse.' While the c Genera Filicum' was in
course of publication, Mr. J. Smith communicated to the author, together with a drawing by Mr.
Bauer, the account of his genus Sphcerostephanos, which appeared at t. 28 of that work, and he
alluded to its affinity with Stegnogramme, as then described by Blume, distinguishing it chiefly by
the presence of spherical bodies (glands), which it must be confessed are much exaggerated in Mr.
Bauer's figure;—and the nature of the involucre was quite misunderstood. In his 'Genera of Ferns/
Mr. J. Smith properly refers his Sphcerostephanos to Mr. Brown's Mesochlcena, candidly acknowledging
that he erred in mistaking the indusium for a receptacle; but still (having recourse only to dried specimens) describing the indusium as " linear, attached longitudinally on the middle of the sorus, its
margins free and glandulous/' he remarks its close affinity with Nephrodium, Pr., " the only character
that distinguishes it being the linear sori."
Kunze, in an early Part of his excellent (Supplement to Schkuhr's Filices/ figures (at 1.11 and
12) and describes (p. 20) Mr. J. Smith's Sphcerostephanos asplenioides, copying the most important
analysis (f. 8) from Mr. Bauer's faulty drawing above mentioned, and giving an equally inaccurate
representation of his own of the sorus at f. 6, where it is shown as oblong, divided for its whole length
into two portions, apparently by the vein to which it is attached; in short, almost exactly resembling
the double indusium of a Diplazium, M. Fee unites the Mesochlcena of Brown, and Mr. J. Smith's
Sphcerostephanos, to Stegnogramme of Blume, notwithstanding that M. Blume acknowledges he was
in error in describing an indusium; and M. Fee assures us he* has seen the indusium on specimens
of Gymnogramme, Stegnogramme, BL, gathered on the banks of the Ganges, and which do not differ
from those of Asplenium. With such the indusium of our plant shows no sort of affinity.
Lastly, Mettenius's figure, in his Fil. Hort. Bot. Lips. t. 18. f. 13, represents the involucre very
faithfully, and the only wonder is, that an author who is so much opposed to the needless multiplica#

Blume's figure, in the ' Filices Javanicse' (t. 44), of this plant, and our own specimens, and our figure
in Ic. Plant. Ear. v. 10. t. 950, exhibit no involucre.

tion of the genera of Perns should separate this from his comprehensive genus Aspidium, " indusium
dimidiatum, reniforme, sinu affixum, vel peltatum, orbiculare." The indusium of this plant differs,
in reality, in no respect from what is commonly called an indusium reniforme, sinu affimm, or it may
be more strictly characterized as orbiculari-cordate, with a very deep sinus ; so that the free portion is
hippocrepiform (a form not unknown among aspidioid indusia), with the margin, as is much of the
frond beneath, glandular. "The crested receptacle," which authors lay stress upon, and which Mettenius makes a part of the generic character, I suspect originated in Bauer's defective figure. In age the
clusters of capsules force up the two opposite sides of the very delicate involucre, so that they become
vertical, meeting at the back like the wings of a butterfly at rest, and then (but only then) the glandular margins give a peculiar and crested appearance to the centre of the sorus. Bauer represented
these two sides as united ! The true character of this delicate organ I have only been able to observe
in the living plant.
Mr. J. Smith quotes a "Mesochlcena Moluccana," R. Br. If the same as the Molucca specimen
in CarmichaePs herbarium, derived, I believe, from Mr. Brown, it is identical with ours.

Plate LXIL Tuft and frond of Nephrodiim Javanicum, nat. size. Pig. 1. Fertile segments of a pinna,
seen from beneath. 2. Smaller portion, showing an involucre, and a receptacle from which the involucre
and capsules have been removed. 3. Portion of an involucre:—all more or less magnified.

Plate, iirn:

"WStchdeLetlifli.

TTTD.
A^ricent^Brooks J:

PLATE LXIII.

PSILOTUM TRIQUETRUM, Sw.
Three-angled Psilotum.
PSILOTUM triquetrum; caudice (seu radice caudicifofmi) subterraneo ramoso, ramis brevibus patentibus
imbricatis, frondibus subcsespitosis spithamseis ad pedalem v. sesquipedalem stipitatis repetitim dichotome ramosis, ramis elongatis acute triquetris obtusis, sterilibus compresso-triquetris, angulis hie
illic folio (seu braetea) minuto spiniformi solitario bipartito instructis soriferis, capsulis axillaribus
(ratione plantae maximis) turbinato-globosis trilobis.
PSILOTUM triquetrum. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 187. Hook. Gen. Fit. t. 87. , Schkuhr, Ml. t. 165. B.
Grev. Fnum. Fil. in Bot. Misc. v. 2. p. 362. Spring, Monogr. Lycop. p. 269.
PSILOTUM Floridanum. Mich. Fl. Am. Sept. v. 2. p. 281.
BEENHAEDIA dichotoma. Willd. Sp. Fl. v. 5. p. 56.

Hook, et

Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 188.

Wall. Cat. n. 2146.

Kaulf. Fn. Fil. p. 20.

HoiTMANNiA aphylla. Willd. in Boem. et TIster. Bot. Mag. v. 6. p. 17.
LYCOPODIUM nudum. Linn. Sp. Fl.p.

1564

Bory, It. p. 211 et 283.

Muscus frutescens, spicis laxis nudis. Bill. Muse. p. 468. t. 6 4 . / . 4.
Muscus frutescens, fructu tricapsulari. Blum. Fil. p. 145. t. VJ.ff,

A.A.

Var. p. gracilis ; ramis longioribus angustioribus magis compressis.
BEENHAEDIA gracilis. Wall. Cat. n. 46 (3).
H A B . Pound in tropical and in subtropical countries in many parts of the globe, especially in damp regions,
and such as are favourable generally to the growth of P e r n s : I was about to say, the continent of
Africa alone excepted; but on referring to Pappe and Kawson's excellent, but very recently published, * Synopsis Pilicum Africa Australis,' there, for the first time, it stands recorded as an African
Pern, having been found by G-ueinzius. I n the African islands of Madagascar, Galega, Bourbon^ and
Mauritius, and in Ascension it is well known. I t abounds in various parts of the East Indies, and
at elevations of from 4-7000 feet in Kumaon and Sikkim, Strachey, Winterbottom, Hooker fil. and
Thomson; in China, Hongkong; the Malay and Pacific Islands, Philippine Islands, Cuming, n. 2018.
Borneo, etc. I n Australia and its islands, as far south as Port Jackson; Moreton Bay and Stradbrooke Island in the north, Mueller, Hill. New Zealand. Norfolk Island. Tropical America,
Mexico, the West Indies, and in. the United States, New Orleans and Plorida. California, Beppe.
Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. I t is difficult to say whether the underground portion of this curious plant is to be considered a root or caudex.
I t is much branched, terete, firm, and woody, the branches as thick as a
crow's quill, patent, intricate and entangled, not much unlike the so-called roots of Corallorhiza
innata, but not fleshy. F r o m these arise the stipites, a good deal clustered, 4 - 6 inches or more long,
terete and firm below, the rest subherbaceous and angular, dividing upwards into a number of
repeatedly dichotomous branches, more or less spreading, about half a line or a little more wide,
triangular, but more or less compressed at uncertain distances, producing at the angles subulate
processes, which may be considered leaves: they are generally two together, combined at the base (or

one bipartite), these bear the capsules; the ultimate branches are more or less acute. Capsules rather
larger than mustard-seed, from the axils of the leaves, or they may be called bracts, subglobose, a
little tapering at the base, three-lobed; when ripe, yellow, bursting from the apex downwards, but not
to the base, into three valves through the middle of the lobes; each valve has a vertical dissepiment,
thus dividing the capsule into three cells: cells filled with small, yellowish, oblong or somewhat
kidney-shaped, compressed seeds or spores.
This, though formerly by Linnaeus and the older botanists arranged with the true Ferns,
properly belongs to the Lycopodium family, different as it may appear, at first sight, from the elegant
leafy Lycopodia (or Selaginellce) now cultivated so successfully in our gardens. The general appearance indeed more resembles that of the Mistletoe. It is easily cultivated in a warm stove, though
from the fact of its being found in New South Wales we may infer that a greenhouse would be
better suited to it, or even possibly the open border. Common as this plant assuredly is in many
countries, its unattractive form may have caused it to be overlooked in continental Africa. My own
extensive herbarium does not possess a single specimen from that country, and it has only recently
been announced as a native of Natal. It grows on the ground, and among rocks and also on trees.
The Psilotum complanatum of Swartz, with its broad flattened branches, appears to be a distinct
species, but the P. flaccidum of Wallich is merely an unusually broad state of complanatum.

Plate LXIII. includes a fertile plant of Psilotum triquetrwm, nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion, with capsules.
2. Immature capsule. 3. Capsule, burst open. 4. Spores:—all more or less magnified.

Mate

TV.Hteha<l.etljfli.

IJU.

"Vincent Brooks Im]>

PLATE

LXIV.

ASPLENIUM VIVIPARUM, Pr.
Viviparous Spleenwort.

AsPLEisritTM (§ Darea) vivipartm; caudice brevissimo erecto subsolido copiose radiculoso dense paleaceo,
squamis longis subulatis membranaceis reticulars, frondibus caespitosis (una cum stipitibus elongatis)
1-2-pedalibus ovato-acuminatis coriaceo-membranaceis glabris 3-pinnatis, pinnis primariis lato-lanceolatis acuminatis non raro proliferis, pinnis ultimis linearibus acutis integris vel bi-tridentatis costatis seu uninerviis, fertilibus subfalcatis, soris marginalibus solitariis involucris colore substantiaque
frondis, stipite rachibusque compressis viridi-fuscis, rachibus ultimis subalatis.
viviparum. Pr. Tent. Pterid. p. 109 (eoccl. syn. H.B.K.). Hombron, in Voy. de VAstrolabe
et La Zelee, Partie.Bot. Cryptogam, t. III. K. (pinna only, and no description). J. Sm. Cat. Kew
Ferns, p. 5 ; Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 45. Metten. Fil. Sort. Bot. Lips. p. 71.

ASPLEKTTTM

DAEEA vivipara. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 302. Fee, Gen. Fil p. 332.
vivipara. Berg. Act. Petrop. v. 6. p. 250. t. l.f. 3. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 89. Thunb. in Nov. Act.
Petrop. v. 9. p. 158. Wall Cat. p. 239. Bojer, Sort. Maurit.p. 394.

(LENOPTEBIS

DAEEA fceniculacea. Sieb. (fide Presl; excl. syn. H.B.K. and Hook, and Grev. in 1c. Fil. t. 92.)
ACEOSTICHUM

viviparum. Linn. Suppl p. *Ak.

HAB. Islands of Bourbon and Mauritius (Bergius), Bojer, Bouton, Carmichael, etc. It grows, according to
M. Bojer, in all forest grounds, on dead and decaying trees, among stones, on the slopes of mountains,
and in ravines, bordering upon watercourses. It bears sori at almost all seasons of the year, even
when in cultivation. Cultivated at Kew Gardens.

DESCR. Caudex very short and thick, sending down a copious and dense mass of radicles, very
chafiy above, with long, subulate, dingy-coloured, reticulated scales, similar in texture to the leaves of
Sphagnum (Bog-moss). From among these scales, on the crown of the caudex or cormus, the nearly
terete stipites arise in a fascicle, a span, more or less, long, terete, glabrous, destitute of scales except
at the very base. Fronds ovate, acuminate, proliferous from different parts of the pinnae and
pinnules, bi-tripinnate; ultimate pinnules linear or narrow-lanceolate, all unicostate, entire, glabrous, sometimes a little falcate, acute or more or less obtuse. Each pinnule bears a linear oblong
sorus, arising from the upper half, and situated on the vein (or costa). Involucre membranaceous,
rather paler, but otherwise not materially different in colour and texture from the rest of the frond:
the edge or opening is parallel with the superior margin of the pinnule.
The figure we here give from our living plants, corresponds with numerous native specimens
from Bourbon and Mauritius. We have other Dareoid Asplenia from the same islands, under the
names of Aspl bifidum, intermedium etc., with less compound fronds : but it would require more
copious specimens than we yet possess, to speak with satisfaction on the precise relationship they
bear with our species, which may be considered the normal state of the plant, little, or not at all,
altered by cultivation. But even in its native country Professor Bojer remarks, "Elle est trespolymorphe."

It is a very elegant species, with compound and deeply cut fronds, not inaptly resembling
the delicate leaf of some Umbelliferous plant: whence the name of Sieber would have been very
appropriate, had it not been preoccupied by Humboldt. The viviparous character is common
to many other Asplenia, especially of the Dareoid group. Our views respecting the genus Darea, Sw.
(or Csenopteris, Berg.), are given under Asplenium (§ Darea) Belangeri,—see our Plate XLL, where
also we have mentioned the great difficulty of defining the limits of the species of this group of
Asplenium.

At Plate LXIV. is represented a fertile frond of Aspleniwn vivipamm, nab. size. Pig. 1. Upper side of
a fertile pinnule. 2. Under side of fertile pinnule, with a sorus:—magnified.

Route

"W.Btah.ad..duMh.

JJ7.

Vincent iBrooks Imp.

PLATE

LXV.

MARATTIA PURPURASCENS, Be Vriese.
Purple-stalked Marattia.

(§ Eumarattia) purpurascens; caudice elevato tuberiformi stipitum basibus persistentibus coriaceo-carnosis insigniter cristatis tecto, frondibus late ovatis bi-tripinnatis carnosis succulentis (siccitate nigrescentibus), pinnis primariis petiolatis (petiolis inferne valde incrassatis), secundariis pinnulisque oblongis vel ovato-lanceolatis subsessilibus serratis, stipitibus teretibus subsquamulosis basi
valde incrassato et stipulato, rachibus magis minusve alatis, soris copiosis, venis subtus prominentibus.

MAEATTIA

purpurascens. De Vriese, Monograph, des Maratt. p. 7. t. 3. / . 19, and t. 4. f. 19 {pinna and
sori only), excl. the habitat of Mauritius.

MAEATTIA

MAEATTIA

Ascensionis. J. Sm. in Gat. of Kew Ferns, p. 8; Oat, of Cult. Ferns, p. 79 (with specific char.).

HAB. Island of Ascension, J. D. Hooker, 1843, Mr. Wren, 1850, Seemann, 1851, n. 2658. Cultivated in
Kew Gardens, from plants sent by Mr. Wren in 1850.

DESCR. This very remarkable Fern presents, elevated aboveground, a somewhat globose tuberous caudex almost a foot across, throwing out fleshy fibrous radicles below, and of which the surface
is studded by many large tubercles, in reality the incrassated two-eared or bistipulated bases so
common to the stipites of other Marattia, the two ears in the present instance becoming leafy at
the margin, lobed and crested, green, sometimes even becoming soriferous pinnules! These large
tubercles with their cup-shaped crests, remain after the fronds have fallen away. Fronds 4-6 from
one caudex, 3-4 feet long, spreading, stipitate, broadly ovate, singularly thick and fleshy, and subpellucid, almost black when dry, bi-tripinnate. Primary pinnce spreading and patently recurved,
petiolate, lato-lanceolate; secondary pinnce and pinnules nearly oblong or ovato-lanceolate, subsessile, the margin serrated, undivided, or irregularly sinuate and lobed, costate; costa prominent
beneath. Veins simple or forked from near the base, free and extending to the margin, singularly
prominent beneath when dry; and below the apex of each vein or veinlet is a sorus longitudinally
attached, hard coriaceous, formed of two opposite, equal, boat-shaped valves, each valve having about
6-8 vertical cells, filled with minute spores. Stipes scarcely a foot long, stout, especially at the base,
purplish-green, with pale spots, partially squamulose, springing from the large tubercle, with its
foliaceous crest-like auricles already described. Petioles swollen at their base. Bachises more or
less alate.
This, one of the rarest and most remarkable of Ferns, peculiar to the island of Ascension, first
noticed (and so far first discovered) by Dr. Hooker, during the Antarctic scientific voyage of H.M.S.
Erebus and Terror. The plants are perhaps somewhat changed by cultivation in our stoves, especially in colour; for Dr. Hooker describes them as of a red-purple hue on the surface of the tuber, and
lurid-purple in the fronds,—probablj the effect of the sea-blasts in its insulated locality, and which
induced Dr. De Vriese to give the specific name of purpurascens to it; but cultivated in our tropical
fern-house the plants are of a uniform but rather glossy-green hue, except in the stipites, which are

purplish. The texture of the frond is fleshy, so that even in the dried state it has an appearance very
unlike that of specimens of other Marattice. Mr. J. Smith, without being aware that it was previously published by De Vriese (in 1853), described it under the name of M. Ascensionis, in his
c
Catalogue of Cultivated Ferns/ and has made a var. " /3. cristata; stipulseform appendages bearing
short abnormal fronds, which are often soriferous:" but this appears to be the normal condition
of the plant, both in its native island and in cultivation, and which gives to the living plant so
singular an appearance.

Plate LXV. Fig. 1. represents a much reduced figure of an entire fertile plant of Marattia pwrpurascens. 2. Portion of a primary fertile pinna, with secondary pinnae and pinnules (from the lower part of
the frond). 3. Portion of a fertile pinnule, with sori, and exhibiting the venation. 4. Two sori:—magnified*

JUte/IZVT:

V 'I

-£•»-

"W.Bti M:Al£tl.

l u c e n t licooks Imp.

PlATE LXVI.

HEMITELIA SPECIOSA, Kaulf.
Showy Hemitelia.

(§ Euhemitelia) speciosa; arborea subinermis, frondibus pinnatis, pinnis elongatis ensiformibus
acuminatis brevi-petiolatis acuminatis marginibus integris vel sinuato-lobatis, soris fere omnino
marginalibus continuis uniserialibus, venis fasciculatis liberis, stipitibus inferne punctis elevatis
asperatis.

HEMITELIA

speciosa. Kaulf. En. Fil. p. 252. Hooh. Sp. Ml. v. 1. p. 28. t. 13 B.
Ferns, p. 7; Gat. Cult. Ferns, p. 37.

HEMITELIA

speciosa. H.B.K. Nov. Gen. Am. v. 1. p. 20.
p. 55 {not Cnemidaria speciosa, Pr.).

CTATHEA

HEMITELIA

Willd. Sp. PL v. 5. p. 490.

J. Sm. Cat. Kew
Presl, Tent. Pterid.

integrifolia. Klotzscli, in Linncea, v. IS. p. 539. Kunze, in IAnncea, v. 23. p. 310.

HAB. Tropical South America: Caripe, Himboldt; Caracas, Linden, n. 79, Birschel; New Granada,
Eio Hacha, Sierra Nevada, elevation 4000 feet, Schlim, n. 842; Venezuela, Fendler, n. 46; Columbia,
F. Otto, n. 671. Cultivated at Kew, etc.

DESCR. This noble Fern, according to Humboldt, produces an erect caudex or trunk of twentyfour feet in height: in our young cultivated plant, from which this figure is taken, it is only three
feet high, and twelve to fourteen inches in circumference; its lower half is externally composed of
close-pressed, fleshy, fibrous roots of an olive-brown colour, of which only those at the very base
reach the ground and derive nutriment from the soil; the rest of the caudex, upwards, till you come
to the crown of foliage, or the fronds, is covered with the persistent bases of former years' stipites.
Very young fronds, in their infant and circinate state, are subglaucous, and densely covered with
numerous large, imbricated, lanceolate, and finely acuminated scales, two-lobed at their base, fringed
with down at their margin, becoming deciduous as the fronds expand. Our largest fronds, when
developed, are four to five feet long (probably they are much larger in fully grown plants), broadlanceolate, pinnated, the apices only pinnatifid, stipitate. Stipes stout, more or less rough with
somewhat distant, sharp, raised points. Pinna rather distant, six inches to a foot and more long,
firm membranaceous, on very short petioles, oblong-lanceolate or ensiform, acuminated, the apex
often serrated, the base obtuse or obliquely truncato-cuneate, the margins sometimes quite entire,
generally more or less sinuato-lobate and subcrenate, the edge a little thickened. Veins in fascicles,
at almost right angles, each primary vein being forked or pinnated with three to five veinlets, most
of which extend to the thickened margin, and there, a little below the apex, but at rather uncertain distances, each bears a globose sorus composed of very closely compacted, compressed and
somewhat angular, sessile, pyriform capsules, with a very broad annulus. Involucre forming a half
cup, and close-pressed to the inner base of the sorus, thin, membranaceous, with a nearly entire edge.
Such is the advance of Horticulture, that our stoves and greenhouses are beginning to possess
many good plants of Tree or arborescent Ferns, species of which, hitherto, only very imperfect
specimens have been seen in our herbaria. Still it must be confessed that we have much to learn

respecting their successful cultivation. They are natives of temperate climates as well as of the
tropics; of the Cape of Good Hope, South Australia, New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land. Those
growing in the tropics are generally found at considerable elevations on the mountains. Hence the
different kinds may be expected to require different atmospheres and different degrees of moisture,
and they are as apt to "fog off" when kept too wet or in too close and confined an atmosphere, as
they are to perish from dry currents of air.
The present s/pecies is one of great beauty, and, we should have thought, a very well marked and
easily distinguished species; yet our friend Dr. Klotzsch does not allow our plant to be the H. speciosa
of Kaulfuss (Cyathea speciosa of Humboldt), but calls it H. integrifolia. Kunze adopts this view,
but yet remarks of it, " Ab H. speciosa, H.B.K. et Hooker, distingui posse videtur; fronde magis
opaca, pinnis subintegerrimis, soris linea irregulari subsinuata collocatis, oligocarpis sporangiis obscurioribus. Sed plantse adultiores in vivo adhuc curatius observandse." The Cnemidaria speciosa of
Presl (Hemitelia speciosa. Mart. Ic. Plant. Crypt, p. 66. (in Obs.) t. 48. f. 2, not Kaulf,) is Hemitelia
obtusa, Kaulf. and Hook. Spec. v. 1. p. 2 9 ; Fil. v. 1. p. 29. t. 14 A., and differs widely in venation
as well as form of the pinnse from our present plant.

Plate LXVI. Pig. 1 exhibits a imich reduced figure of Hemitelia speciosa, from the stove of the
Boyal Gardens, the entire plant. 2, 3, 4. Pinna:—nat. size. 5, 6. Fertile portions, seen from beneath,
showing the venation, sori, involucre, and receptacle:—magnified.

Bate Uffl.

*fe£«

VU&tch deLetith.

"Vincent Ikoaks Imp

PLATE

LXYII.

LINDSiEA CULTRATA, Sw.
Coulter-leaved Lindscea.

(§ Eulindssea) cultrata; caudice repente paleaceo, frondibus lanceolatis pinnatis membranaceis,
pinnis subpetiolatis patentibus semiovatis obtusis basi oblique cuneatis margine spueriore lobatis
inferiore truncatis, lobis erosis soriferis, soris transverse oblongis labitudine loborum textura frondis,
costa marginali, venis furcatis liberis, stipite basi subcastaneo squamuloso rachique gracilibus pallide
fuscis vel stramineis.

LINDS-EA

cultrata. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 119. Willd. Sp. PL v. 5. p. 422. Schkuhr, Fil. t. 114. Hook.et Orev.
Ic. Fil. t. 144. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 1. p. 203. J. Sm. Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 64. Bl. En. Fil. Jav.
p. 216.

LIKDSJEA

ADIABTTUM

cultratum. Willd. Fhytogr.p. 14. t. 10. f. 2.

Yar. pollens; flaccidior, margine superiore pinnarum magis lobato, soris numerosis minoribus. Hook. Sp.
Fil. 1. c. p. 204. Lindssea (an Davallia ?) pallens, Wall. Cat. n. 148.
Yar. attenuata; elatior, magis rigida, pinnis longioribus subacuminatis. Hooh. Sp. Fil. I. c.p. 204.—Lindssea
attenuata, Wall. Cat. n. 151.
Yar. lucens; elatior, pinnis valde obtusis, soris continuis vix interruptis. Hooh. Sp. Fil. I. c.p. 204.—Lindssea
lucida, Wall. Cat. n. 145 (not Blume).
HAB. Apparently common throughout India: Ceylon, Mrs. General Walker; Madras Peninsula, Neilgherries, Gardner, B. F. Hohenacker, n. 1248; Bengal, frequent; Nepal, Sylhet, Assam, Wallich,
Griffith, Mrs. Mack; Bhotan and Khasya, Hooker and Thomson (also at Mergui), Griffith;
Chapidong, Wallich. Java, Blume, Loll. Philippine Islands and Luzon, Cuming, n. 243 and 65.
Cultivated at Kew, where it was received from Ceylon.

DESCR. Caudeoc subfiliform, creeping, more or less paleaceous with rusty, rather lax, lanceolate
scales, rooting from below with wiry fibres. Fronds rather distant or crowded, a span to a foot, rarely
a foot and a half high (from Bhotan, Griffith) including the stipes, lanceolato-acuminate, pinnate,
membranaceous, pale yellow-green; pinnm very variable in size and number on each frond, horizontally patent, very shortly petiolate, in shape dimidiato-ovate; the lower margin forming a horizontal truncated line, the upper curved and lobed, the apex obtuse; the lobes various in size, erose,
bearing each a sorus, sometimes the edge is continuous, and then the sorus is continuous too. This
sorus is transversely oblong, almost of the same texture as the frond, and varies in length according
to the size of the lobe, to which it is closely applied, so that the lobe appears to be two-lipped. Capsules small, not exserted, on rather long pedicels. The venation is peculiar, owing to the dimidiate
form of the pinnae; the principal vein or costa, which would otherwise be central, is here marginal, near to and parallel with the lower edge of the pinna, and the forked veins all diverge from
one (the upper) side, and extend to the base of the involucres. Stipes from two to four or six inches
long, usually dark-coloured at the base; the rest and the rachis stramineous or pale brown.
A graceful little East Indian Fern, remarkable for the agreeable fragrance it diffuses when

drying, like the Anthoxanthum odoratum, but more powerful, and exactly that of the Tonquin Bean.
Dr. Hooker and other travellers have made this observation when gathering it on the Indian mountains, and it equally holds good with our cultivated specimens. Like most Ferns of extensive geographical distribution, it varies a good deal in the size of the plant, and in the size and number of
the pinnae, and no less in the form and in the number of the lobes of the latter, as well as in the
more or less interrupted sori, so that in some instances the sorus is continuous along the whole
upper margin; and from this and other circumstances, Dr. Wallich was induced to give specific
names to what are assuredly variations of the same plant. Sixty species of Lindscea are described
in the f Species Filicum/ of which only three are recorded as in cultivation by Mr. J. Smith, to
which we have now added the rare Dictyoxyphium (or Lindscea, Mett. et Nobis) Panamense.*

Plate LXVII. Fertile plant of Lindscea cultrata, Sw., nat.size. Fig. 1. Under side of a fertile pinna.
2. Upper side of a fertile sorus. 3. Two sori, from one of which the involucre is removed:—magnified.

* We regret that the sori of this Fern {Lindscsa Panamensis), at Plate LIV., are so imperfectly represented. The first proof of the Plate was inaccurate; the artist then made the needful corrections upon the
stone, but unfortunately the altered portion did not print, and the inaccuracy remains ; but the descriptive
matter is correct.

Rcct&IXVlII.

"VOltcli ddetlith.

Vincent Brooks Imp.

PLATE

LXVIII.

NIPHOBOLUS GARDNERI, Metten.
Mr. Gardners Niphololus.
Oardneri; caudice breviusculo horizontali arete una cum basi stipitum imbricatim squamosis,
squamis ovato-acuminatis aterrimis nitidis fusco-marginatis terminalibus majoribus fulvis, frondibus
vix pedalibus lanceolatis obtuse acuminatis carnoso-coriaceis inferne in stipitem 2-4 uncias longum
attenuatis ubique supra laxe decidue subtus densissime pilis stellatis tomentosis, costa venisque primariis obliquis subtus prominentibus, venulis secundariis minus conspicuis transversis rectis vel subarcuatis, venulis ultimis plerisque liberis soriferis, soris seriatim dispositis emersis.

NIPHOBOLTJS

NIPHOBOLTTS

Grardneri. Kze. MS. (fide Metten.).

J. Sm. Cat. Cult? Ferns, p. 12.

POLYPODIUM

Grardneri. Metten. Gen. Polyp, p. 129.

NIPHOBOLUS

acrostichoides. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 2; not Polypodium acrostichoides, Forst.

NiPHOBOLUS costatus. J. Sm. Fnum. of Kew Ferns, p. 6. Kze. in Linncea, v. 2d. p. 269 (not Polypodium
costatum, Wall.).
HAB. Ceylon, Gardner (n. 53, fide Mettenius), et in Serb. JSTodtr. sine numero; Mrs. General Walker.

DESCR. Caudex short, branched, repent, woody, radicant, scarcely so thick as a goose-quill,
clothed, wherever it is aboveground, with small, densely imbricated, compact, rigid, very black, glossy (as
if varnished), ovate, acuminated scales, which have a pale-brown and well-defined margin; these scales
continue up for nearly half an inch of the base of the stipes, and terminate with a circle of rather
larger scales, of a pale tawny-brown colour. The stipites are from one or two to four inches long,
stout, woolly, channelled on the anterior face. Fronds from a span to a foot long, carnoso-coriaceous,
lanceolate, obtusely acuminate, rather strongly costate, everywhere clothed with copiously stellated
hairs, laxly so above, where they are eventually deciduous, very copiously so beneath, so as to be
densely and permanently tomentose; this tomentum is of a cream-colour in the living plant, but in
the dried specimens is tawny or subferruginous. The costa is very prominent beneath, and from
this diverge towards the margin, numerous, rather distant, moderately patent primary veins, so that
the fronds are seen to be distinctly penniveined; these primary veins are united by numerous, less
conspicuous transverse ones, straight or slightly curved, forming on the surface numerous series of
parallel areoles, in which are the ultimate veins or nervelets, arising from the lower side of the areole,
free or extending to the opposite vein, and these bear the sori, terminal or dorsal, so that each areole
just alluded to has a transverse line of about four, orbicular, prominent sori of numerous capsules, intermixed with pedicellate stellated hairs.
Few genera of Ferns are less understood, and none require more caution in the determination of
the species, than those of Niphobolus. The present is perhaps one of the rarest of the species, and, we
suspect, has been confounded with other species. It is a native of Ceylon. We have long possessed
specimens in our herbarium from that country, and that country alone, gathered by Mrs. General
"Walker, and afterwards by Mr. Gardner. It was introduced from Ceylon to Kew Gardens by Mr.
Moon, in 1824, and was named in Mr. J. Smith's c Enumeration of Kew Garden Ferns/ and distri-

buted as the Niphobolus (Polypodium) costatus of Wallich, and was hence recorded as such in the
' Index Filicum/ in Hort. Europ. Cult, of Kunze, and in the volume of the Linnaea above quoted.
It was afterwards called N. acrostichoides in our gardens; and finally, Kunze seems to have detected
the error, and to have given it the name of N. Gardneri in his herbarium. Mettenius is the only
person who described the plant, and he has referred it, as he has done all Niphoboli, to some or
other of his sections of his vast genus Polypodium (excluding Phegopteris). He has most correctly
described the peculiarity of the scales of the caudex, and the base of the stipes; and by this character
alone the species may be at once distinguished from N. costatus and others allied in habit.
In regard to the genus Niphobolus, it was founded by Kaulfuss upon very unphilosophical
characters it must be confessed, and though his pteridological successors have almost universally
retained the genus, they have done little, if anything, towards giving more stable characters.
"Genus heteroclitum," writes M. Fee, "pilis Neuroplatyceratis (Platycerii, Auct.); venulis Pleopeltidis et Gymnopteridis; sporotheciis uniserialibus ut in Polypodiis, Pleopeltibus, etc., multiserialibus
ut in PleuridiiSj indistinctis et confluentibus ut in Acrostichis," etc. Divested however of the
copious stellated hairs, which after all constitute the chief distinguishing feature, as the name
implies, of Niphobolus, we have a true Polypodium of the older botanists; and probably Mettenius is
physiologically correct in referring the species there. Unfortunately however the venation is in most
instances so obscure, that whether for the sake of sectional characters, or for multiplying genera, as
Presl* has recently done consistently with his principle, it can hardly with advantage be made use of;
and we are sure that in systematic Botany it will be found most convenient to retain the genus unbroken.

Plate LXVIII. represents sterile and fertile fronds of Niphobolus Gardneri, not. size. Fig. 1. Portion
of a fertile frond, showing the general arrangement of the sori between the primary veins. 2. Smaller portion of the same, with the venules which bear the sori; one sorus removed, showing the receptacle. 3. Pedicelled and stellate hairs from among the capsules:—magnified.

* Presl, in his ' Epimelia Botanica,' has formed eight genera out of Niphobolus, an arrangement in
which he has been followed by no one, neither by those (as correctly observed by Mr. T. Moore) " who reject as worthless distinctions the most marked and obvious differences of vascular structure," nor by those
who in general patronize the multiplication of genera on slight grounds.

PLATE

LXIX.

HEMITELIA HORRIDA, Br.
Prickly-stalked Hemitelia.

(§ Cnemidaria) horrida; arborea aculeata, frondibus junioribus dense squamosis lana araehnoidea tomentosis demum nudis glabris pinnatis bipinnatisque, pinnis amplis oblongo-lanceolatis
acuminatis profunde pinnatifidis inferne pinnulatis, segmentis pinnulisve lanceolatis acuminatis approximatis integris vel infimis lobatis subpinnatifidisve, lobis brevibus obtusis, soris marginalibus in
sinubus continuis, venis pinnatis, venulis infimis angulatim anastomosantibus, stipite grosse aculeato.

HEMITELIA

horrida. Br. in Frodr. Fl Nov. Roll p. 158. Rook. Sp. Fil v. 1. p. 30. t. 15. Klotzsch, in
Bot. Zeit. 12. Jahrg. p. 440 {fide specimen in Rerb. Nostr.). Metten. Fil. Rort. Lips. p. 111.

HEMITELIA

CTATHEA horrida. Sm. Gen. Fil p. 16. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 141. Willd. Sp. Fl v. 5. p. 497.
CYATHEA

commutata. Spr. Anl ed. 1. v. 3. p. 146. t. 4i.fi 32.

CNEMIDARIA Hookeri. Fr. in Fie Gefdssb. im Stip. der Farm, p. 42.
CNEMIDARIA horrida. Fresl, Tent. Fterid. p. 57.
POLTPODITJM horridum. Linn. Sp. Fl p. 1554.
Filix latifolia ramosa, cauliculis nigris et spinosis. Flum. Am. p. 3. t. 4; Fil. p. 9. t. 8.
ACTINOPHLEBIA horrida. Fr. in Die Gefassb. im Stip. der Farm, p. 48.
HAB. Tropical America and West Indian islands: St. Domingo and Martinique, Flumier, etc.; Trinidad,
Lockhart; Jamaica, Fr. Fistin, N. Wilson, Macfadyen; St. Vincent, Rev. L. Guilding; Cuba, C.
Wright, n. 888, Linden, n. 1738. New Granada, Linden, n. 707 and 1572. Ocaiia, elev. 4000 feet,
Schlim, n. 233, 52, 659, 650. Venezuela, FuncJc, n. 767. Galipan, Moritz (ex Rerb. Klotzsch) j
Caracas, elev. 3500 feet, Birschel Cultivated at Kew Gardens.

DESCR. Of the extreme height of the trunk of this plant in its native mountains, I do not find
any certain, published record. Mettenius in describing it at eight feet high and one and a half foot
in diameter, probably alludes only to the living specimen he described in the Leipzig -Garden;
Birschel, in Caracas, states it to be five to seven feet high. Our plant, about eight or ten years old,
is two feet and a half high, and a foot in circumference of the trunk. Below, this trunk or caudex
forms a dense mass of roots to the height of one foot; and thence, to the crown of living fronds, the
exterior is composed of the dead, dark-brown, prickly bases of former years' stipites. In the very
young state, the bold, massy circinate fronds (like a crosier), present a peculiar appearance; they are
covered with long, appressed, imbricated, ovate, finely acuminated, membranaceous scales, of a
brownish-black colour, but white at the slightly fringed margin, two-lobed at their base, with a
deep but narrow sinus, the lobes almost over-lapping, so that the point of insertion being at the base
of the sinus, at first sight they appear to be peltate. While thus attached, the young stipes has no
appearance of prickles whatever; but as the frond unrolls and the scales fall away, a softish point
appears under each, which becomes a spine about a line long, and hardens so as to be very pungent;

these spines are, however, scarcely so large or so conspicuous as to justify the specific name. A
white, cobwebby down, also, which invests the young fronds, disappears as they are developed, and
the perfect fronds are as free from down as they are from scales. When these have attained their full
size on our plant, they are 7-10 feet long, erecto-patent, pinnate or sub-bipinnate. Pinnce rather
distant, 1-2 feet and more long, ovato-lanceolate, acuminate, deeply pinnatifid, coriaceo-membranaceous, paler and almost glaucous beneath. The segments lanceolate, acuminate, slightly falcate,
entire or serrate, especially at the point; the lower ones more deeply pinnatifid and at length
distinct, so as to be often truly pinnate below; and again, in the larger and longer pinnae, the lower
segments and pinnules are very frequently sinuate and multilobate, almost pinnatifid at the margin.
It is this, and, as we believe, the most perfect state of the pinnae, which we have represented in our
' Species Filicum/ t. 15. Veins copious, approximate, arranged in patent fascicles, most of which
are free, but at the base of the segments the lowest opposite ones unite into an angled arch, as in
Campteria among Pteridea, giving rise to other veins which extend to the sinus; the rest of the
veins are quite free: and each one of these, in the fertile pinnae, bears a sorus below the apex and
considerably within the margin, thus forming a very irregular and sinuous, continued series, following
the direction of the sinuses in the lobulated segments and pinnules. Sort globose, prominent, but
rather small; subtended by the half-cup-shaped, membranaceous involucre. Stipes about two feet
long, stout, aculeate as above described.
The study of the arborescent Ferns, it must be confessed, is attended with great difficulty.
Specimens suited to the herbarium, from one part of a frond, may and do often assume very different
forms from a portion taken from another part of the same frond; and hence it is that doubts have
been thrown by authors upon the figure I have given of Hemitelia horrida in the ' Species Filicum;'
and Presl has even gone so far as to pronounce that plant to be not only different in species (he calls
it H. Hookeri), but he refers the Linnaean plant to a distinct and new genus, Actinophlebia, Pr.:
yet we both refer to the figure of Plumier, and with equal confidence, as authority for our plant. The
majority of our copious specimens perfectly accord with Plumier's figure; and we have specimens
showing, in one and the same frond, a gradual passage into the more compoundly divided form
represented in the ' Species Filicum/ and others showing the two kinds now alluded to, on one and
the same pinna. In short, there is scarcely a collector from whom we have not received the two
forms, and scarcely a specimen that does not show in its lower segment a disposition to be lobed and
consequently more compound. I do not see how such forms can be made even varieties, and I would
refer to my specimens from Macfadyen (Jamaica); Linden (Cuba, n. 1738 in the West Indies); and
to Birschel (Caracas) and Linden (Grenada); in proof that the two forms exist on the same species.
As I have represented the more compound form in the ' Species Filicum' (the Hemitelia Hookeri of
Presl), I confine the portions of the pinna, nat. size, in our present figure, to the less divided state,
and this will consequently be the Actinophlebia horrida of Presl.
That Hemitelia (or Cyathea) horrida is a Tree-Fern, is, I presume, generally acknowledged; yet
it appears to have escaped notice that Plumier describes it otherwise : " Ex hujusce Filicis radicibus
longis et dense confertis, costae sen cauliculi promanantes, simplices, quatuor pedes circiter alti, pollicem
crassi, recti, teretes, paulo antica parte canaliculati, nigricantes, splendentes, ac circumquaque aculeis
rigidis, nigris, et longiusculis pollentes." He probably saw only imperfect plants, and he speaks of
knowing of it only in one locality, at the Port de Paix, in St. Domingo.

Plate LXIX. represents, at Fig. 1, a much reduced plant of Hemitelia horrida. 2. A portion of the
stipes, with scales; some of the scales represented as being forced off by the formation of spines:—nat. size.
3. Scale from the stipes, magnified. 4. Portion of a pinna which is wholly pinnatifid, nat. size. 5. Fertile
segments of a pinna, seen from beneath, with sori, nat. size. 6. Portion of pinna, showing perfect sorus
and receptacle and involucres, magnified.

Bate/ LII.

W. Fitch Ael.edith.

"Vincent l^roaks Imx

PLATE

LXX.

ASPLENIUM SERRATUM, Linn.
Serrated Spleenwort.

ASPLENIUM (§ Euasplenium) serratum; caudice perbrevi erecto, frondibus csespitosis l|-2-ped. elongatovel spathulato-lanceolatis acuminulatis subcoriaceo-membranaceis integerrimis vel ssepissime magis
minusve serratis crenulatis inciso-dentatisve versus apicem praecipue inferne in stipitem brevem
sensim attenuatis, soris costalibus copiosis linearibus longitudine variantibus horizontaliter patentibus, venis approximatis ad marginem attingentibus, stipite basi squamoso (squamis longis
subulatis aterrimis) dorso rachique inferne acute carinato supra depresso-plano.
ASPLENIUM serratum. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1538. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 74. SchJcuhr, Fil. t. 61 et 64.
PL v. 5. p. 304. Kze. in Linncea, v. 23. p. 238. Griseb. Planted Caribece,p. 133.

Willd. Sp.

ASPLEFIUM Nidus. Baddi, Fil. Brasil. p. 34. t. 53, {not Linn.)
ASPLENITJM crenulatum. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 106.
v. 23. p. 223.

Metten. Fil. Sort.

Lips. p. 71. Kze. in Linncea,

ASPLENIUM integrum. Fee, Gen. p. 193; and A. Surinamense, p. 192, may perhaps be referred here.
Lingua cervina longo lato serratoque folio. Plum. Amer. p. 27. t. 3 9 ; Fil. p. 108. t. 124.
Phyllitis non sinuata, foliorum limbis laeviter serratis. Sloan. Jam. v. 1 4 ; Hist. v. 1. p. 72.
H A B . West Indian Islands and Tropical America: Jamaica, Hispaniola, Martinique, etc., Plumier, and all
collectors visiting those islands ; Cuba, Posppig (Kunze in Serb. J$~ostr.), JE. Otto, n. 241 (Klotzseh in
Serb. Nostr., large, coriaceous, dentato-serrate), C. Wright, n. 837 ; Guadaloupe, Duchassaing (Grisebach) ; St. Yincent, on trees in the mountains, Bev. L. Guilding; Brazil, Baddi (under the name of
A. Nidus, small, and entire at the margin), Gardner; Organ Mountains, n. 160 (nearly three feet
long, and wide in proportion), n. 75, and Pernambuco, n. 1223 (both small), Selloiv, probably South
Brazil, named A. crenulatum, Pr., by Dr. Klotzseh (exactly the same as the A. serratum above mentioned of Otto, from Cuba) ; various places on the Amazon and its tributaries, Spruce, n. 30, 575,
1113, 2291, 2295; B. Guiana, SchomburgJc, Dr. Nimmo, C. S. Parker; Cayenne, Le Prieur (some
of the specimens deeply cut and laciniated, or irregularly lobate at the margin, almost a monstrosity;
Ocana, 'New Granada, 4-5000 feet elev., Schlim, n. 771 and 9 6 1 ; trunks of trees, at Eio Puca, Pacific coast of Central America, Seemann, n. 3 ; Chatham Island, Galapagos, Captain Wood, B. JV.
Cultivated in Kew Gardens, etc.

DESCR. This species forms a small, woody, erect caudex or rhizome, copiously rooting; its csespitose radicles long and intertwined, and very woolly. Fronds tufted, nearly erect, from one foot to almost
three feet in length, between coriaceous and membranaceous, varying much in texture, elongato-laneeolate, or more generally spathulato-lanceolate, frequently more or less broken or injured at the
point; when perfect suddenly acuminulate, below tapering down into a short, winged stipes, and t h a t
stipes is at the very base paleaceous (scarcely extending to the caudex), with long, subulate, imbricated, firm, black scales. The margin of the frond is a little thickened and diaphanous, sometimes
entire or nearly so, more generally serrated towards the apex with sharp serratures, at other times

crenulated or denticulated, sometimes even cut into unequal lobes or large teeth, giving a deeplyjagged character to the margin: this however is an abnormal form; the broadest diameter of the
frond varies from three to five and even six inches in different specimens. Stipes, as before observed,
very short and winged, almost to the base, with the decurrent frond, stout, and, as well as the lower
portion of the costa, singularly carinated at the back, while the front is as remarkably depressed or
flattened, so that a transverse section is triangular; the rest of the costa is also stout. Veins copious,
parallel, horizontally patent, simple or forked, terminating a little within the margin, or they not
unfrequently attain and unite with the slightly thickened margin of the frond. Sori copious, elongated, narrow-linear, generally very close-packed, commencing very near the midrib, and extending
one-half or two-thirds or even three-quarters of the space between the costa and the margin, mostly
occupying the upper half or more of the frond. Involucre very pale brown, membranaceous, extremely
narrow, and entire.
To this well-known species of Asplenium we made some allusion when remarking on the distinguishing characters of the African Asplenium sinuatum, Beauv., under our Plate LXI. The present
is, we believe, peculiar to tropical America and the adjacent islands. Its geographical range however
has been considerably extended by recent researches, even to the coast of the Pacific and Galapagos
Islands. So long as it was considered to be a species confined to the West Indian Islands, that
trifling variety of it found in Brazil and called A. crenulatum, Pr. (by mistake called A. Nidus by
Raddi), was held to be a good and distinct species; but nothing can be more variable than the margin
of this species, sometimes entire, but more generally serrated or dentated or crenulated, and even
irregularly lobate; so that I suspect Dr. Grisebach is quite correct when he says, " Characteres,
quibus Fee A, integrum et Surinamense distinguit, plane fallaces sunt." But M. Fee goes further, and
considers A. crenulatum of Presl distinct from the A. Nidus of Eaddi, and makes another species of it,
Asplenium Raddii, Fee. In size and texture of the frond, in the more or less tapering base, the species
is far from uniform; and if allowance be made for these peculiarities, it is easily recognized. Some of
the larger specimens, indeed, do a good deal resemble some of the forms of Asplenium Nidus; but the
presence of the m^ra-marginal vein (characteristic of Neottopteris, J. Sm.) of the latter, removes all
difficulty.

Plate LXX. represents an entire fertile plant of Asplenium serratum, L., nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion of
a fertile frond, showing the sori and venation, and especially the nature of the costa at the lower part of the
frond, slightly magnified.

PLATE

LXXL

GLEICHENIA FLABELLATA, Br.
Fan-shaped Gleichenia.

(§ Mertensia) fldbellata; caudice tereti elongato repente apice prsecipue paleaceo, stipite
erecto ramoso tereti prolifero, ramis flabelliformi-pinnatis, pinnis lanceolatis submembranaceis ascendentibus caudato-acuininatis profunde pinnatifidis basi pinnulatis, segmentis pinnulisque approximatis
linearibus acutis serratis patentibus, capsulis exsertis 1-6 plerumque 4.

GLEICHENIA

GLEICHENIA flabellulata. Br. Brodr. Fl. JVov. Holl. p. 161. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. l.p. 6 (omitting the synonym
and locality of Labill. Sert. JVov. Galedon. p. 9. t. 12). All. Cunn. Specim. of Bot. of Fl. of Few Zeal,
in Hook. Comp. to Bot. Mag. p. 361. Hook. fil. Fl. Nov. Zeal. v. 2. p. 6; Fl. Tasman.v. 2. ined.
HAE. Australia: New South AYales, Brown, A. Cunningham, J. B. Hooker; and as far north as Moreton
Bay and Brisbane River, Ferd. Mueller, collected during the North Australian Expedition, under
Mr. Surveyor Gregory in 1857. Tasmania, Brown, Lawrence, Gunn, J. _D. Booker, etc. New Zealand, Northern Island, in shady woods, All. Cunningham, Colenso, J. D. Hooker, etc. Cultivated at
Kew, from plants sent from Australia by Mr. Richard Hill.

DESCR. Caudex long, creeping, terete, thicker than a swan's quill, here and there rooting beneath, the young extremities slightly chaffy with small deciduous scales, as are the very young,
nascent, circinate/ro7z&, which rise at rather distant points of the upper side of the caudex, and these
fronds have a peculiar mode of ramification (like other Gleicheniece), and very different from the
Polypodies.
The fronds are formed by a succession of forked branches; the stipes (eventually four
to five feet high) is erect in the first instance, simply forked, with a gemma or bud always in the axil
of the fork, which bud is developed, and then the plant becomes proliferous; each branch of the fork
just mentioned expands into a twice-forked frondule, eight or ten inches to a foot long, erect, but
fan-shaped; each portion or branch is broad-lanceolate, caudate at the apex, deeply and almost quite
to the rachis pectinato-pinnatifid; the segments two inches or more long, patent, narrow-linear,
serrated, rather acute, green on both sides, in texture sub membranaceous, glabrous (rarely pubescent
beneath), the lowest segments are free to the rachis (hence pinnules). Between, or in the axil of
every fork, is a gemma, which may or may not be developed. The gemma or bud in the first or original fork is developed into a stipes and frondule similar to that just described, and above that a
third is generally produced, each with its pair of twice-forked fronds. Veins all free, rather distant,
simply forked, bearing the small prominent sorus on the back of one or both of the branches, and
consisting of from one to four or five (generally three to four) rather large, globose, sessile capsules,
bursting vertically, and surrounded by a very broad, jointed annulus.
The Fernery of Kew does not boast a more lovely species of the family of Ferns than the present:
the colour is a lively green, and the ramification is particularly graceful. It is still very rare in collections, and we are the more glad to give a representation of it from the living plant: the only figure
so named, in Labillardiere's ' Sertum Novum Caledonicum/ proves to be a different species; and if we
may judge from specimens of a Gleichenia gathered recently in the Isle of Pines, one of the outlying

islands of New Caledonia, it is only the almost universally diflFdsed Gleichenia dichotoma; whereas
our present plant, as far as we yet know, is limited to Eastern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.
Most of the many species of Gleichenia are not only forked, but the branches of the forks divaricate
very much, giving them another and very peculiar character: here the branches of the fork very
slightly diverge, so that the two primary branches, each with its two terminal forks, has, with its
beautiful pectinated or feathery margins, a fan-shaped form. Gleichenia Cunninghami of New Zealand is readily distinguished from the present species by that circumstance, its rigid texture, entire
segments, glaucous on the under side, etc.

Plate LXXI. represents a portion of a caudex, with stipes and very young circinate fronds, and a
continuation of the stipes with the first-formed fronds, with the primary axillary bud developing itself in
a proliferous manner into new fronds, not. size. Fig. 1. Fertile segment, seen from beneath, magnified.
2. Portion of a pinna, with the sori, and showing the venation, more highly magnified.

PLATE

LXXII.

ASPLENIUM ERECTUM, Bory; var. proliferum.
Erect Spleenwort; proliferous variety.
ASPLENIUM (§Euasplenium) erectum-, caudice subnullo, radice fibrosa, frondibus csespitosis erectis (vel
proliferis reclinatis) spithamseis ad pedalem stipitatis lanceolatis submembranaceis pinnatis, pinnis
horizontaliter patentibus brevissime petiolatis oblongis obtusis v. acuminatis obtuse crenato-serratis
subsinuatis basi oblique cuneata sup erne (et nunc etiam inferne) auriculata, soris copiosis linearioblongis, rachi viridi alato-marginata.
ASPLENITTM erectum. Bory in Willd. Sp. Fl v. 5. p. 328.
et Haws. Syn. Fil. Afr. Austr. p. 18.

Schlecht. Adumbr. Fil. Gap. p. 28. t. 15. Pappe

ASPLENITJM mutilatum. Kaulf. En. Fil.p. 171.
ASPLENIUM ineequilaterale. Willd. Sp. Fl. v. 5. p. 322.
ASPLEUITJM lunulatum. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 80.

Willd. Sp. Fl. v. 5. p. 324.

ASPLEKITJM falcatum. Thunl. Fl. Gap. p. 734 (not Lam).
Linncea, v. 10. p. 514. Fappe and Raws.p. 19. I.e.

SchlecM. Adumbr. Fil. Gap. p. 27.

Kze. in

ASPLENITTM " marinum ?." Aub. du Fet. Thouars, Flore de Tristan d'Acugna, p. 34, {not Linn.)
ASPLEKIUM insulare. Garmich. Fl. Trist. d'Acunha, in Linn. Trans, v. 11. p. 512.
Var. proliferum;

frondibus atro-viridibus apice radicantibus proliferis.

(PLATE L X X I I . )

ASPLENIUM radicans. Fritchard, Gat, Fl, St. Helena, p. 6.
ASPLENIUM reclinatum. Soulston and Moore, Gardener's Mag. of Bot. v. 2. p. 260. J. Sm. Gat. Kew Ferns,
p. 5 ; Cat. Gult. Ferns, p. 44.
ASPLEKITJM pavonicum. Brackenr, Fil. Tin, St. Fxpl. Fxped. p. 150. t. 20.
H A B . Bourbon, Bory. South Africa, " common in moist, shady, rocky localities, throughout the whole Cape
Colony," Fappe and Bawson, Tristan d'Acunha, Aub. du Fetit Thouars, Garmichael.—YAH. proliferum : St. Helena, Fritchard, Lady Balhousie, Cuming, n. 426, J. D. Hooker (moist rocks, shady
places, Diana's Peak, elevation 2000 feet). Ascension Island, crevices of rocks on Green Mountain,
most abundant, 1000 feet elevation, J. D. Hooker, Br. By all, Seemann, n. 2662. "Western tropical
Africa : Prince's Island, Bight of Biafra, Br. Curror (ordinary form, and some specimens larger, with
very acuminated pinnae) ; Fernando Po, Br. Vogel, in Trotter's Niger Fxped., n. 128; Sugarloaf
Mountain, Sierra Leone, rare, Barter in Baikie's second Niger Expedition (one specimen larger, and
with the rachis compresso-alate). Sandwich Islands, in shady, humid forests, rare, Brachenridge
in IT. S. Fxpl. Fxped, Juan Fernandez, Cuming, n. 1332, Bertero, Douglas. Cultivated in Kew
Gardens, where it was introduced from St. Helena in 1847.

DESCR. (of var. proliferum). N o distinct caudex is formed; a small rhizome is indicated by
the presence of numerous subulate scales. Roots thick, tufted, fibrous. Fronds stipitate, fasciculate,
many springing from one root, a span to a foot and even a foot and a half long (including the stipes),
lanceolate, submembranaceous, dark blackish-green, rarely erect, generally inclined or arched down-

wards from the weight of the young plants to which the apex gives origin, and which take root in
the ground, pinnated. Pinna from three-quarters of an inch to an inch long (two inches in some
tropical African specimens), oblong, sometimes a little falcate, obtuse, at other times more or less
acuminate, obtusely crenato-dentate, subsinuate, obliquely cuneate at the base, scarcely petiolate;
the superior base truncate, parallel with the rachis and extended upwards into an auricle, which is
more or less acute; the inferior base is obliquely excised, and sometimes also forms an auricle.
Veins forked, those at the base which extend into the auricle pinnated, the apices slightly clavate,
and terminating at a tooth or serrature a little within the margin. Sort copious, linear-oblong,
arising from the superior veinlet of a fork, and opening towards the costa, or on the pinnated veins
within the auricle, opening towards the main or central vein. Involucre membranaceous, brown.
Stipites varying much in length, from one or two, to three or four inches long, tereti-compressed,
the base hispid with deciduous, subulate scales, similar to what arise from the rhizome. Rachis
generally compressed and always more or less winged; in one specimen from the Bight of Biafra,
broadly so, and very much compressed. The apex of the rachis becomes proliferous, sending out
roots generally, when the reclined tendency of the fronds enables it to reach the ground, and also
when the apices are not in contact with the soil, giving birth to new plants, which sometimes spread
in a radiating manner, suggesting the name of Asplenium pavonicum of Mr. Brackenridge.
That this curious and copiously proliferous Asplenium is a state of the well-known Asplenium
erectum, Bory, I think there can be no reason to doubt, though no author, as far as I am aware, has
even hinted at its affinity with that species. At a future time I trust to have an opportunity of
figuring the normal state of the species, and noticing some of its other varied forms. " Species revera
polymorpha," observes Schlechtendal, "plantse enim minores juniores valde differunt a majoribus
magis evolutis, quas vero diversas non aestimamus, quum inter plurima specimina formarum transitus
satis clare patuere." I shall be able to show that it is an inhabitant of widely different countries.
At this time, however, my attention is mainly directed to the proliferous state here figured, which
appears peculiar to tropical or subtropical countries where there is much moisture, local or atmospheric, and within the influence of the sea. From the habitats above given, nearly the whole of our
numerous specimens are proliferous, and I may here observe that while the true or normal form of
the plant affords specimens closely bordering upon AspL resectum, tenerum, and their allies, some of
our larger specimens of the state now under consideration, exhibit a very close affinity with the
tropical American AspL alatum, H.B.K. (Hook, and Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 137); and the rachis of the
latter is not unfrequently radicant at the apex, and no doubt occasionally proliferous. Captain Carmichaers AspL insular e, in our herbarium, which one would expect from its locality to be proliferous,
is however not so, but the ordinary erect form; nor is Aubert du Petit Thouars's plant, from the
same island, described as proliferous.

Plate LXXII. exhibits a tuft of Asplenium erectum, var. proliferum, nat. size. Pig. 1. Ordinary form
of a fertile pinna, seen from beneath, magnified. 2. Portion of a frond, showing the venation and two
sori, more magnified.

Maz&ZIini.

WfitA Met Mi.

" l u c e n t JEtcoaks I m p .

PLATE

LXXIII.

ASPLENIUM MARGINATUM, L.
Margined Spleenwort

(§ Hemidictyum) marginatum; glabrum, caudice erecto brevi crasso radicoso subarboreo,
frondibus amplis 4-6-pedalibus stipitatis pinnatis, pinnis pedalibus et ultra lato-oblongis membranaceis acuminatis sessilibus basi cordatis margine erenato^sinuatis, venis horizontali-patentibus
approximatis fureatis prope marginem copiose anastomosantibus et intra marginem vena longitudinali junctis, soris copiosis linearibus longissimis, stipitibus crassis subsemiteretibus facie superne
subcanaliculata marginata.

ASPLENITJM

ASPLENIUM

marginatum. Linn. Sp. PL p. 309. Swartz, Syn. Fil. p. 76.

Willd. Sp. PL v. 5. p. 309.

ASPLESTIUM limbatum. Willd. Sp. PL p. 310.
ASPLEKITJM Mikani. Pr.

marginatum. Pr. Tent. Pterid. p. 111. t. 3. / . 24. Hook. Gen. Fil. t. 05 A.
Kew Ferns, p. 6; Gat. Cult. Ferns, p. 50.

HEMIDICTYUM

J. Sm. Cat.

Lingua cervina latifolia, membrana tenui marginata. Plum. FiL p. 88. t. 106.
HAB. Tropical America, and common throughout the West Indian islands, on the borders of streams, and in
damp, moist, and shady woods; probably first noticed by Plumier, in St. Domingo and Martinique,
and he is the only author who has given a representation of the entire pinnae of the natural size.
It is abundant in Jamaica, St. Yincent, Trinidad, St. Kitts, etc., and Mr. Charles Wright finds it in
Cuba (' Plantar Cubenses Wrightianse,' n. 838). Brazil, Baddi, Gardner (n. 31). Venezuela, Fimck,
n. 770, and we have lately received specimens from Mr. Spruce, from Tarapota, Eastern Peru, n. 4783.
Cultivated at Kew.

DESCR. Well-grown specimens of this striking Fern present a caudecc nearly a foot high, so that
it may almost be called an arborescent Fern. This caudex is five or six inches in diameter, and is compactly clothed with descending/ fleshy fibres or radicles, and is crowned with a nearly erect tuft of
fronds, from five to six or seven feet long, including the stipes. Frond broad, ovato-lanceolate in circumscription, pinnate. Pinnce one and even two feet long, subopposite or alternate, membranaceous and
subpellucid, of a rather soft and silky texture, broad-oblong, acuminate, nearly as broad at the base,
(which is sessile) as above the base, and there cordate, or sometimes forming two rounded lobes or
ears; the margin is more or less waved, and crenate or dentate; the costa strong. Veins numerous,
approximate, forked, quite free for about two-thirds of their length, then anastomosing so as to form
copious, oblong, six-angled areoles, and these again are united by a longitudinal vein a little distance
within the edge, thus leaving a thin membranaceous margin, destitute of any veining, and which
suggested to Linnseus the specific name, marginatum. Sori linear, very long, always confined to
the free portion of the veins, and often extending nearly its whole length. Stipites two to three feet
long, very stout and firm, somewhat semiterete, that is, terete, but with the anterior face plane or
slightly grooved, and margined with a very narrow wing; the base, and when young the whole stipes,
is more or less chaffy with small subulate scales.

As a species, the present Asplenium will give rise to no discussion, it is so well marked; but it
is only those who have had the opportunity of seeing well-grown plants of it, in the native country,
or in our stoves (where we believe it is yet very rare), that can form a notion of its grandeur and
beauty. A single perfect pinna is too much for the ordinary-sized paper of an herbarium, except it
be folded. With plenty of space and heat and moisture, and suitable ventilation, it is easily
cultivated.
Presl separates it as a genus from Asplenium, under the appropriate name of Hemidictyum; but
it must be confessed that the character derived from the venation alone must be a very artificial and
undesirable one, since it has led the Author to the uniting in the same genus our Asplenium Douglasii
(Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 150) and the Allantodia Brunonis of Wallich, plants of very different
aspect and affinity.

Plate LXXIII. represents at Pig 1 a very much reduced representation of an entire plant of Asplenium (§ Hemidictyum) marginatum, L. 2. Portion of the base of a tuft of fronds, nat. size. 3. Pinna,
nat. size. 4. Portion of a pinna, with sori, and showing the venation and the veinless margin, magnified.

PLATE

LXXIV.

GYMNOGRAMME PULCHELLA.
Elegant Gymnogramme.
(§ Ceropteris) pulchella; caudice perbrevi subnullo, frondibus fasciculatis longe stipitatis
rigido-membranaceis ovatis seu ovato-lanceolatis tri- basi subquadri-pinnatis, glabris subtus albo-pulverulentis, pinnis pinnulisque inferioribus ovato-lanceolatis reliquis lanceolatis ultimis profunde
pinnatifidis, laciniis oblongis cuneatisve apieem versus 3-6-dentatis soriferis, venis dichotomis, soris
linearibus subconfluentibus fuscis, capsulis sparsis, stipite rachibusque atro-purpureis nitidis junioribus subfarinosis.

G-TMNOGRAMME

pulchella. Linden, Cat. T. Moore in Garden. Chron.for Sept. 1856, ^ 597 (with a woodcut of a small portion of a plant). J. Smith in Oat. of Kew Ferns, p. 2 ; Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 19.

G-YMNOGKAMME

HAB. Venezuela (according to T. Moore and J. Smith).

Cultivated at Kew.

DESCR. Prom a very short, indistinct, erect caudex, with tufted fibrous roots, several fronds
arise in a fasciculate manner, and are erect or reflexed, one to two feet long, including the moderately
long stipes, ovato-lanceolate in circumscription, of a rather firm but submembranaceous character,
tripinnate^ rarely subquadripinnate, quite glabrous, dark full green above, beneath clothed with a
pulverulent but ceraceous powder. The lower primary pinnae, and generally the lower primary
pinnules, are ovato-lanceolate, the rest lanceolate; ultimate pinnules deeply, almost to the rachis,
pinnatifid; the segments broad-oblong or cuneated, dentate, chiefly at the apex, with three to six
teeth: these segments are soriferous. The sori linear or linear-oblong, brown, arising from forked
veins, and often themselves forked. The capsules are comparatively few in each sorus, and remote.
Stipes a span and more long; and rachises glossy purple-black while young, partially covered with
bloom.
Within these few years has appeared in our gardens, derived from Mr. Linden's celebrated collection in Belgium, a very elegant and graceful species of Gymnogramme, under the name of pulchella,
a native, it is said, of Venezuela, but of which, as far as we know, no native specimens have appeared
in any of our herbaria. And this is the more remarkable, considering that our collections are tolerably rich in plants from that republic. Nevertheless, if this plant is constant to its characters, we
can hardly do otherwise than accept it as a good and a new species, as Mr. T. Moore has done in the
' Gardeners' Chronicle/ where he is the first to give it a character, and a figure, such as it is, which
Mr. Moore acknowledges does not do justice to the plant.
This Gymnogramme, however, belongs to a natural group of the genus, of which we have already
figured two kinds, viz. G. triangularis, Kaulf., and G.flavens, Kaulf. (see our Plates X. and XLVII.),
characterized by having the under side of the frond clothed with a ceraceous powder, which, in the
opinion of authors, constitutes a generic character (Ceropteris, Lk.), in some white, in others
golden colour, or full yellow or sulphur-colour; but some of the species, if species they be, are characterized imperfectly, and with great difficulty distinguished. Indeed, the suites of specimens of
several acknowledged species in our herbarium do exhibit many intermediate forms, which, in our

minds, throw great doubt on their permanency as species. That state which is generally figured and
described as Gymnogramme Calomelanos, which, however, has the pinnules acuminate and the ultimate
ones lanceolate and entire or serrated, is the most allied to G.pulchella. But none of the species of
Gymnogramme, of which the under side is clothed with white powder, has the lobes and segments so
deeply cut and almost laciniated as this.
We believe the present exists in many Fern collections. Our figure is taken from one of the
Kew specimens when in a very perfect state of fructification.

Plate LXXIV. Gymnogramme pulchella, LindL, fertile, not. size. Fig. 1. Pinnule seen from beneath,
magnified. 2. Segment of a pinnule, more highly magnified.

Hate LIU,

'TTiccnt, Bxoaks Irrm

PLATE

LXXV.

ANGIOPTERIS EVECTA, Hoffm.
Tall-headed Angiopteris.

ANGIOPTEEIS evecta.

ANGIOPTEEIS evecta. " Hoffm. in Comm. Goett. v. 12. p. 29. t. 5 (excl. syn. prceter Forster)."
Swartz,
Syn. Fil. p. 166 et 395. Willd. Sp. Fl. v. 5. p. 69. Schkuhr, Fil. p. 152. t. 150. Kaulf. Enum. p. 34.
/ 4. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 36, et in Hook. Bot. Misc. v. 3. p. 227. J. Sm. Cat. Kew Ferns,
p. 8.
ANGIOPTEEIS Teysmanniana. J. Sm. Gat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 79 ?
ANGIOPTEEIS Indica. Desv. Journ. Bot. v. 1. p. 267.
ANGIOPTEEIS Hugeliana. Fresl, Fpimel. Bot. p. 9. t. 2 ?
ANGIOPTEEIS crassipes. W«ZZ. Gat. n. 187.
ANGIOPTEEIS macrocephala. Fresl, I.e.p.

10. £ 3 ?

ANGIOPTEEIS longifolia. Hook, et Grev. Bot. Misc. v. 3. p. 227. Da Vriese, Monogr. p. 19. £. 34. / . 2.
Metten. Fil. Hort. Bot. Lips. p. 117.
POLYPODIUM evectum. Forst. Frodr. n. 438.
H A B . Be there one or be there many species, the genus, as far as yet known, is peculiar to tropical, rarely
extratropical, regions of the Old World, and, with the exception of Madagascar, is peculiar to India,
China, and the Polynesian islands.—1. South Pacific: Society Islands, Forster, Banks, Menzies,
Otaheite (A. Brongniartiana, Be Vriese), Brackenridge, Bidwill (A. aurata, A. cupreata, and A. acrocarpa, Be Vriese, and, ex Herb. Webb, A. commutata, Fr. and Be Vriese), Mathews (and Pitcairn's
Island, A. longifolia, H. and Gr. olim) ; Coral Islands, Beechey (A. Beecheyana, Be Vriese) ; Feejee
Islands, Milne, Brackenridge (and Samoan Isles).—2. North Pacific and China: Island of Bonin
(Imp. Acad, of Fetersb.) ; Hongkong, Br. Lorrain, Wilford; Satnla Bay, China, Br. Alexander;
Ousima, Island of Niphon, Japan, 33^° north latitude (probably the most northern station known),
Brackenridge, in U . S. North Pacific Exploring Expedition, under Commanders Einggold and Kodgers,
1853-56.—3. Ceylon, Gardner (H. marginata, Be Vriese, and A. polysporangium, Be Vriese), Mrs.
General Walker (A. magnifica, Be Vriese, some of the pinnules fifteen inches long).—4. India
proper: Madras Peninsula, Br. Wight, G. Thomson (A. "Wightiana, Be Vriese; Nilghiri hills, M'lvor) ;
Nepal, Wallich (A. crassipes, Wall., A. Wallichiana, Be Vriese) ; Sylhet, Wallich (A. Sylhetensis,
Bfi Vriese) ; Sikkim-Himalaya, 1000 feet of elevation, Hooker and Thomson, n. 3 5 1 ; Khasya, Hooker
and Thomson; Assam, Mrs. Mack (A. Assamica, Be Vriese) ; Mergui, Griffith (A. Griflithiana, Be
Vriese) ; Sherapowr, Griffith (A. repandula, Be Vriese, and A. laciniata, Be Vriese; margin of sterile
pinnae laciniated) ; Moulmein, Bev. C. S. F. Farish; with broader pinnules. I t may here be observed, that the specimens from the continent of India are most free from the intermediate vein, yet
by no means entirely destitute of it, and it becomes more prevalent in the specimens from Mergui
and Moulmein.—5. Malay Islands: Luzon, Cuming, n. 18 (A. caudata, Be Vriese, A. longifolia, Be
Vriese, and Hook, et Grev. olim, A. angustifolia, Fr.); Java (ex Herb. Be Vriese, including A. angustata, Mig_. and Be Vriese, A. Hartingeana, Be Vriese, A. cuspidata, Be Vriese, A crassifolia, Be Vriese,
A* Teysmanniana, Be Vriese) ; Sumatra, ex Herb. Be Vriese (A. aphanosorus, Be Vriese, A. microsporangion, Be Vriese, A. pallescens, Be Vriese, A. approximata, Be Vriese), Amboyna, ex Herb.

Webb (A. Amboinensis, ~De Vriese), Barclay (A. uncinata, De Vriese). All from the Malay islands
exhibit the intermediate vein more or less distinctly.—6. Madagascar, Goudot (A. Madagascariensis ?, De Vriese), JBojer in Serb. JVbstr. De Vriese's plant however is described as having intermediate veins; my specimens (destitute of sori) possess none. Cultivated at Kew.

DESCK. The general habit of this noble Marattiaceous Fern is that of the Marattia purpurascens, given at our Plate LXV. Roots, fleshy succulent fibres. The caudex forms a trunk aboveground, in our living specimens two feet in height, and more than that in diameter. Upon this the
huge bipinnated and stipitate fronds are articulated, through the medium of large tubercles, with
two leathery vertical lobes or rounded ears, downy and obscurely squamulose on each side, which
remain attached to the caudex when the stipites have fallen away. These fronds, including the stipes,
are from twelve to fifteen feet long, in their young state erect, afterwards spreading horizontally, and
decurved, ovate or ovato-acuminate, earnoso-coriaceous, glabrous, dark-green and glossy above,
paler beneath. Primary pinnae oblong. Pinnules linear-oblong, sometimes almost ligulate, or ovaloblong, rarely obovato-lanceolate, suddenly acuminate; the margin sometimes almost entire, generally crenato-serrate, the apex more sharply serrated: sometimes, in sterile specimens, the margin
is laciniated. Veins simple or forked, terminating at the margin, opposite a tooth, opaque or pellucid,
and more or less conspicuous according to the texture or opacity of the frond. Alternating with
these veins, and corresponding with a sinus of the marginal teeth, is a more or less distinct decurrent
nerve, very variable in length, but apparently never descending to the stout costa. These intermediate veins seem to be most general on plants growing in the moister regions, almost absent in
specimens from Western India. Sori copious, oblong, arising exclusively from the true veins, and
forming a continued line or series, more or less near the margin, each consisting of from five or eight
to twelve or fourteen pyriform reticulated capsules, radiating from the costa, and arising from an
oblong, ciliated membrane constituting an imperfect kind of involucre. Stipes four to six feet long,
very stout, firm, nearly terete, swollen at the base, more or less downy, and subsquamose. The
rachises too, which are slightly winged, are swollen at the base, where they form a short pedicel.
To those who are aware that the late Professor Presl, in his ' Supplementum Tentaminis Pteridographise/ has given twelve species of Angiopteris, exclusive of his supposed new genus Psilodochea* and that Dr. De Vriese has increased the number of species to sixty, it may excite astonishment, and perhaps contempt, to find that I have here, by giving no specific character to the present
plant, treated the subject as if this was the only known species, and which consequently needed no
specific definition. I am far from saying that such is my opinion, and merely wish it to be understood that, with a very rich collection in my herbarium, from various localities, and two apparently
distinct living species in our Fern-stove, I am yet unable to form anything like distinguishing specific
characters. If isolated samples alone are taken, without reference to intermediate grades, nothing is
more easy than to frame diagnoses. Thus it was that at a time when only one species of the genus
was acknowledged, Dr. Greville and I established, as we believed on good grounds, a second species,
which we named A. longifolia. The two distinct-looking ones in our stove, above alluded to, differ
in this remarkable manner, viz. that as the pinnule of A. evecta is narrow and elongated, the capsules
numerous in each sorus and compact, and that between the forks of the veins there is a distinct intermediate free vein (not extending to the costa); the other is smaller and shorter in its pinnules, has
capsules placed more apart, destitute of any intermediate vein.t But that such are not permanent

* This Psilodochea salicifolia, Pr. (Angiopteris, De Vriese), and Angiopteris macrocephala of the same
author, are both stated to be from the Punjaub (" inventor ignotus"), a country very unlikely to produce an
Angiopteris.
t Another different-looking plant is in Messrs. Veitch and Sons' Nursery, King's Eoad, Chelsea, with
fertile fronds, of which the pinnsB are small, and not more than half an inch wide; in other respects, in venation, etc., it corresponds with our plant here figured.

characters, I am led to believe by a reference to the suites of specimens in my herbarium, where such
marks are found to be extremely variable on one and the same specimen. All therefore I at present
venture to do, is to select for figure and description that state of the plant which I believe to correspond
to the original A. evecta, that is, a Fern first found in the Society Islands by Forster, who describes
it as Polypodium evectum; and my herbarium possesses specimens from the same group of islands,
gathered by Menzies, in his voyage with Captain Vancouver, in 1787, and since by Bidwill and
Mathews. It is true the native country of the plant here figured (we have supposed from Java) is
not known to us, but we cannot doubt its being specifically identical with that of the Society
Islands.
Perhaps too niucn space is here devoted to the localities and to the names which our herbarium
can verify as those of our excellent friend De Vriese; but each can judge for himself, and De Vriese
has given carefully executed figures of pinnules, and their venation and their sori. Mr. Parish's
specimens from Moulmein, accompanied as they are by notes and characteristic pencil-sketches
made from the living specimens, have interested me much, aB being a connecting link between the
specimens from the western side of India and the moist Malayan islands, especially in regard to
venation. " It inhabits/' Mr. Parish remarks, " banks by stream sand jungles. The whole plant
is dark-green, smooth, shining. When the swollen bases of the pinnae and stipes lack moisture
during the heat of the day, they become flaccid, and allow the pinnae and the whole frond to fall
towards the ground; but when the tissues are again filled, they raise the frond up again. I almost
think I must have two varieties,—the whole difference, however, is that which is perceptible in the
pinnae sent; one turns black in drying, the other not/'

Plate LXV, Fig. 1. exhibits acaudex or trunk of Angiopteris evecta, Hoffm., with some of the younger
central and more erect fronds, greatly reduced in size. 2. Portion of a rachis of a pinna, with a pinnule,
seen from above, nat. size. 3. Fertile pinnule, seen from beneath, nat. size. 4. Portion of the under side
of a fertile pinnule, showing the venation and insertion of the sori, magnified. 5. Lesser portion of ditto,
still more magnified, showing portion of the intermediate veins, and a sorus removed, exhibiting the fringed
involucre beneath, more magnified. 6. Capsule, burst open, containing the seeds or spores, highly magnified.

Rate,

"wmtJiaEi.et.iith.

TIM.

Vracent. Spooks I x

'--•

PLATE

LXXVI.

ASPLENIUM COMPRESSUM, Sw.
Flat-stemmed Spleenwort.
(§ Euasplenium) compressum; glabrum, caudice erecto brevissimo vel subnullo, frondibus
(cum stipite) amplis bipedalibus csespitosis ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis pinnatis carnoso-coriaceis,
pinnis patentibus oblongo-ensiformibus sensim acuminatis subobscure sinuato-serratis basi sensim
dilatatis truncatis rachi parallelis deorsum excisis alato-decurrentibus hie illic proliferis, terminali
longissima sublobata, venis remotis furcatis intra marginem terminantibus, soris breviusculis obliquis, stipitibus crassis semiteretibus subpaleaceis, rachi lata compressa alata.

ASPLENIUM

ASPLEJ^IUM compressum. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 79 et p. 270.
Ferns, p. 5 ; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 43.
ASPLENITJM

Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 320. J. Sm. Cat. Kew

fcecundum. Kze. in Linntea, v. 20. p. 3, et v. 20. p. 234 et p. 305. Metten. Hort. Fil. Lips.p. 73.

HAB. St. Helena, Masson, Thos. Fraser, Dr. Hooker, Lady JDalJiousie, Cuming, n. 430. Cultivated at Kew.

A tuft of several fronds, two feet and more long, springs from a very short indistinct
caudex, formed by the union of the bases of the stipites. The outline or circumscription of the frond is
ovato-lanceolate, acuminated, eight to ten inches broad, carnoso-coriaceous, dark full green, glabrous,
pinnated. Pinna very patent, five to six inches long, oblongo-ensiform, gradually acuminated, somewhat waved and crenato-serrated chiefly towards the apex; the base above dilated, subauriculated,
broad, standing parallel with the rachis: the costa divides the pinna into two unequal halves, the
lowest being the narrowest, and at the base very narrow, and excised almost to the base, where however it is decurrent along the main rachis, forming a wing on each side: terminal pinna much the
longest, and more acuminate and sublobate. Veins oblique, forked from a little above the base, terminating within the margin, and there subclavate. Sori oblong or linear-oblong, very broad in the
state of perfect ripeness, attached to the superior branch of the vein. Involucre firm-membranaceous,
pale-brown, entire. Besides the spores, this species is proliferous on the upper side of the pinnse,
and bears young plants there, which become detached, and form new ones. Stipes six to seven inches
long, stout, semiterete, sparingly paleaceous (more so while young). Rachis very broad, compressed,
and winged with the decurrent bases of the pinnules.
As far as our knowledge extends, this handsome species of Spleenwort is peculiar to St. Helena,
where it was first detected by the English botanist Masson, and from his specimens Swartz made
his accurate description in the ' Species Filicum.' Kunze describes the same under the name of
A. fcecundum, (a plant of which he says the locality is unknown), and maintains that our plant is not
the A. compressum of Masson; and Mettenius adopts Kunze's views.
There are, indeed, Asplenia very nearly approaching this in tropical Africa, in South Africa,
especially Natal, and even in South America, and we may add the Aspl. obtusatum, Forst., figured at
our Plate XLVI.; but none of them possesses the very truncated and dilated upper base of the
pinnae, nor the very broad, compressed, and winged rachis we see in the present species. Our living
plants were introduced by Fraser in 1825*
DESCR.

Plate LXXVI. Asplenium compressum, Sw., nat. size. Fig. 1. Fertile portion of a pinna, magnified.

Rcct& IMVII.

"Vincent, lirooks Ixap.

PLATE

LXXVII.

BLECHNUM ORIENTALE, Linn.
Oriental Hard-Fern.

BLECHNUM orientate; caudice erecto vel adscendente brevi crasso, frondibus conformibus amplis caespitosis
bi-tripedalibus coriaceis laevibus glabris ovato-lanceolatis basi insigniter contractis pinnatis, pinnis
numerosis (supremis solummodo basi subcoadunatis) lato-linearibus acuminatis sessilibus integerrimis margine tenui-calloso, terminali elongato, inferioribus nanis remotis subreniformibus brevissime
petiolatis, soris continuis costas adpressis, venis copiosis parallelis plerisque simplicibus, stipitibus
brevibus subulato-paleaceis, paleis longis anguste subulatis atro-fuscis.
BLECHNUM orientale. Linn. Sp. Pip. 1535. Sw. Syn. Fit.p. 114. Schhuhr, Fit. p. 101. t. 109.
Witld.
Sp. Ptant. v. 5. p. 414. Bt. Fnum. Fit. Jav.p. 197. J. Sm. Oat. Few Ferns, p. 4 ; Gat. of Gutt.
Ferns, p. 39.
BLEOHNUM pyrophyllum. Blume, Fntm. Fit. Jav.p. 197 (in Herb. JSfostr.).
BLECHNTJM imbricatum. Blume, Fnwm. Fit. Jav. p. 197 {in Herb.

Nostr^).

BLECHNOPSIS orientalis. Presl, Fpimet. Bot. p. 117.
BLECHNOPSIS pyrophylla. Presl, Fpim. Ic.p.
BLECHNOPSIS elongata. Prest, t.c.p.

117.

117.

BLECHNOPSIS stenophylla. Prest, t. e. p. 118.
H A B . Apparently common throughout tropical India and the Pacific Islands: Nepal, Sylhet, etc., Waltich
and others ; lower hills of Sikkim and Khasya, elev. 4500 feet, Hooker and Thomson; Madras Peninsula,
Br. Wight; Malacca, Guming, n. 3 8 5 ; Ceylon, Gardner, n. 1085, Mrs. Gen. Wather; Luzon,
Guming, n. 166 (pinnis angustioribus tenui-acuminatis); N . Ilocos, Guming, n. 257; Amboyna (ex
Herb. Webb); Penang, Waltich, Lady Bathousie; Singapore, Waltich; Java, Btume,
Miltett;
Borneo, Mr. Barber (pinnis valde approximatis elongatis pedalibus subundulatis basi subauriculatocordatis); China, Miltett, Abet, Vachett; Hongkong, Champion, n. 551, Seemann, n. 2391, Witford.
Pacific Islands: Feejee, Br. Harvey, Milne, etc.; Coral Islands, Beechey; Eitzroy Island, M'Gillivray. Cultivated at Kew, where it was raised from spores taken from native specimens.

DESCR. Caudeos short, erect, or more or less ascending, bearing a tuft of fronds, which are
among the largest of the genus, two and even three feet long, coriaceous, broad-ovate in circumscription, acuminate, but suddenly exceedingly contracted below by the dwarfing of the pinnules,
which dwarf pinnules extend often nearly to the base of the plant, pinnate. Pinnules very numerous, approximate, horizontal, often more or less falcate, broad linear, acuminate, entire, plane or
transversely subundulate, as in the so-called Blechnum imbricatum, BL, and in our var. from B o r n e o ;
the base also very variable, always sessile, but more or less obliquely cuneate or cordate, with the
lobes equal and large, or unequal; the margin has a slightly thickened and callous e d g e ; the lower
pinnce are remote and reduced almost to a scale, subreniform and petiolate; the uppermost pinnce are

more or less confluent at the base; the terminal one elongated. Veins copious, approximate, horizontal, simple, rarely forked, terminated in a club-shaped apex just within the margin. Sori narrow,
continuous, parallel with and close to the costa. Involucre membranaceous, pale- (sometimes dark-)
brown. Stipites short (unless the dwarfed pinnse be considered scales on the stipes), clothed with
long, harsh, paleaceous, dark-brown, subulate, often curved seta.
The finest, unquestionably, of all the species of Blechnum, and deserving a place in every tropical
Fern-house. It is moreover an exceedingly well-marked species, and cannot be confounded with any
other. Even specimens in the herbarium, especially if the specimens are perfect, all exhibit the base
of the plant with curious reduced pinnules, which are very characteristic of the species. It is peculiar
to the hot regions of India, the Malay and the Pacific Islands.

Plate LXXVII. Plant of Blechnum orientale, L., fertile, nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a fertile pinna,
showing the sori and the venation, magnified.

Rate, Limn.

W f l A aioLMh.

"Vxtment lirookiS Tm-n

PLATE LXXVIII.

HYMENOLEPIS SPICATA, Pr.
Serpent's-tongue Hymenolepis.

HYMENOLEPIS spicata; eaudice repente squamoso, frondibus sparsis stipitatis elongato-lanceolatis coriaceis.
appendice fructifera lineari.
HTMENOLEPIS spicata. Presl, Fpimel. Bot.p.

159.

J. Sm. Gat. Kew Ferns,p.

1 ; Gat. Cult. Ferns, p. 7.

HTMENOLEPIS ophioglossoides. Kaulf. Fnum. Fil. p. 146. t. 1. f. 9 (figure bad).
Jav. p. 200. Kunze, in Schlch. Fil. Suppl p. 99. t. 4 7 . / 1.

Blume, Fnum.

HYMENOLEPIS revoluta. Bl. En. Fil. Jav. p. 201. Kze. in Schlch. Fil. Suppl p. 101. t. 4 7 . / . 2.

Fil.
Presl,

Fpim. Bot. p. 160.
HYALOLEPIS ophioglossoides et revoluta. Kze. in Linncda, v. 2 3 . ^ . 258.
ACROSTICHTJM spicatum. Linn. Suppl. p. 444.

Gav. Prcel. 1801, n. 569.

Metten. Rort. Fil. Lips. p. 28.
Smith, Ic, ined. t. 49.

ONOCLEA spicata. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 110 et 303.

S C H I Z ^ A spicata. Smith, Act. Taur. v. 5. p. 53.
LOMAEIA spicata. Willd. Sp. PI. x>. 5. p. 289.
GYMNOPTEEIS spicata. Presl, Tent Pterid.p.

244. t. 11. /

7.

H A B . India, especially the Islands of the Eastern Archipelago, and Pacific Islands. The older botanists do
not give exact habitats. Our own herbarium affords the following localities:—Ceylon, Gardner,
n, 1303. Bourbon (Serb. Mus. Paris.). Mauritius, Carmichael, Bouton, etc. Assam and Khasya,
Griffith. Churra and Sikkim, Hooker and Thomson, elev. 6000 feet. Philippine Islands, Guming,
n. 92. Java, Blume, Thomas Lobb, Millett.
Penang, Sir Wm. JVorris, Lady Dalhousie. Society
Islands, Bidwill.
Peejee Islands, Tanna and Aneiteum, and Solomon's Group, Milne. Brisbane
Biver, 1ST. E. Australia, Mr. Hill (fine specimens communicated by Dr. Mueller, who procured
them from Mr. Hill, at Moreton Bay, on his return from the North Australian Expedition). Cultivated in the Pern-stove of Kew, where it was received from the Botanic Garden at Gottingen.

DESCR. CaudeoG about as thick as a goosequill, creeping, clothed with imbricated scales, and
generally rooting very abundantly. Roots fibrous, branched, more or Jess woolly. Fronds scattered,
from a span to a foot long, elongato- or narrow-lanceolate, costate, coriaceous, opaque, gradually
tapering below into a stipes one to two inches long, and which is articulated upon the caudex: the
apex is suddenly contracted into a narrow linear appendage, or portion, from three to six inches long,
which bears t h e fructification. Venation everywhere anastomosing or reticulated, and forming oblong,
six-sided areoles, which include ramified free veins; the veinlets much divaricated, and clavate at
the free apex. Sori in two broad lines, one on each side the costa, on receptacles which run down
on each side of, and close to, t h e costa, b u t by no means extending to the involute m a r g i n ; eventually, however, forcing back the margin, and covering the whole under side of the appendage.

Capsules exceedingly numerous, long-pedicellate, mixed with numerous long-pedicelled peltate scales,
similar to those of Pleopeltis of authors.
This is certainly a remarkable-looking plant, and one cannot wonder there have been so many
opinions about its genus. The preference among botanists of the present day is to Hymenolepis and
to the Acrostichoid group, while Mr. Moore places it among his Pleurogrammea. Hymenolepis revoluta of Blume seems in no way distinguishable from H. spicata; and there is a H. validinervis,
Kze. in Bot. Zeit. v. 6. p. 122, from Java [Zollinger, n. 2312), which, judging from the remarks
made upon it, is hardly specifically distinct. But H. platyrhynchos, Kze. (Hook. Ic. Plant, t. 999),
from Luzon, is a very remarkable plant, so much so, that Presl, in his Epimel. Bot. p. 142, constitutes of it a new genus [Macroplethus).

Plate LXXVIII. Fertile plant of Hymenolepis spicata, Pr. Fig. 1. Portion of the frond, showing
the venation, magnified. 2. Section from the appendage or contracted fertile apex, with the capsules partially removed, showing the receptacles, magnified. 3. Peltate pedicellate scale, from the sori. 4. Capsule.
5. Scale from the caudex:—magnified.

PLATE

LXXIX.

DAVALLIA IMMERSA, Wall
Sunk-fruited Davallia.

(§ Leucostegia) immersa; caudice repente subgracili ramoso villoso-paleaceo, frondibus amplis
longe stipitatis glabris membranaceis opacis 3-pinnatis, pinnis primariis secundariisque petiolatis
tenui-acuminatis, pinnulis segmentisque subovatis cuneatisve facie superiore pallidioribus subconcavis, soris margine approximatis, involucris (majuseulis) reniformibus arete appressis paululum
convexis, stipite rachibusque nudis.

DAVALLIA

DAVALLIA immersa. Wall. Cat. n. 256. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 1. p. 156.
immersa. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 95. J. Sm. Gat. Kew Ferns, p. 7 ; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 66.
Hook. Gen, Fil. t. 52 A.

LEUCOSTEGIA
HTTMATA

immersa. Metten. Fil. Hort. Lips. p. 102.

CYSTOPTEBIS

dimidiata. Decaisne in Jacquem. Voy. am Indes Or. Partie Pot. p. 177. t. 178.

HAB. India, Sheopore and Nepal, Wallicli. Mussoorie, Dr. Paeon. Between Carli and Candalah, Bombay,
Jacquemont. Assam, Mrs. Mack, Major Jenkins, Simons. Khasya, Griffith, Hooker and Thomson
(4000 feet elev.). Sikkim-Himalaya, Hooker and Thomson (6-8000 feet). Paras-Nath, J. D. Hooker.
Moulmein (Thoung G-yne, 5000 feet) and Java, T. Lobo. Cultivated at Kew, where the plants were
raised from spores of native specimens,

Caudex long, creeping, clothed with compact, chaffy hairs rather than scales, generally
copiously rooting and branched. Fronds on long stipites, approximate upon the caudex, from one
to two feet in length (including the stipites), glabrous, membranaceous, light-green, tri-quadripinnate
in the larger specimens. Primary and secondary pinnae petiolate, broad at the base, tapering to a
finely attenuated serrated point; pinnules generally cuneate and pinnatifid, the segments more or
less incised. "What is very remarkable, the upper side of the frond is the palest-coloured, and the
segments are the most concave on that side. Veins forked. Involucre large, reniform, situated near
the margin, and on the apex of a vein, slightly convex, close-pressed to the sorus. Stipites and
rachis quite glabrous, destitute of scales, straw-coloured, very glossy.
A very peculiar and graceful plant, varying extremely in size, very compound in ramification,
and very conspicuous from the copious, large fructifications, when they are mature. There is too a
convexity on the under surface of the frond (usual on the upper side of a Fern), which gives an appearance, at first sight, of the sori being on the anterior or upper side instead of the lower. It is
probably very rare in collections of living Perns. It has no place in Kunze's valuable Catalogue of
Garden Ferns, given in the twenty-third volume of the Linnsea; and at Kew it has been raised accidentally from Indian earth, in which Orchideous plants had been imported.
DESCR.

Plate LXXIX. Caudex, stipites, and portion of a frond of Davallia immersa, Wall., with immature
fructification, nat. size. Fig. 1. Ultimate pinnule, with sori. 2. Portion of a segment, with a sorus, more
highly magnified.

Plate

"WStoh. ad.et.Hth

LIU.

"VmcerLt. !Bxooks Trrrp.

PLATE

LXXX.

GYMNOPTERIS QUERCIFOLIA, Bernh.
0ak4eaved Gymnopteris.

quercifolia; caudice repente paleaceo, frondibus difformibus ternatis; sterilibus brevi-stipifcatis membranaceis ciliatis, pinnis inferioribus subcordato-lobatis sessilibus inaBquilateralibus, terminali
maxima petiolata oblongo-ovata sinuato-lobata; fertilibus longe stipitatis, stipite gracillimo, pinnis
linearibus intermedia elongata, stipitibus omnibus inferne setaceo-paleaceis.

G-YMNOPTERIS

quercifolia. Bernh. in Schrad. Journ. JBot. 1806, v. 1. p. 20. Brest, Tent. Pterid. p. 244.
J. Sm. in Hook. Journ. of JBot. v. 4<.p. 156; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 23. Hook. Ic. Plant, v. 10. t. 905.
T. Moore, Ind. Bit. v. 1. p. xxix.

GYMNOPTERIS

OPHIOGLOSSTTM

Zeylanicum. Houtt. Syst. v. IS. p. 47. t. 94./. 1.

ACROSTICHTTM quercifolium. Betz, Obs. Bot. v. 6. p. 39. Sw. Syn. Bit. p. 12. Schkuhr, Fit. v, 2. t. 3.
Willd. Sp. Bl. v. 5. p. 112.
OSMUKDA trifida. Jacq. Coll. Bot. v. 3. p. 281. t. 20. / 3.
LEPTOCHILTTS

quercifolius. Bee, Hist, des Acrost. p. 88.

DENDROGLOSSA quercifolia. Bee, Gen. p. 80. t. 7.f. 2.

HAB. Ceylon, Burmann, Mrs. General Walker, Gardner, n. 1170 and 1319. Madras Peninsula, Bottler,
Br. Wight, Herb. Bropr. Cryptog. n. 46. China and Cochinchina, Moreau, Turanne, and Gaudichot
(according to BresT). Cultivated at Kew. Received from the Berlin Botanic Garden, where it was
raised by spores from Ceylon specimens.

DESCR. A rather small Acrostichoid plant. The caudex runs along the ground, and is scarcelyso
thick as a goose-quill, scaly, somewhat copiously rooting below with descending woolly fibres, above
bearing several tufts of fronds of two kinds, sterile and fertile, both stipitate. Sterile on rather short
stipites, broad cordato-ovate, ternate, membranaceous, hairy principally on the veins, and ciliated;
lowest pair, or lateral pinnae, sessile, about an inch long, unequally cordate, and more or less lobate;
terminal one three to four inches long, cordato-ovate, obtuse, pinnatifido-lobate, petiolate. Primary
veins pinnated; the secondary ones ramify and anastomose in an irregular manner, forming a network of angled areoles, in which are free, simple or branched, and divaricated veinlets, clavate at the
apices. Fertile fronds on stipites a span and more high, ternate; pinnae linear, thick and fleshy;
lateral ones sessile or nearly so, an inch long; terminal one thrice as long, petiolate: all linear and
obtuse, obscurely ciliated. Veins sunk, obscure. Sori occupying the whole of the back of the frond,
except on the costa and at the very margin. Capsules very numerous.
A very pretty and rare Fern, especially in cultivation, for we believe it exists in very few gardens.
The numerous generic names are indicative of the different views of botanists on that subject, and of
the difficulty of referring it to its right place. If all the species of Gymnopteris be as well marked as
this, the genus might be pronounced good; but perhaps no group of Ferns needs more careful revision than the Acrostichoid ones.

Plate LXXX. The principal figure represents a fertile plant of Gymnopteris quercifolia, Bernh., nat.
size. Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile pinna, showing the venation. 2. Portion of a fertile pinna, with onehalf of the sori removed, showing the receptacle:—magnified.

Plate LZZZI.

IVStaMeLetJitk

^Sn-cent Brooks fTm.-p .

PLATE LXXXI.

POLYBOTRYA AURITA, Bl.
Eared Polybotrya.

(§ Stenosemia) aurita; caudice brevissimo erecto, frondibus caespitosis longe stipitatis dimorphis ternatis, foliolis pinnatifidis; sterilium laciniis oblongis seu oblongo-lanceolatis obtusis, lateralium
infima exteriore elongata acuminata crenato-lobata, venis pinnatis inferioribus anastomosantibus,
areolis ad costam elongatis; fertilium laciniis linearibus omnibus obtusis; stipitibus inferne paleaceis.

POLYBOTRYA

POLYBOTBYA aurita. Bl. Fil. Jav.p. 15. t. 1 {excellent). Metten. Ml. Sort. Bot. Lips, p. 24.
POLYBOTBYA orientalis. Bl. En. Fil. Jav. p. 99.
POLYBOTRYA

cicutaria. Bl En. Fil. Jav.p. 100?; Fil. Jav.p. 17. t.2? (sterile only).

ACROSTICHTTM auritum. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 13 et 198.

STENOSEMIA aurita. Presl, Tent. Fterid.p. 237. t. 10. / . 24 (portion of barren frond only). J. Sm. En. Fil.
Philipp. in Hook. Journ. of Bot. v. 3. p. 395 (in part) ; Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 3 ; Gat. Cult. Ferns, p. 24.
Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 55 (not J. Sm. in Hook. Gen. Fil. t. 55, which is Pleocnemia).
PILIX florida. Bwnph. Amb. v. 6. p. 78. t. 35./. 1.
HAB. Apparently an inhabitant of the Malay Islands only: Amboyna, Bumphius; Java, Blume, Zollinger, Thos. Lobb, n. 211; Isle Samar, Cuming, n. 341 (n. 321 in Mr. J. Smith's specimens). Cultivated in Kew Gardens.

DESCR. This has a very undefined caudex, or small, erect rhizome, from which arises a tuft of
stipitate fronds, of two kinds, sterile and fertile, which are both deltoid in circumscription, and primarily ternate, or divided into three portions: sterile on the shorter stipes, but having the largest
frond, a span and more long, glabrous, submembranaceous; the two lower portions, or pinnae, subsessile,
with generally a small, scaly bulb or bud in the axil, semiovate, acuminate, more or less falcate, pinnatifid, the lower side (from the costa) the broadest, especially at the base, the most deeply divided,
so that the lowermost segment is three to four inches long, acuminate and crenato-lobate*; the rest of
the lobes mostly entire and obtuse; intermediate or terminal portion, or pinna, broad-ovate, acuminate, petiolulate, equally (on both sides) pinnatifid, rarely at the base again pinnate. Veins pinnate;
lower veinlets angularly anastomosing, and forming from one to three series of areoles, of which those
next the costa are the largest and most oblong and regular, constituting a series of costal arcs.
Fertile fronds on stipites twice as long as the sterile ones, much smaller, similarly divided, but so
contracted as to form narrow, linear, obtuse, subcarnose segments, the margins subreflexed. Sori
apparently covering the whole back of the frond with a uniform mass of capsules> except on the
costa. Stipites dark-brown, with almost black, subulate scales towards the base, scarcely a span long
in the sterile plant, a foot and more in the fertile one. Petioles and costce ferrugineo-pubescent.
This rare Indian Fern is an extremely well-defined plant, and yet by some unaccountable misapprehension, together with the fact of incorrect numbers being attached to certain of Mr. Cuming's

specimens, the accurate Mr. J. Smith was led to confound with it Nos. 295 and 302 of Cuming's Philippine Island plants (from Leyta), and n. 341 (from Zebu), which he considered to be the same as
the true Stenosemia aurita, Pr. (n. 321 in Smith's, n. 341 in my herbarium); and specimens from
those localities were sent for publication to our Gen. Filicum (see t. 94 of that work), as illustrative
of Stenosemia of "Presl and J. Smith." Those plants are now considered by Fee to belong to two
or more distinct species of Pleocnemia (PL Cumingiana and PL Leuceana* of Fee, for example), a
very remarkable genus, of which there are species with indusiate and with naked sori, according to
Fee, and globose and oblong sori, according to J. Smith: a group of Ferns, however, widely apart from
our present plant, which is truly acrostichoid, and, according to my views, may properly rank with
Polybotrya.
The Polybotrya cicutaria of Blume, above quoted, has been considered a second species of Stenosemia by Presl and others \ but if the figure be carefully inspected (a sterile frond being all that
is known), and the note on the supposed differences,—" Differt a P . aurita, Bl., imprimis foliolis
petiolatis" (our true P . aurita has them petiolate), "profunde piiinatifidis, longius acuminatis, quorum
latinise multo angustiores, magis acuminatse, potiusque erecto-patentes quam subfaleatae,"—it may well
be considered as a very trifling variety of our Polybotrya aurita.

Plate LXXXI. Polybotrya (§ Stenosemia) aurita, with sterile and fertile fronds, n&t, size. Fig. 1.
Portion of a sterile pinna, showing the venation. 2. Section from a fertile pinna. 3. Single capsule:—
magnified.

#

Of these, or some of the specimens (n. 295 of Cuming, in his set), Presl has constituted the genus
Heterogoniim, and refers to Hook. G-en. Fil. t. 94. f. 1-4 (excL syn. omn.; and he refers our f. 5 and 6 to
his Pleocnemia Leucmna) : vide Epimel. Bot. p. 143.

PLATE

LXXXII.

DEPARIA PROLIFERA, Hook.
Proliferous Deparia.

DEPABIA (§ Eudeparia) prolifera; caudice brevi decumbente, frondibus fasciculatis stipitatis elatis 3atolanceolatis membranaceis pinnatis glabris nunc proliferis, pinnis sessilibus oblongis acuminatis basi
truncatis profunde pinnatifidis, lobis ovali-oblongis obtusis sinuato-dentatis, venis pinnatis, venulis
simplicibus apice soriferis, involucris pateraeformibus exsertis liberis.
DEPABIA prolifera. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. l.p. 8 5 ; Gen. Fil. t. 44 B.
Ferns, p. 7 ; Gat. Cult. Ferns, p. 68.

Fee, Gen. Ml. p. 336.

J. Sm. Cat. Kew

DICKSONIA prolifera. Kaulf. En. Fil. p. 225.
DEPABTA Macrsei. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 154.
CIBOTIUM proliferum. Pr. Tent. Pterid.p.

69.

H A B . Sandwich Isles: Oahu, Chamisso, Lay and Collie, in Beechey's Voyage, Barclay, Seemann, n, 2244;
Owyhee, Macrae. Cultivated in Kew Gardens, from plants sent by Br. Seemann.

DESCR. The caudex is short, thick, decumbent, clothed with the broad bases of the stipites.
Fronds tufted, a foot to a foot and a half long (exclusive of stipes), broad, ovato-lanceolate, acuminate,
glabrous, pinnated. Pinna subopposite, approximate, horizontally patent, sessile, from a truncated
base, oblong, gradually acuminate, membranaceous, dark olive-green, deeply, more than halfway to
the costa, pinnatifid; the segments patent, oval-oblong, obtuse, more or less approximate, sinuatodentate.
Costa strong, glabrous.
Veins pinnated; veinlets simple, clavate at the apex, and extended a little beyond the teeth of the margin, where they are soriferous. Involucres paterseform or
shallow cup-shaped, quite free, entire at the margin, at length lacerated.
Capsules numerous,
crowded, forming a hemispherical head, and giving to the whole sorus very much the appearance of
some Trichia among Fungi. Stipes a span to a foot long, stout in our cultivated plant, especially
near the base, where it is more or less clothed with numerous subulate scales.
This is the original species, on which Dr. Greville and myself established the genus Deparia.
Our second species, D. Mathewsii (Hook. Sp. Fil. v . l . p. 8 5 . t. 30 B.), has the involucres partially sunk
in the margin, and cup-shaped, with free but forked veins; and our third species, D. Moorei (see our
Plate X X V I I I . of this volume), has t h e sori as in the present species, and a reticulated venation
(hence constituting another genus, according to the views of some authors, Cionidium, T. Moore,
Trichiocarpa of J . Smith), but in our arrangement rather constituting a sectional than a generic distinction. All the species are rare, and very local. The present one is peculiar to the Sandwich Isles,
as D . Moorei is to New Caledonia, and D. Mathewsii*
as far as we at present know, to eastern
Peru. Of these, two are already in cultivation in our stoves. Our native specimens of D. prolifera
do not exhibit the tendency to increase by bulbs or buds from the fronds, but our cultivated ones
clearly show that character.

Plate L X X X I I . Fertile plant of Beparia prolifera, nat. size. Fig. 1. Fertile segment, showing the
venation. 2. Sorus, in its perfect state. 3. Sorus, with its involucre old and lacerated:— magnified.
* First discovered there by Mr. Mathews, since detected by Mr. Spruce near Tarapota, n. 4692 of his
collections.

Plate, mm.

"Vincent B r oaka.Imp •
W. Fitch., cLeLetlith.

PLATE LXXXIII.

MENISCIUM SIMPLEX, Hook.
^Entire-leaved Meniscium.

simplex; caudice longe repente squamoso, frondibus subdimorphis simplicibus oblongo-ovatis
acuminatis sinuato-dentatis basi cordatis hastatis subtus in venas pilosis, venulis subtus prominentibus areolas exacte quadrangulares formantibus secundariis rarissime liberis, soris globosis yel transversim oblongis magis minusve confluentibus, fertilibus contractis, stipitibus elongatis pubescentibus.

MENISCITJM

simplex. Hook. Bond. Jowrn. ofBot. v. l.p. 294. t. 1 1 ; Kew Gard. Misc. v. 9. p. 334. J. $ni,
Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 3 ; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 21. Seemann, Bot. of H.M.S. Herald, p. 425.

MENISCIUM

HAB. Hongkong, Mr. Hinds, Dr. Alexander, Major Champion, J. C. Bowring, Fsq., Dr. Harland, Dr. Seemann, n. 2386. Living plants sent by J. C. Braine, Fsq., are cultivated at Kew.

DESCR. This species has a singularly long, creeping, paleaceous, flexuose caudex, sending down
fibrous roots from beneath, and from above distantly placed, quite simple fronds, on long, rather slender
stipites; the length (exclusive of stipes) is from four to five inches to a span, ovate-oblong, finely
acuminate, subcoriaceo-membranaceous, cordate at the base, and generally hastate, with the lobes
obtuso- or erecto-patent, and acuminate, the margin is dentato-sinuate. Costa rather strong. Veins
prominent beneath, primary ones very patent. Veinlets opposite, meeting and uniting so as to form
transverse, scarcely angled lines, and thus constituting series of quadrangular areoles, but again
divided in the centre by a line parallel with the primary veins, and forming the tertiary veinlets,
which commencing at the meeting of the lowest primary pair of veinlets are continuous to the margin:
these veins and the costa are all more or less downy or villous. Sort copious, situated both on the
primary and secondary veinlets, globose or transversely oblong, more or less confluent. Capsules
often with a few glochidiate hairs upon the annulus. The fertile fronds are usually contracted and
small, otherwise scarcely different in form from the sterile ones, and they are on much longer
stipites. This rare Meniscium is, as far as we yet know, quite peculiar to the Island of Hongkong.
Other species are widely distributed; many kinds (unless Botanists have too much multiplied the
species) are inhabitants of the new, as well as the old world.
When we see a Fern belonging to a genus only known as having pinnated fronds, with simple
(undivided) ones, we are apt to question if it may not be a young or undeveloped condition of the plant;
but even when we published this species in the ' London Journal of Botany/ from Mr. Hinds's few
specimens, which he brought from Hongkong, so perfect were they both in the sterile and fertile state,
that we did not doubt its being a new and very distinct species, and this opinion is now fully confirmed. M. Fee describes the fronds of the genus as " pinnate, a single species only (M. triphyllum,
Sw.) appearing sometimes simple, but by the suppression of the lateral pinnse." Of our plant our
now numerous specimens, both native and cultivated, are invariably simple. Presl again characterizes the genus as having " caulis arborescens, aut rhizoma subrotundum;" but our present spe-

cies, and M. triphyllum, Sw., (as may be seen by the figure in Hook, and Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 120,) and a
new species in our herbarium, from Ceylon* (all East Indian), possess a long creeping caudex.

Plate LXXXIII. Sterile and fertile fronds of Meniscium simplex, not. size. Fig. 1. Portion of a
sterile frond, seen from beneath, and showing its venation. 2 and 3. Portions of a fertile frond, seen from
beneath, magnified.

#

M. Thwaitesii; caudice elongato repente gracili, frondibus sparsis longe stipitatis deltoideo-lanceolatis
spithamaeis pinnatis, pinnis lanceolatis inferioribus brevi-petiolatis longe acuminatis lobato-pinnatifidis, intermediis minoribus obtusis subfalcatis sessilibus, summis confluentibus in acumen gracile desinentibus,
venulis obscuris secundariis inferioribus liberis reliquis continuis.
HAB. Ceylon, Thwaites, n. 3145.
A small but very distinct species, the fronds not more than a span, multipinnate. Tinned twelve or
fourteen pairs, free, the rest at the apex confluent into a terminal, large (for the size of the plant), crenatopinnatifid, long-acuminated pinna.

Plate,

-L.e.i. iiUx

LIXm

"Vincent B r oaks, I"m.p.

PLATE

LXXXIV.

POLYPODIUM CRENATUM, Sw.
Crenate-leaved Polypodiuni.

POLYPODITTM (§ Goniopteris) crenatum; caudice repente, fronde late ovata longe stipitata 1-2-pedali pinnata, pinnis 8-10-11 suboppositis magis minusve stipite rachique pubescenti-villosis membranaceis
brevissime petiolatis late subovali-oblongis oblongisve acuminatis basi subcuneatis margine crenatolobatis rarius subintegerrimis, venis secundariis oppositis praDcipue inferioribus arcus acutangulos
formantibus (medio soriferis) radios plerumque liberos emittentibus supremis liberis, soris inter
venas primarias biseriatis.
POLYPODITTM crenatum. Sw. Prodr. p. 132; Fl. Indr. Occ. p. 1661. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 189.
Plant. Carib. p. 136. Kze. Index Fil. Cult, in Linncea, v. 23. p. 277.
GONIOPTERIS crenata. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 183. t 107. / 10.
Ferns, p. 3 ; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 20.

Hook. Gen. Fil. t. 38.

Griseb.

J. Sm. Cat. Kew

PHEGOPTERIS crenata. Metten. Fit. Hort. Pot. Lips. p. 84.
POLTPODIXJM Gheisbeghtii. Linden, Cat. 1858, ^>. 18 (a large var.).
Lingua cervina rotundius crenata. Plum. Amer. t. 1 0 ; Fil. p. 93. t. 3.
Var. frondibus glabris, pinnis angustioribus subintegerrimis rigidioribus.
POLYPODITTM (Goniopteris) meniscioides. Liebm. Fil. Meco.p. 59.
Var. frondibus glabris, pinnis dentato-subpinnatifidis basi apiceque integerrimis. »
POLYPODIXJM (Goniopteris) faucium. Liebm. Fil. Mex.p.

57.

POLYPODITTM (Goniopteris) imbricatum. Liebm. Fil. Men. p. 58?
H A B . Tropical America: "West India Islands, frequent, Swartz, March, Lockhart, Pceppig,
LHerminier,
L. Guilding, etc. etc. Venezuela and Panama, Fendler; Caracas, Linden; Columbia, Cuming, n.
1156; Bahia, Brazil (Herb. JSTostr.), Mexico (Tabasco), Linden, Liebmann (glabrous varieties).
Cultivated in Kew Gardens, etc.

DESCR. This fine F e r n has a caudeoc scarcely thicker than a goose-quill, moderately creeping,
sending u p a few fronds, which, together with the stipes, are from two to two and a half feet in
l e n g t h ; the frond itself half that length, broad-ovate, pinnated with eight to ten or eleven or more,
rather large, distantly placed, nearly opposite pinnce, four to six inches long, submembranaceous,
spreading, broad-oblong, more or less densely pubescenti-villous, especially on the veins beneath,
sometimes quite glabrous, the margin is crenato-lobate or even subpinnatifid, the teeth or segments
blunt, the base, especially the lowest pair, subcuneate, the apex rather suddenly acuminate, sometimes
almost caudate. The midrib or cost a is rather stout, and t h e primary veins are almost horizontal,
exactly parallel, straight, each corresponding with a lobe or tooth of the m a r g i n : the secondary veins
are rather copious, opposite, meeting and uniting so as to form acute angles, and the lower ones are
prolonged into a veinlet, generally free, and clavate at t h e apex; the upper veinlets are often confluent,

so as to form an intermediate vein parallel with the primary ones, and corresponding with the sinuses
of the margin; the veins within the lobe or tooth are free. Sort globose, approximate, dorsal on the
secondary veins, and forming two lines or series between the primary veins. Capsules rather numerous, glabrous, or, on some specimens, pilose, pale-green when young, becoming brown in age.
Stipes and rachis semiterete, glabrous or pubescenti-villous, slightly furrowed in front.
Like most other Perns, this is liable to some variation in size and form of the pinnae, and in the
glabrous or downy or even villous surface, especially of the under side, where indeed the hairs are
chiefly confined to the veins. Our drawing is made from a very fine specimen which came to us
from Mr. Linden, under the name of Polypodium Gheisbeghtii; but a comparison of the figure or
of the plant with the original figure of Plumier, will show that, both in size and form of the pinnae,
it exactly corresponds, and several of our native specimens equally accord with our present plant,
allowance being made for this being cultivated. I t may rank next to the more common Polypodium
(Goniopteris) tetragonum, Sw., but the two are so readily distinguished as to require no further
remark.
Two of the three supposed species which we have brought under this as synonyms, are little more
than mere glabrous forms of P . crenatum, and the other, with a mark of doubt, is stated by Liebmann
himself to be so closely allied to his Pol. fascium, that it may probably be safely considered a variety
of it, and consequently of P . crenatum.

Plate LXXXIV. represents a fertile plant of Polypodium (§ Goniopteris) crenatum, nat. size. Pig. 1.
Portion of a pinna, showing the venation and sori, magnified.

Plata LUJT.

'WFit&Mal etUflL.

"Emjent firo aks, irvp.

PLATE LXXXY.

CAMPTOSORUS RHIZOPHYLLUS, Pr.
Rooting Camptosorus.

CAMPTOSOEUS rhizophyllus.

rhizophyllus. Link, Fil. Hort. Berol. p. 83. Pr. Tent. Pterid. p. 121. t. 4*. f 8. PLook.
Gen. Fil. t. 57 O. Gray, Man. of Bot. Illustr.p. 593. t. 11.

CAMPTOSOEUS

rhizophyllum. Linn. Sp. PL 1536. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 305. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 74. Mich.
Am. v. 2. p. 264. Pursh, Fl. Am. v. 2. p. 266. Hook. fil. Bor. Am. v. 2. p. 262.

ASPLENIUM

ANTIOEAMME rhizophylla. J. Sm. Oat. Kew Ferns, p. 6; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 49.
CAMPTOSOEUS rumicifolius. Link, Fil. Hort. Berol. p. 83.
Sibiricus. " Buprecht in Beitr. 2. Pflanzenk. d. Buss. B. 111. 5. p. 1379." Ledehour, Fl.
Boss. v. 4. p. 522. (Asplenium rhizophyllum, Linn?)

CAMPTOSOEUS

HAB. Though a widely dispersed species, this does not appear to be an abundant plant in the United States.
Dr. Asa Gray, in his 'Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States' (but which includes
Virginia, Kentucky, and all east of the Mississippi), gives it as an inhabitant of shaded rocks,
western New England to "Wisconsin, and southward; rare. Our herbarium includes specimens from
New York, Br. Torrey; Vermont, Dr. Oakes; Skuyllkill, Pursh; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, J. A. Lapham ; Lexington, Kentucky, Dr. Short; Pennsylvania, Muhlenberg. Erom British North America
we have specimens gathered from Canada to the Saskatchawan, Gouldie, Drummond. It does not
appear to have been found in the Eocky Mountains or in North-west America. Linnaeus has recorded "Jamaica and Siberia " as localities for this plant; the former is assuredly an error ; # the latter
is probably confirmed by the fact that it has been found in Baikal (Siberia) and in Kamtchatka by
Georgi, as recorded by Ledebour in his 'Elora Eossica' (to whom however the species is unknown).
Buprecht has however given to the Siberian plant the name of C. Sibiricus. Cultivated at Kew
and elsewhere.

DESCR. Caudeoe short, small, slender, subfusiform, erect or decumbent, rooting. Fronds stipitate,
tufted, spreading often horizontally, four inches to a span long, simple, from a broad, cordato-sagittate and almost auricled or two-lobed base, gradually tapering upwards to a narrow, elongate, taillike, deflexed, rooting, and proliferous apex (hence called the Walking-leaf, in the United States),
the margin entire. The texture is submembranaceous or between fleshy and membranous, costate.
Veins remote, those near the costa obliquely anastomosing so as to form generally two series of
angular, large areoles, those next to the costa lying parallel with it: towards the margin the veins
fork, but are all free: they terminate just within the margin and are elavate at the apices. Sori
generally placed in opposite yet somewhat divergent pairs. Involucre oblong, opening towards each

* Since Linnseus quotes Sloane's Jam. v. 1. t. 26. f. 1, it is clear that his Jamaica plant is our Fadyenia
prolifera; and since Swartz quotes the same figure for his Asplenium proliferum (not of Lam. nor Mettenius), we learn that that species, is also Fadyenia prolifera, figured and described at our Plate XXXVX
of this volume, which no author seems to have been aware of.

other (face to face), arising both from the free and the anastomosing veins; sometimes the sori be
come large and confluent: the reticulated and distant venation occasions the sori to diverge at
various angles from the costa. Stipites short, two to three inches long, chestnut-brown, glossy, quite
free from palese or hairs.
This has perhaps as good a claim to generic distinction among the Asplenioid group of Ferns as
the long-established Scolopendrium, L., and even more so, inasmuch as it has a more marked habit,
a peculiarity of form, and an almost decumbent mode of growth; the simple fronds are singularly
attenuated into long tails, which touch the ground with their apices and take root copiously. The
sori too are generally in opposite pairs (less regularly so indeed than in Scolopendrium, and not so
approximate), and these are not always parallel with each other, but more or less divaricated, hence
the character of Link, the author of the genus, " Indusia varie versa." It is true that this direction
is due to the anastomosing of the veins from which the sori originate. The genus is not only adopted
by Presl and Fee, but by Mettenius. Mr. J. Smith unites it with Antigramme of Presl; but in so
doing he does not attach his accustomed importance to the venation, which in Camptosorus anastomoses only near the costa, and with very large and broad areoles, while in Antigramme the anastomosing commences about halfway between the costa and the margin, and is very copious, with small
areoles at the margin. The long, parallel, approximate sori of Antigramme quite resemble those of
Scolopendrium; so that, as Presl observes, " Genus hoc {Antigramme) differt a Scolopendriis, ut Hemidictyum ab Asplenio"
Linnaeus gives Siberia as a locality for his Asplenium rhizophyllum. Ruprecht considers this a
distinct species, his Camptosorus Sibiricus, " fronde lanceolata, basi ovata;" but seeing it is found in
Kamtchatka, the probability is that the same species inhabits Siberia as well as the continent of
North America. Link too has a C, rumicifolius (native country unknown, but probably North
America) which seems to differ from C. rhizophyllus exactly as C. Sibiricus does, " fronde basi
ovata, vix auriculata." Asa Gray quotes the C. rumicifolius, without doubt, as identical with C.
rhizophyllus.

Plate LXXXV. represents a fertile and proliferous specimen of Camptosorus rhizophyllus, Pi\, nat,
size. Fig. 1. Portion from the base of a fertile frond, seen from beneath, showing the sori and venation.
3. Capsule:—magnified.

Plate

"WTBtch, d e l e t l t k .

"Vincent Erodes .inc.

PLATE

LXXXVI.

PLATYCERIUM GRANDE, J. Sm.
Great Stag's-hom Fern.

grande; frondibus amplis bifariam dispositis demum glabris, sterilibus imbricatis suborbicularibus inferne irregulariter sinuato-lobatis superne elongatis dilatatis profunde copiose Iaeiniatis,
segmenti s dichotomis patentibus, fertilibus 2 latissime cuneatis bipartitis basi subito angustatis disco
subtus soriferis, segmentis elongatis pluries dichotome divisis, laciniis loriformibus longissimis altimis
obtusis, maculis soriferis magnis transverse ovoideo-reniformibus intense fuscis.

PLATYCEEITJM

PLATYCEEIUM

grande. J. Sm. in Hook. Journ. Bot. v. 3. p. 402. Pr. Epimel. Bot. p. 154.

PLATYCEEITJM biforme. Hook. Gen. Ml. t. SOB (not ofBlume).
ACEOSTICHCJM grande. AIL Cunn. in Herb. Jtfostr.
INETJEOPLATYCEEOS

grandis. Me, Acrost. p. 103.

HAB. Sincapore, WalUch, Gaudichaud. Moreton Bay, Allan Cunningham, 1829. In shaded forests of
Araucaria Cunninghami, on the banks of the Brisbane river, Fraser. Luzon, Cuming, n. \5§,fide
J. Smith (my own specimen of this number is so young and imperfect that I am unable to determine
what it is). Introduced to Kew Gardens by the late J. T. Bidwill, JEsq.

DESCR. The infant state of this plant exhibits two, suborbicular, green, fleshy scales, close
pressed to the wood or soil on which they have their origin, more or less lobed at the margin: these
gradually develope into two sterile fronds, at first flat and spreading. As they increase in size the
plants become convex in the centre, and larger in size, and considerably altered in form, expanding
upwards, and there more deeply divided, with the lacinise dichotomous. From the centre of the two
primary lobes (and which may be considered the radicular point, where copious fibres attach the plant
to its place of growth) two other primary lobes or fronds are developed over the two former ones,
and closely applied to them, exceeding them in size, as every superposed pair does; the old ones
dying and forming a collection of decayed matter, and no doubt nutriment to the successors, till a
mass is constituted of vegetable mould, and imbricated, more or less dead and dying (marcescent),
brown fronds; the two superior ones, or those last formed, being the only perfectly green and vigorous ones, of some four to six feet in length, two or three feet in diameter, and of very considerable
thickness. These fully developed sterile fronds may be best understood as to form, by a reference to
our figure; the lower portion is the thickest and most coriaceous, suborbicular, very convex, irregularly
but deeply lobed at the margin; the superior margin more deeply so, and in the progress of development this dilates upwards and laterally, and becomes deeply cut into moderately patent, long divisions or dichotomous segments, strap-shaped, the ultimate ones short and obtuse; this portion is of
a more membranaceous consistency than the lower portion, somewhat transparent; the colour of the
whole is a pale but rather bright glaucous green. The primary veins are strong, nearly straight,
forked, radiating from the base in all directions towards the circumference; the interstices are filled
up with a copious irregular network of anastomosing veinlets; the large areoles angular, generally

oblong, appendiculated, or having simple or forked, free veinlets, of which the apices are clubbed.
These sterile fronds appear to be of annual formation and duration. Fertile fronds. At the time of
greatest maturity, depending on various circumstances perhaps, from the centre or point of origin of
these sterile fronds there appear two fertile fronds, differing considerably in shape and size from,
though their length may be even greater than, the sterile ones; these spread laterally and are
pendent, and when perfect are of a very broad, cuneate form, deeply bipartite; the disk soriferous
beneath; the primary segments diverge considerably, and at some distance from their base they
become very much elongated, three to four feet long, several times dichotomous, the lacinise broadlinear or strap-shaped, the forked apices obtuse. The general texture and colour and venation are
similar to those of the sterile fronds. On the under side of the broad, cuneate portion or disc of the
fertile fronds is situated the soriferous receptacle, forming a large spot, transversely oblong or obreniform, of a rich brown colour, consisting of innumerable pedicellate capsules, mixed with pedicellate,
stellate scales or abortive capsules.
No genus of Ferns is better marked than that of Platycerium of Desvaux. Five distinct species
are known to us, all till lately believed to be exclusively inhabitants of tropical or subtropical regions
of the Old World. 1. That most generally distributed, P . alcicorne, long known in our stoves
under the name of the Stages-horn Fern, and of which we have received fine specimens, recently
gathered by Mr. Spruce at Tarapota, in eastern Peru! 2. P . Stemmaria, from tropical Western
Africa, also for some time cultivated in tropical 'ferneries. 3. P . biforme of Blume, peculiar, we believe, to the Malay Islands, and not yet in cultivation. 4. P . grande, All. Cunn., the subject of our
present Plate; and lastly, 5. P . Wallichii, a new species, of the Malay Peninsula, of which we have
long possessed specimens in the herbarium, from Dr. Wallich, more recently from the Rev. C. S. P.
Parish, of Moulmein; and it is this rare species, which the Messrs. Veitch, of the Exeter and Chelsea
Nurseries, have imported from the latter country, and which has been mistaken, before its fructification was known, for the P . biforme of Blume.*
P . grande, as its name would imply, is perhaps the largest of the species. Its discoverer, Mr.
Allan Cunningham, relates that the fronds are five or six feet long. Two living plants, strapped to
a board and placed in a Wardian case, were sent to Kew from Moreton Bay, in 1846. These have
flourished, and many young plants have been raised from their spores; but though they germinate
readily, they are not reared without considerable care and difficulty, and they require to be kept in
a tolerably uniform state of moisture as well as of heat.

Plate LXXXYI. represents a fertile entire plant of Platycerium grande, on a very reduced scale.
Fig. 1. Portion of a small fertile frond, nat. size. 2. Section of a soriferous portion, showing its venation.
3. Capsule. 4. Pedicellate, stellate scale or abnormal capsule:—magnified.

#

See notes on Platy cerium Wallichii, recently published in the volume of the ' Gardeners' Chronicle'
for 1858.

PLATE LXXXVIL

POLYPODIUM APPENDICULATUM, Linden.
Bed-veined Polypodium.

(§ Goniophlebium) appendiculatum; caudice longe repente erasso ramoso viridi apice squamoso, frondibus remotis stipitatis ovato-oblongis subpedalibus basi obtusis profunde fere ad rachin
pinnatifidis viridibus subholosericeis membranaceis glaberrimis, lobis approximatis obtusis subundulatis, venis rubris valde obliquis nunc liberis (Eupolypodii) nunc statu fructificante prsesertim ad
costam in areolis majusculis anastomosantibus (Goniophlebii) versus marginem venulis omnino liberis
apice insigniter granuloso-clavatis, soris subrotundis uniserialibus.

POLYPODIUM

appendiculatum. Klotzsch, Gartenz. 1855? Metten. Polypod.p. 6? (name only). Hort. Linden. J. 8m. Cat. Kew Ferns, p. 1; Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 2.

POLYPODIUM

POLYPODIUM sculptum. Sort, (fide T. Moore).
HAB. Mexico, according to Linden.

Cultivated in Hort. Linden and Kew.

DESCR. Caudex long, creeping upon the ground, branched, terete, scarcely so thick as the little
finger, rooting below, green, naked, except at the apices of the branches, which are paleaceous, with
appressed, small, brown, somewhat peltate, ovate, fringed scales. The stipites, four to six inches
long, are rather slender, quite glabrous, greenish-brown below, purplish above: they spring at distant intervals from the upper side of the caudex, and are quite destitute of scales or hairs of any
kind. Frond about a foot long, membranaceous, ovato-oblong, slightly acuminated, obtuse or truncate at the base, glabrous, green, with a reddish tinge, and in certain directions having a satiny or
rather a metallic lustre apparently arising from copious, very minute, shining glands refracting the
rays of light: these fronds are deeply pinnatifid, with rather narrow sinuses extending nearly to the
raehis -r lobes or segments horizontally patent, obtuse, narrow-oblong, a little broader at the base ;
the margins slightly undulated, entire or very obsoletely subserrate. Veins very distinct, of a rich
red or blood-colour, subpellucid when looked at between the eye and the light. The direction of the
primary veins is very oblique, in the young and not unfrequently in the old state, free but forked;
in the more perfect and soriferous state, the branches anastomose acutely, so as to form a series of
rather large, oblique, angular, elongated areoles next the costa, within which is a free, soriferous
veinlet, rarely a second areole or series of areoles is formed: the rest of the veinlets are all free and
singularly clavate at the apex, which is elevated, and resembles the small grain on the valves of
the flowers of some species of Rumex. The sori form a single line or series between the costa and
margin, but nearer the latter, subglobose or oval, yellow-brown. Main raehis and costa almost of a
blood-red colour.
This appears to be a Fern, at present only known in cultivation, introduced from Mexico into
Europe by Mr. Linden, of the Brussels Horticultural Establishment, and from whom we received the
living plant here figured, under the name of Polypodium appendiculatum (given probably in reference
to the clavate extremities of the free veins). Nowhere however can we find the species described,,
In general habit the plant has not a little affinity with a large state of our Polypodium vulgare, and

with not a few in the Gonlophlebium group. Nevertheless on a close inspection it seems to possess
good distinguishing characters. The sort of metallic lustre on the surface when held in certain lights
is not common among true Ferns; still more remarkable is the red colour of the venation in every
part of the plant, seen even with the naked eye; and equally so the minute grain-like bodies forming
the clubbed apices of the free veinlets, which are even elevated on the upper surface, and very pellucid
in the centre. In most of the section Gonlophlebium where there is little more than one series of
soriferous areoles, the areoles are nearly square, and almost parallel with the costa; here they are
elongated, coming to a very acute angle at the apex, and have a very oblique direction in relation to
the margin and costa. Nevertheless the distinguishing characters are very difficult to be denned by
words.
In referring this Polypodium to the section Goniophlebium, I wish it to be understood as Gonlophlebium (genus) of T. Moore, characterized by " veins forked or pinnate, from a central costa; the
lower anterior venules usually free and fertile, the rest arcuately anastomosing, and producing from
their angles free excurrent veinlets." This includes Marginarla> Crypslnus, and species from almost
a dozen genera of different botanists. However Pteridologists may differ as to the value of such
marks for generic distinctions, in the extensive sense that they are now employed, yet it must be
conceded to Mr. Moore that he has given clearer definitions of these genera, and in fewer words, in
his ' Index Filicum/ than most of his predecessors; and this is no slight merit. If a series of woodcuts explanatory of the venation (for it is often of a nature difficult to be explained in words) could
accompany his work, nothing would more tend to popularize the study of Ferns in this country. In
our present plant it is quite certain that the characters of Eupolypodlum and of Gonlophlebium are
found united, as in other allied species.

Plate LXXXVII. represents a fertile plant of Polypodium appendiculatum, Linden, nat. size. Fig. 1.
Under side of a fertile segment, magnified. 2. Small portion of the same, more highly magnified.

FlateLZZZlW.

WfitaVdel.etMx

^fixLcent B T U aks, Imp,

PLATE LXXXVIII.

ASPLENIUM AUSTRALASICUM, / . Sm.
Australian Bird's-nest Spleenwort.

ASPLENITJM (§ Thamnopteris) Australasicvm;
caudice subnullo, frondibus amplis simplicibus fasciculatis
subsessilibus coriaceis lato-lanceolatis acuminatis nitidis inferne angustatis basi paululum dilatatis
costa subtus versus basin preecipue acute carinatis non raro ebeneis facie superna compressa, venis
numerosis approximatis horizontali-patentibus basin versus non raro fureatis apice arcu intramarginali junctis superioribus prsecipue soriferis, soris anguste linearibus elongatis, inTolucris rigide
membranaceis integerrimis.
NEOTTOPTERIS Australasiea. J. Sm. Cat. of Kew Ferns, p. 6 (name only) ; Cat. of Cult. Ferns, p. 49 (with a
brief character).
H A B . Australia and adjacent islands: Moreton Bay, Flood and F. Mueller.
and adjacent islands, Milne, in Voyage of Herald. Cultivated at Kew.

New Hebrides and Feejee

DESCR. Caudex or t r u n k erect, but extremely short, and apparently formed of the combined
bases of the fronds intermixed with dense, black, woolly, fibrous roots. Fronds many, forming a tuft
or crown, and arranged as it were around a common centre in a circle of many series, imbricating each
other at the nearly sessile base, from two to three or four feet long, sessile, broad-lanceolate, subcoriaceous, glossy, acuminate, below rather suddenly contracted, but again at the very base more or less dilated,
so as to be there obtuse, not decurrent. Costa strong, prominent on both sides, obtuse, and depressed
above, sharply carinate on the under side, especially near the base, and there not unfrequently (sometimes for the whole length) becoming black in colour.
Veins copious, approximate, parallel, once or
more forked near the base, almost horizontally patent, stopping short within the margin and there
united by an arched transverse veinlet between each pair. Sort mostly confined to the disc of the
back of the upper half of t h e frond, a n d occupying all the nerves there for about half their length,
very narrow, elongated. Involucre of a firm-membranous texture and pale-brown colour.
Capsules
deep-brown.
The Australian plant here figured has been no doubt confounded with the Asplenium Nidus of
Linnseus {Neottopteris Nidus, J. S m . ) . The presence of the intramarginal vein (connecting the apices
of the numerous transverse veins) induced Presl and J . Smith, some years ago, and nearly about
the same time, to separate t h a t plant, the former as a section of Asplenium, under the name of
Thamnopteris (and this name has the priority of date), the latter as a genus, under the name of Neottopteris.
Even specifically it is often very difficult to distinguish between Thamnopteris (or Neottopteris) Nidus and Asplenium serratum (see the figure and description of the latter at our Plate L X X . ) .
I possess specimens of the latter in which some of t h e transverse veins are united as in Thamnopteris ; such a character alone can on no sound principles suffice for purposes of generic distinction. Presl however doubtless entertained a different opinion, and in his ' E p i m e l i a Botaniea/
following Mr. J . Smith, formed his section into a genus, and increased the number of species of
Thamnopteris to seven. M . Fee adopts Neotiopteris,
and reckons thirteen species. To these Mr. T.

Moore adds our Asplenium Simonsianum (Ic. PI. Rar. t. 925), and the A. Grevillei, Wall. (Hook, and
Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 228). If the characters be constant in this species, it is readily distinguished in the
perfect and living specimens. But with Ferns of so large a size, it is not often that entire specimens
are preserved in the herbarium, and the more important feature, depending on the sharply carinated
costa, is apt to be obliterated by pressure. This character indeed is much of the same nature as that
by which we have distinguished Asplenium (§ Euasplenium) serratum, L., of South America, from A.
sinuatum, Beauv., of West Africa.

Plate LXXXVIII. Fig. 1. Entire fertile plant of Asplenium (§ Tharnnopteris) Australasicum, J. Sm.
on a very reduced scale. 2. Apex of a frond, not. size. 3. Portion of fertile frond, nat. size, seen from
beneath, showing the sori and the venation.

Plate LIIIll

'"Vmcent Bit-oks. Iinp.

PLATE

LXXXIX.

NEPHRODIUM ALBO-PUNCTATUM, Desv., var. e.
White-spotted Nephrodiuni, var. p.
(§ Lastrea) albo-punctatum; caudice longissime repente scandente squamuloso, stipitibus
elongatis sparsis supra vel infra medium articulatis, frondibus subpedalibus ovato-lanceolatis pinnatis
submembranaceis magis minusve hirsutulis, pinnis sessilibus oblongo-lanceolatis vix acutis ultra
medium sequaliter pinnatifidis basi truncatis, lob is ovato-oblongis obtusis superne ad marginem
punctis albo-cretaceis, soris reniformibus hirtulis.

NEPHEODITTM

a. Borbonicum; caudice scandente dense squamoso, stipite prope basin articulate
albo-punctatum. Desv. Ann. Soc. Lin. 6255. Bojer, Sort. Maurit.p. 393. Bory in Belanger, PI. Ind. Or. p. 61.

NEPHBODITJM
ASPIDIUM

albo-punctatum. Bory in Willd. Sp. Plant, v. 5. p. 242. Metten. Polypod. p. 52. '

ASPIDIUM

(Lastrea) Bontonianum. Hook. Ic. Plant, t. 931.

LASTEEA

albo-punctata. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 77.

/8. Nigritianum; caudice repente nudiusculo aterrimo, stipite infra apicem articulate
ASPIDIUM

(PLATE

LXXXIX.)

leucostictum. Kze. in Linncea, v. 23. pp. 227 et 301. Metten. Fil. Sort. Lips. p. 90. 1.18. f. 4-6.

AETHBOPTEEIS albo-punctata. J. Sm. Gat. Cult. Ferns, p. 6.
8. Fijianuni; caudice repente aterrimo filiformi esquamoso, stipite infra medium longe e basi articulate
LASTEEA

articulata. Brackenr. Fil. of TT. S. Fxpl. Fxped.p. 191. t. 26./. 1.

HAB. a. Bourbon, Bory. Mauritius, (Richard?) Bojer, Bonton; " elle croit sur le sommet oriental de la
'Montagne Longue,' prend racine entre les roches, et grimpe sur les arbres."—/3. Tropical Africa,
west coast: Sierra Leone (fide Kunze) ; ascent of the Quorra, on a rock below the waterfall in
Leicester mountain, rare, Barter in Baikie's second Niger Fxpedition.—y. Ovolau, • Fiji Islands, in
mountain forests, on rocks and trees; JN"gau Island, of the same group, Milne, in Copt. Denharrfs Survey of H.M.S. Herald. The var. /? here figured, is cultivated in the stove of the Eoyal Gardens of
Kew, from plants sent from Berlin; and also by Mr. Barter, from the Niger Expedition.

DESCR. Caudew long and creeping, branched, terete, rooting, varying in thickness from that of
erow's-quill to a writing-pen, more or less paleaceous, sometimes not at all so; but in our Mauritius and
Bourbon specimens, densely clothed with peltate, chaffy, brown, laciniated scales; and there also it
climbs up the trunks of trees, becoming very much elongated and scandent. In our vars. /3 and 7
the caudex has the appearance of being quite terrestrial. At different and rather distant points,
the stipites arise singly, from six inches to a span long, terete, dark lurid-purple, more or less downy,
slightly nodose and articulated, in a very near the base; in /3, here figured, a little below the
apex; in 7, much below the middle. Frond a span to a foot long, ovato-lanceolate, pinnated; pinnaeapproximate, firm membranaceous, scarcely coriaceous, two to two and a half inches in length,
spreading horizontally, or the lowest pair a little deflexed, pubescenti-hirsute, more hairy on the
costse beneath (eventually glabrous), rather deeply pinnatifid, with nearly equal, oblong-ovate, obtuse,

entire lobes; the base truncated, quite sessile. Veins pinnated, oblique, simple, club-shaped at the extremity, terminating within the margin; from their clubbed apices there appears to be a waxy secretion forming a small white scale; more distinctly so on the upper side, constituting a row of white,
cretaceous-looking dots within the margin. Sori situated on the veins, one on each, a little below
the apex, and a little distant from the margin. Involucres reniform, pilose, but the hairs appear to
be often deciduous.
If I am correct in considering the three forms here noticed to belong to one and the same species
(and I do not stand singly in that opinion, for Professor Mettenius has already united them), we
have a remarkable example of a Fern long considered to be peculiar to one locality or region, namely
"ies lies Mascareignes" of the French (Bourbon and Mauritius), now detected in two other very
remote stations (and in all apparently of rare occurrence), namely, in tropical western Africa, and in
the Fiji group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. I t is therefore not surprising that Professor
Kunze should have constituted of the one a distinct species, under the name of Aspidium leucostictum; nor that Brackenridge should have described the other as equally new, under the name of
Lastrea articulata. Both of them, in their respective localities, admirably indicating most remarkable features of the normal species, viz. the white dots on the upper side of the segments, and the
articulation of the stipes. Mettenius, as already observed, has in his late work on Polypodiece united
the three, not even noticing them as varieties. I find however all the specimens which I possess, and
they are not a few, to be constant in the marks I have attributed to them. Similar as they all are
in the general nature of the fronds, the Mauritius and Bourbon specimens exhibit a very elongated
and scandent caudex, densely scaly, and a stipes always jointed near the base (as shown in our figure
given in Ic. Plant, t. 931); in the West African specimens (native and cultivated), the caudex exhibits no disposition to climb, and the articulation is at a little distance from the apex of the stipes;
the Fijian specimens have a slender, creeping caudex, and a stipes with the articulation between the
middle and the base.

Plate LXXXIX. represents the NepJirodium (§ Lastrea) albo-punctatwm, nat. size. Fig. 1. Fertile
pinna, seen from beneath. 2. Fertile segment, with sori. 3. Single sorus. 4. Upper side of a segment,
showing the white dots:—magnified.

Plate. 10.

VlnW.rlifcBrouk;, Ulip

PLATE

XC.

CHEILANTHES ALABAMENSIS, Kze.
Alabama Cheilanthes.

Alabarnensis; caudice repente ferrugineo sericeo-villoso, stipitibus approximatis 3-5-uncialibus ebeneis hinc villosulis, frondibus subcoriaceis glabris stipite longioribus lato-lanceolatis acuminatis pinnatis, pinnis pinnatifidis inferioribus iterum pinnatis, pinnis primariis patentibus ovatolanceolatis sessilibus profunde pinnatifidis, pinnulis segmentisque ovatis oblongisve obtusis basi ssepe
auriculatis, involucris submembranaceis continuis incurvis crenato-subsinuatis.
CHEILANTHES Alabarnensis. Kze. in Silliman'sJourn. 1848,p. 87. Linncea, 1850, p. 242. Hook. Sp. Fil.
v. 2. p. 89. t. 103 B.

CHEILANTHES

PTEEIS

Alabarnensis. Buckley in Sill. Journ. 1843, p. 177.

PTEBIS

gracilis. Bugel, Plant. Am. Septentr. Focsic. (not of other authors).

HAB. Limestone rocks, southern United States: banks of the Tennessee and Broad Biver, Alabama, Buckley, Bug el; Capville, Upper G-eorgia {Herb. Shuttleworth). Cultivated in the Ferneries of England and Germany.

DESCR. Caudex creeping and branched, with the stipites rising in tufts from their short, almost
shaggy, sericeo-villous branches: their hairs or hair-like scales are of a rich ferruginous colour. The
stipiies are slender, black, and glossy, 3-4 inches long, with a line of short, deciduous, ferruginous
hairs on one side, more copious at the base. Fronds 4-6 inches long, firm, rather coriaceous than
membranaceous, broad-lanceolate, acuminate, bipinnate, simply pinnate only above; primary pinnce
sessile, glabrous, ovato-lanceolate; pinnules small, oblong-ovate, lobed towards the base or subauricled. Fructifications copious, continued, rarely interrupted, or but slightly, at the sinuses of the
lobes. Involucres submembranaeeous, more so than the segments themselves, paler-coloured, inflexed, the margin entire or sinuato-crenate.
The remarks under this Cheilanthes in our ' Species Filicum' may here be quoted:—" Notwithstanding the observation of Professor Kunze, that this is a very distinct species, to me it appears
to be too nearly allied to some of the forms of Cheilanthes microphylla; the form, I mean, having
the most compact and acute pinnules, and with continuous involucres. Indeed, Kunze himself says,
' I t resembles Cheilanthes micromera, Sw., and my C. Linkiana (Ch. micromera, Link).3 This
Ch. micromera of Link, Kunze has since referred to Ch. microphylla; and we may conceive that
C. microphylla, chiefly a tropical American plant, has obtained in the United States its northern
limit." These views I am still disposed to consider may be correct; nevertheless the plant maintains its character in cultivation, without any sensible change of form.
The Ferns of the southern States of North America are still but partially explored, and the
hilly and mountainous districts are quite likely still to afford species which have been hitherto considered peculiar to the southern continent of the New World, or which may be altogether new, of
which latter we give an example at Plate XCIX. of this volume.

Plate XC. Fertile plant of Cheilanthes Alabarnensis, sori, nat. size. Fig. 1. A fertile pinna, seen from
beneath, showing the venation and sori. 2. Portion of an involucre and capsules. 3. Single capsule:—
magnified.

Plate, ZCI.

"W Fitch, ad.ct Jith.

WTWS
wucent hrouks,icip.

PLATE

XCI.

POLYPODIUM CORONANS, Wall.
Coronal Polypody.

POLTPODITTM (§ Drynaria) eoronans ; caudice repente crassissimo intertexto dense villoso-squamoso, squamis
aureo-nitentibus, frondibus 2-3-pedalibus sessilibus in orbem dispositis e basi insigniter dilatata cordata sinuato-lobata coriaceo-membranacea lanceolato-acuminatis coriaceis rigidis profunde fere ad
rachin pinnatifidis, laciniis lanceolatis vel oblongo-ligulatis magis minusve acuminatis inferioribus
sensim brevioribus marginibus incrassatis integerrimis, venis primariis patentibus rectiusculis inter
has soris uniserialibus (nunc in lineam confluentibus), secundariis transversis, venulis ultimis liberis
copiosis clavatis.
POLTPODITJM eoronans. Wall. Cat.n. 288. Mettenius, Polypod. p. 121. t. 40, 41 (venation

only).

PHYMATODES eoronans. Pr. Tent. Pterid. p. 198.
DRYHABIA eoronans. J. Sm. in Hook. Journ. Pot, v. 4. p. 61.
/?. soris in lineam confluentibus.
POLYPODIUM contiguum. Wall. Gat. n. 285.
H A B . Lower Nepal and Nookete, Dr. Wallich; Kumaon, P. Plinkworth ("soris insigniter confluentibus");
Assam, Major Jenkins; lower hills of Sikkim and Khasya, 1500 feet, Hooker and Thomson;
Mishmee, Griffith ; Tonghoo, Moulmein, Pev. G. S. P. Parish, (" soris valde approximatis, subcon1 0 1 6 ^ ^ 8 ' ' ) ; Hongkong, near Victoria Peak, G. Wilford, 1857.

DESCR. Caudex elongated, stout (often as thick as one's wrist, Mr. Parish), singularly interwoven, its young shoots shaggy with dense, golden rather than ferruginous, long, subulate scales,
intermixed with tomentose fibres, holding the tortuous branches together, and thus forming a
cushion-like mass, from which arise, in a perfect circle (after the manner of Asplenium Nidus), a
tall crown of quite sessile fronds, two and a half to three feet and more in height, of a lanceolate
form, acuminate, gradually narrowing downwards, but again expanding and singularly dilated into
a broad (sometimes 6 - 8 inches across), coriaceo-membranaceous, cordate base, there having a deep
sinus, slightly lobate at the m a r g i n : the rest of the frond, above the middle, is deeply pinnatifid
almost to the rachis (shorter and less deep below), with segments often a span, almost to a foot
long, lanceolate or ligulate-oblong, more or less acuminate, entire, thickened at the edge. Costa
exceedingly stout, and as well as the rachises and veins, prominent and strong, especially beneath.
Primary veins very patent, parallel, straight, uniting with the thickened m a r g i n : the rest are, in
the dilated base, very irregularly anastomosing, in the upper and fertile portion of the frond there
is much uniformity. The secondary veins are transverse with the primary ones, and form arcuate,
more or less flexuose bars, constituting the primary areoles, which are four-angled, and these are
again divided at right-angles, and their areoles are occupied by the ultimate veinlets, free and
clavate at the apex. Between the primary parallel veins, and situated on the united network, are
the subglobose, moderately sized sori, in a single line or series, central or excentral, one in each
primary areole: these are more or less approximate, and sometimes confluent in a continued linear
sorus, quite resembling t h a t of Selliguea; and it is to this state of the plant (our var. /3) that Dr.
Wallich gave the name of P. contiguum.
Every part of the frond is quite glabrous, and when dry
becomes so firm and glossy as with difficulty to be attached to paper.
N o plants in the tropical Fernery of the Royal Gardens of Kew have attracted more atten-

tion from their size and beauty and peculiarity of form than the present, together with an equally rare
and allied species, the Poly podium (or Drynaria) morbillosum, Pr. (Reliq. Hsenk. t. 3. f. 2). These
are referred to a small and remarkable group of Polypodium, separated from the genus by M. Bory
de Saint-Vincent, under the name of Drynaria, distinguished by having two kinds of fronds, the
one always sterile, very short, and not inaptly resembling in form and venation a large oak-leaf
(whence Bory derived the name: 8pvs, $pvo$, an oak), and of a singularly rigid, chartaceous or firm
membranaceous texture: the other kind of frond elongated, and pinnated or pinnatifid, bearing the
sori on the beautiful network of the segments or pinnae. The type of this genus is the wellknown Polypodium quercifolium* of Linnaeus. Our two plants just mentioned, with many points
in common, nevertheless differ remarkably from this group of M. Bory, in not being dimorphous,
but having the base, or lower portion, of the same form, nature, and texture as the sterile frond
of P. quercifolium, and this is prolonged upwards, and bears the pinnatifid, coriaceous fertile frond
in the continuation of the sterile portion: the two, so to speak, united into one. Sufficient of peculiarities remained, however, to justify its being incorporated with Bory's Drynaria, and to the genus
thus constituted I should gladly subscribe: but Presl, singularly enough, considering his views on
the construction of Genera of Ferns, has incorporated Bory's Drynaria with his genus Phymatodes,
and consequently introduced a great number of species that have little or no natural affinity with
each other, and admitting, too, a great variety of venation. Mr. J. Smith followed him in uniting
Drynaria with Phymatodes, (or rather, Phymatodes with Drynaria, adopting the latter name,) but
constituting of each a subgenus, and discarding many species which Presl had referred to his Drynaria-grouj), but very properly including our D. coronans, still characterizing the fronds as of " two
forms."f I n hi s more recent < Catalogue of Cultivated Ferns/ he confines the genus Drynaria to
Bory's views, adding D. coronans and morbillosa, as well as what seems to me to possess none of the
natural characters of the group, the Polypodium muscefolium of Blume (Ic. Fil. Jav. fc. 79). Mr.
Moore, in his most useful c Index Filicum/ strictly confines the species of Drynaria within their
proper bounds, but all the other species of Phymatodes of Presl (Drynaria, J. Sm. in Journ. of Bot.)
he unites, incorporating with them many allied genera of modern botanists into one extensive
genus, viz. Pleopeltis, Humb., although only one small section has the peltate scales in the sori
which gave rise to the name in question. Phymatodes would surely have been the more appropriate
name, Polypodium Phymatodes, L., being in reality the type of the genus.

Our Plate represents, at Fig. 1, a tuft or crown of fertile fronds, on a very reduced scale. 2. Lower or
sterile portion of a frond, nat. size. 3. One of the longest of the fertile segments, seen from above, nat.
size. 3. Portion of a fertile segment, seen from beneath, showing the venation and sori, magnified. 5.
Lesser portion, with one sorus removed, showing the receptacle, magnified.

#

I venture to quote a note from a private letter of a valued botanical correspondent at Moulmein,
already alluded to in this volume, with no small meed of praise, the Eev. C. S. P. Parish. This note is accompanied by two very clever sketches of Polypodium (Drynaria) quercifolia and P. coronans. Let it be observed that Mr. Parish is a young botanist, deriving his knowledge mainly from the study of the vegetable
creation in the fertile province of Tenasserim. " By the bye, I wanted to notice a distinction between
species of Drynaria. D. quercifolia has two kinds of fronds, sessile and stalked, after the manner (somewhat) of Platycerium. D. coronans, though very like it, has no sessile fronds, nor any of the other species
in my collection. Does this not constitute a generic difference?" (a question more easily asked than answered). " The common Drynaria quercifolia is the great ornament of our trees. It is certainly a most
elegant thing. Old jungle trees are sometimes covered with it, and their trunks completely hidden from
top to bottom."
f See J. Smith on the Genera of Ferns, in Hook. Journ. of Bot. v. 5. p. 60.

FLato TCIL

PLATE

XCII.

ASPIDIUM FALCATUM, Sw.
Falcate Shield-Fern.

(§ Cyrtomium) falcatum; caudice erecto subnullo, frondibus 1-2-pedalibus et ultra coriaceis
rigidis nitidissimis oblongo-lanceolatis pinnatis, pinnis patentibus ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis brevipetiolatis margine repandis rarius obscure serratis basi inferiore cuneata superiore producta truncata,
venis anastomosantibus, areolis costalibus angulo inferiore venulifero, reliquis venulas 2-3 liberas
includentibus, venulis infra apicem clavatum soriferis, involucro orbiculari-peltato membranaceo firmo
centro umbonem fuscum gerente, stipitibus longitudine frondis insigniter paleaceis, squamis magnis
ovatis concavis setoso-acuminatis concavis nitidis.

ASPIDIUM

falcatum. Sw. Syn. Ml. p. 43. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5. p. 218. Langsd. et Fisch. Ic. Fil. p. 13. t.15.
Hook, et Am. JBot. of Beech. Voy. p. 274. Kze. in Bot. Zeit. 1848, p. 558. Metten. Fil. Sort.
Lips. p. 87; Polypod.p. 34.

ASPIDIUM

falcatum. Br. Tent. Pterid.p. 86. J. Sni. Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 53. Hook. Morula Hongkong,
in Journ. of Bot. 1857, ^. 340. Raws, et Pappe, Syn. Fil. Afr. Austr.p. 15.

CXETOMIUM

POLYPODIUM falcatum. Linn. Fil. Suppl.p. 446. Thumb. Fl. Jap. p. 348. t. 36.
HAB. Japan, Thunberg (mountains of JSTangasaki), Langsdorff, Miss Nelson, Mr. Babington; Amahirima,
J. Smead, in U.S. North Pacific, Fxpl. Beeped. China, and adjacent islands: Pih-Quan, and walls of
Moosung, Mr. Alexander, Hinds; Loo-Choo, Lay and Collie; Isle of Bonin, Langsdorff, C. Wright,
Lay and Collie. Natal, South Africa, Major Garden, 1854; forests of British Caffraria, Capt. Espinasse, 1856 (Rawson and Pappe). Cultivated in Kew Grardens since 1838.

DESCR. The stipites of this plant rise in a tufted manner from the roots, without any caudex
further than what is occasioned by the junction of the stipites. Fronds erect, varying exceedingly
in height, from a few inches to two and more feet; they are, in circumscription, oblong-lanceolate,
coriaceous, very glossy and dark-green, especially above, pinnated. Pinnce from one to three or four
inches in length, ovate or ovato-oblong, acuminate, shortly petiolate, the margin undulated, subrepand, entire or rarely obscurely serrated, the lower base cuneate, the superior base produced and truncated, so that the two sides at the base are unequal. The venation is very beautiful, and very conspicuous if the frond is held between the eye and the light; everywhere the veins anastomose, forming
rather large six-sided areoles; those areoles near the costa contain one free soriferous veinlet, the
rest of the areoles are more or less curved, and contain two free soriferous veinlets, or if three, the central one is sterile, all clavate at the apex, and the sorus, solitary on the veinlet, is dorsal (not terminal).
On each pinna the sori are numerous, but not arranged in any regular order or series. Where the
sori are, there is a corresponding dimple or depression on the upper surface of the pinna. Involucre
perfectly orbicular, peltate, firm membranaceous, pale brown, in age concave, and having a darkbrown umbo in the centre. Stipes about as long as the frond, stout, densely clothed and concealed
by the very numerous, large, glossy-brown, ovate, sharply acuminate, concave scales; these are continued upon the rachis, which latter is stout and channelled above.

Aspidium falcatum is a Fern much coveted by fern-growers, being remarkable for its beauty,
the deep, rich, polished green of the upper side of the large pinnse (almost equalling that of the Holly),
the copious fructifications, each sorus studded with orbicular, pale-brown involucres, with the raised
spot in the centre, and the very large, glossy, membranaceous scales of the stipes add no little to
the attractions of this plant. The species, long known in herbaria, has been supposed to be peculiar to China and Japan (as Asp. caryotideum, Wall., is to India proper): but I was gratified to
receive from Major Garden, in 1854, a Fern which I can in no way distinguish from this; and, very
recently, we see that Messrs. Rawson and Pappe have included it in their ' Filices Africse Australis/
on the authority of Captain Espinasse, who gathered it in the aboriginal forests of British Caffraria in
1856. It bears the open air with us even in winter; but a cool greenhouse is better suited to it, and
then it requires little or no care.

Plate XCII. exhibits a fertile plant of Aspidium falcatum, nat. size. Fig. 1 shows the under side of a
fertile pinna, nat. size. 2. A portion of pinnae, representing the venation and sori. 3. Lesser portion, more
highly magnified, including an areole remote from the costa, with three free veinlets, of which the central
one only is sterile, the two side ones fertile; one sorus being removed to show the receptacle, magnified.

Plate XOIR.

WTitcii.cbLet'lith.

PLATE

XCIII.

HEMIONITIS WILFORDII.
Wilford's Hemionitis.

(§ Macrodictyon) Wilfordii; villosula, caudice . . . ? fronde spithamaea et ultra cordato-acuminata coriaceo-membranacea pinnatifida, segmentis infimis majoribus semiovatis subfalcatis acuminatis lobatis reliquis sensim minoribus in acumen integrum confluentibus, venis primariis remotis
parallelis, secundariis ad racbin arcum formantibus, reliquis in areolas amplas subhexagonis anastomosantibus subtus villosis, venulis omnibus soriferis,

HEMIONITIS

HAB. Keelung, island of Formosa, June 1858, C. Wilford.

Wot yet in cultivation in Europe.

DESCR. Caudex unknown to us. Frond a span and more long, deltoideo- or rather cordatoacuminate in circumscription,.of a substance between coriaceous and membranaceous, pubescenti-villous above, hairy on the veins and rachis beneath, pinnatifid, below deeply so; the sinus between the
two lowest pairs of segments extending almost to the costa, and those segments that form the base,
consequently the largest, are nearly four inches long, sharply acuminate, semiovate, subfalcate,
more or less lobed : the rest gradually diminish in size upward; these are scarcely, if it all lobed, and
they become gradually more coadunate or confluent, terminating in a rather long entire acumen; each
segment has a central costa, which is pinnated with spreading, parallel, rather stout primary veins;
and these are connected by anastomosing veinlets which form large, subhexagonal areoles, and single
arches at the costa, between each pair of primary veins. Sort everywhere arising from and covering
the anastomosing veins, and exhibiting a network of capsules. These latter are globose, with a
pedicel about equal in length to the capsule. Stipes a foot and more long, moderately stout, downy,
paleaceous only below, with a few subulate almost black scales,
Formosa is as yet a virgin island to the naturalist. Nearly all we know relating to its vegetable
productions is, that the Chinese obtain the material for their preparation of the so-called "Ricepaper" from that country; but we know not even that that has ever been seen there by any European.
Now, thanks to the influence of Sir John Bowring with the Chinese merchants who trade there, the
plant yielding this beautiful substance has been sent alive to Kew, and is now in many gardens in
Europe. In June of the present year, Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, in command on the Chinese
station, kindly gave to our Botanical Collector, Mr. Wilford, then at Hongkong, an opportunity of
going on shore in Formosa for a few days. It was a service of some danger, from the savage nature
of the inhabitants; nevertheless he contrived to collect some very interesting plants; and among
them the present is not the least remarkable. If, as I think, it may fairly rank with the genus
Hemionitis, it is so very unlike any of the few described species, that it is needless to dwell on the
distinctions. The venation is much more lax than in any known to us, the areales forming hexagons,
and a series of arches are conspicuous next the costa and rachis. The entire network of veins is
soriferous, in which respect this plant differs remarkably from the genus Dictyocline of Moore.

Plate XCIII. represents the upper and under side of fertile fronds of Hemionitis Wilfordii, nat. size.
Fig. 1. Portion of the upper side of a frond, showing the venation. 2. Soriferous veins. 3. Capsule:—
magnified.

Plate, XCW.

eut .Br o oks, Imp.

PLATE

XCIV.

GYMNOPTERIS DECURRENS, Hook.
Decurrent Oymnopteris.

G-YMitfOPTEEis (§ Anapausia) decurrens; caudice crasso lignoso subrepente, frondibus subcoriaceis amplis
circumscriptione ovatis acuminatis 3-5-foliatis decurrentibus (junioribus simplicibus), pinnis 2 inferioribus remotis saepe liberis reliquis coadunatis terminali maxima, sterilibus ovali-lanceolatis longe
acuminatis integerrimis, venis primariis pinnatis, fertilibus contractis pinnis laciniisve angustioribus
lanceolatis modice acuminatis, stipite elongato basi squamis paleaceis setaceis fuscis villosis.
G-YMNOPTEBIS

decurrens. Hook, in Morula Hongkong. Journ. of Sot. 1857, p. 359.

HAB. Hongkong, Br. Harland, top of Mount G-ough. IJongkong, and north-east end of the island of
Formosa, Wilford. JSTot yet in cultivation in Europe.

Caudeco firm, thick, woody, apparently moderately creeping, and bearing towards the
extremity a cluster of stipites from six inches to a foot or more long, castaneous, glossy, semiterete,
sulcate above, the base closely compacted, and shaggy with slender, membranaceous, subulate, glossy
scales of a rich brown colour. Fronds ovate in circumscription, when young apparently, or perhaps
only occasionally, quite simple; sterile ones generally from a span to a foot long, tri-, or when most
perfect, quinque-foliolate; the lowest pair free; decurrent at the base, upon the stipes, the three upper
ones decurrent and coadunate: their form is broad-lanceolate, acuminate, quite entire, the texture
coriaceo-membranaceous, firm and glossy when dry, and in that state of a rich brownish-green colour,
perfectly glabrous, except the principal costa and rachis beneath, which are downy: the terminal
pinna or lobe is much the largest and broadest. Sterile ones generally on a shorter stipes, but much
smaller, contracted in every part, and more coadunate: the whole under side clothed with fructification of a dark-brown colour. Each pinna or segment has a strong costa, from which branch off the
primary veins in a nearly straight but oblique direction, in a pinnated manner: these are connected
with curved, transverse, zigzag veins, forming wide areoles, which are again traversed by tertiary
veins, which anastomose, forming interior secondary areoles, and these again are appendiculate, that
is, they include free, simple or forked veinlets, when forked the branches divaricating, and these are
clavate at the apices. In the fertile fronds the free veinlets are scarcely apparent.
Dr. Harland first detected this fine Acrostichoid Pern in Hongkong, and his specimens afforded
me the opportunity of giving a short notice of it in the c Morula Hongkongensis/ in the last volume
(for 1857) of the c Journal of Botany/ It has since been gathered in that island by other botanists,
among them by our collector, Mr. Wilford; and in his late visit to Formosa he found it to be an
inhabitant there also. We trust it will soon find a place in our European Ferneries.
We have already observed in what an unsatisfactory state are the genera of the Acrostichoid
Ferns, and the recent great multiplication of genera has not tended to render the study more simple.
No two Pteridologists are agreed as to their proper limits. Our plant perfectly accords with that
group of Gymnopteris of Presl, included in his second section of Anapausia, to which the well-known
DESCR.

Gymn. nicotiancefolia belongs. His first section is an omnium-gatherum, but contains Gymnopteris
quercifolium (see our Plate LXXX.) of Bernhardt the inventor of the genus. That species and its
allies constitute the genus Leptochilus of Kaulfuss; but to that the original name should surely be
retained, whether considered diiferent from or identical with the group now under consideration,
which are the true Gymnopterides of Fee, in his excellent work on Acrostichacece. Hence Mr. Moore,
who sanctions the generic distinction, in his c Index Filicum/ confines the name Gymnopteris to G.
quercifolium and its allies, and our plant would come into the genus Anapausia of Presl and Moore.

Plate XCIV. represents Gymnopteris decurrens, sterile and fertile fronds, nat. size. Fig. 1. Portion
of a sterile frond. 2. Portion of fertile frond, showing the venation and fructification:—magnified.

Plate ICY

"Wlibch-dal.etTith-

PLATE

XCV.

CHEILANTHES ARGENTEA, Hook., cum vars.
White pulverulent Cheilanthes, with vars.

CHEILANTHES argentea; humilis> caudice crassiusculo repente, squamis subulatis intense fuscis paleaceis,
stipitibus aggregatis gracilibus intense ebeneis inferne solum'modo villoso-paleaceis, frondibus (stipite brevioribus rarissime aequilongis) subcoriaceis cordato- v. ovato-deltoideis 2-3-uncialibns ad digitalem pedato-tripartitis lobo medio pinnatifidis vel pinnatis subtus dense massa ceracea pulverulenta
tectis, pinnis laciniisque pinnatifidis, pinnis infimis subbipinnatifidis laciniis infimis longioribus, lobis
obtusis magis minusve crenatis, involucris membranaceis firmis fuscis integerrimis copiosis ad basin
confluentibus, rachibus gracilibus ebeneis.
a. argentea vera; frondibus subtus albo-pulverulentis.
two left-hand specimens. Fig, 3 and 4.)

(PLATE XCY. Fig. 2, right-hand specimen.

CHEILANTHES argentea. Kze. in Linncea, 1850, p. 242. Hook. Sp. Ml. v. 2. p. 76.
Lips. p. 50. J. Sm. Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 50. Moore, Ind. Fil.p. 43.
ALLOSORTJS argenteus. Presl, Tent. Pterid.p.

Fig. 3,

Mettenius, FiL

Sort.

153.

PTERIS argentea. Gmel. in Nov. Act. Petrop. xii. p. 519. t. 12. f. 2. Swartz, Syn. Mil. p. 105 (not JBory).
Willd. Sp. PL v. 5. p. 360. Pall. It. v. 3. p. 321. Langsd. et Msch. PL des Voy. Buss. FiL p. 19.
t. 22. Ledeb. Fl. Alt. v. 4i.p. 226 ; FL Boss. v. k.p. 524.
PTEBIS pedata (var. Sibirica). Linn.Sp.
PL p. 1532.

PL p. 1532.

Stell. in Pall. n. JSford. JBeitr. v. 2. p. 200.

Linn. Sp.

CASSEBEEEA argentea. J. Sm. Gen. Ferns, in Hook. Journ. of Pot. v. 4. p. 159.
ALEURITOPTERIS argentea. Fee, Gen. FiL p. 154.

/3. sulphurea;

frondibus subtus sulphureo-pulverulentis. (PLATE XCV. Fig. 3, right-hand specimen.)

y. chrysopliylla; frondibus subtus aurantiaco-pulverulentis. (PLATE XCY, Fig. 1, and Fig. 6, 7, 8.)
CHEILAKTHES chrysophylla. Hook. Sp. Fit. v. 2. p. 113 ; Ic. Plant, v. 10. t. 9 0 1 ; Century of Ferns, t. 1.
H A B . a. argentea vera. Asiatic and American Russia: Ural, Siberia, Georgi; Baikal, Steller, Turczaninoff;
Dahuria, Pallas; Kamtschatka, Steller, Bedowsky; Eiver Katunja, Altai, Ledebour; Eussian possessions in N. "W. America, Steller (on the authority of Pallas). Eastern Bengal: Khasya, Mrs. Sopwith ;
Moulmein, Bev. C. S. P. Parish.—ft. sulphurea, Khasya, along with a, Mrs. Sopwith; Moulmein,
along with a, Bev. C. S. P. Parish.—y. chrysophylla. Khasya, along with the two preceding vars., Mrs.
Sopwith ; Khala-Panee, Khasya, (same locality as Mrs. Sopwith's,) and on wet rocks, alt. 5500 feet,
Drs. Hooker and Thomson, who only collected the large form, represented at our Fig. 1. The
var. a (argentea vera) is in cultivation in European gardens, and has been so at Kew since 1823, but
is yet very rare.

DESCR. The caudex of the plants now under consideration is short, thick, horizontal, and subrepent, clothed with dark-brown, almost black, glossy, subulate, appressed scales. Of the fronds,
which spring in tufts from the upper portion of the caudex, I possess specimens, varying (exclusive of

stipes) from half an inch (and some of those in the most perfect state of fructification) to four inches
in length : they are of a firm and of a coriaceous rather than membranaceous texture, opaque; the
smaller ones less compound, more deltoid or rather pedatifidly pentangular, or at most ternate (or
tripartite); the middle primary division subovate and more or less acuminated, deeply pinnatifid, with
the segments bluntly and not deeply lobed at the margin; the lowest and lateral divisions are
semi-ovate, that is, the upper margin equally divided into shallow lobes, the lower margin with the
inferior lobe much elongated and declined, giving the pedate or pentangular outline. The larger specimens are truly pinnate, with an almost ovate circumscription, not so pedate, because the lowest pair
have the inferior segments less elongated, in short, more regularly pinnatifid, like those immediately
above them: the uppermost are confluent and nearly entire, or more or less lobed and crenate like
the other segments. Every part of the Pern is glabrous; but the under side is closely invested with
a fine pulverulent coating of a ceraceous or waxy nature, of which, in different specimens of what
we consider one and the same species, the colour is, in our a, white; in /3, pale-yellow, or sulphurcolour ; in 7, of a rich golden-yellow. The venation is pinnated, the veins oblique, twice or thrice
forked, all free and extending to the sinuses of the lobes or crenatures. The fructifications are
copious, extend all along the margins and round the segments and lobes, and seem formed of the
closely reflected margins, altered in colour, pale-brown and membranaceous, and divided below into a
series of rounded entire lobes, which may be considered as so many involucres confluent at their base,
and so continuous. The main rachis and stipes scaly; the latter, in the smaller specimens, three to
four times as long as the frond, dark-ebeneous, glossy.
Among the most beautiful and most prized of Ferns by cultivators, are assuredly those kinds
which have their whole under side invested with a fine pulverulent substance, considered to be waxy
or ceraceous in its nature, and hence a group of Gymnogramme, having this character, forms a genus
with M. Pee, under the name of Ceropteris; they are of varied colours, from the purest white to
the richest golden-yellow. Some of them are already represented in this volume at Plates X., X L V I I o
and LXXIV. Such Ferns are almost exclusively found within tropical limits, and the only exception
we know is in the instance of the Siberian Cheilanthes argentea (Pteris argentea, Gmelin), of which we
have said in our ( Species Filicura/ that it has the aspect of a tropical species, with its white powdery
surface beneath; and it is this very species, hitherto considered to be almost an hyperborean plant,
we are now prepared to announce as normally tropical, having its maximum probably in the eastern
and truly tropical parts of India, and its northern limits, indicated by the dwarfer and more contracted form of the segments, in Siberia and the opposite Russian settlements of N . W. America.
It was during the past year, 1858, that I received specimens of the orange and the white
Cheilanthes, represented at Fig. 2, from Mrs. Sopwith, gathered by her at one and the same spot
in Khasya. The orange one I had no difficulty in considering a more than usually small form of
my Cheilanthes chrysophylla (Fig. 1), collected by Drs. Hooker and Thomson in the same country;*
but I was not then equally disposed to refer the white Cheilanthes to that species; and the widely
different locality, probably, rather than any other motive, prevented me from instituting a more full
inquiry into the subject. Further specimens from Mrs. Sopwith exhibited a sample of a very
pale yellow instead of white or orange-yellow; and about the same time I received from my friend
Mr. Parish, gathered upon the same rock at Moulmein which afforded the beautiful Adiantum
Parishii (Plate LI. of this volume), specimens wrhich quite tallied with the white and the sulphurcoloured ones of Mrs. Sopwith; and hence I was led to compare these with the northern Ch. argentea, and assuredly there is no specific difference between them. The northern plant is invariably
#

Dr. Hooker has remarked that this same locality in Khasya affords another plant hitherto supposed
to be peculiar to Siberia, namely, Corydalis Sibirica. " Corydalis Sibirica and Nymphcea puwiila are remarkable instances of specific indentity between Khasya and Siberian Plants." See * Flora Indica,' Introductory Essay, p. 107.

smaller, and has a more stunted growth: and from it there are, in my herbarium, insensible gradations, both in form and colour, from the Siberian and Altai Ch. argentea vera (Fig. 4 and 5)^
to the richly coloured chrysophylla shown at Fig. 1.
If these views respecting change of colour in one and the same species of pulverulent Cheilanthes be correct, it may possibly lead to the clearing up of some doubtful points in other genera
of pulverulent Ferns,—Gymnogramme, Notholcena, etc. Thus, of the old Acrostichum trifoliatum, L.,
(Gymnogramme, Auct. plur., Trismeria, Fee,) which has usually a yellow powder, M. Fee has made
a second species mainly distinguished by the powder being white.

Plate XCV. represents, at Fig. 1-5, plants, some fertile, others sterile, of Cheilcmthes argentea, nat.
size; viz.:—1. Drs. Hooker and Thomson's larger specimens, from Khasya, of var. y. 2. Mrs. Sopwith's
specimens of vars. a and y, from Khasya. 3. Yars. a and /? (and a third specimen, exhibiting the upper side of
a frond), from Mr. Parish, Moulmein. 4. Yar. a, from Altai; and 5. The same form, from Kamtschatka.
6. Segment of a barren frond, upper side. 7. Under side of a fertile pinna. 8. Two sori, and involucres. 6-8. From var. y:—magnified.

Plate ICW

"WHtdh,ii.etTith..

"Vincent Brooks, for

PLATE

XCVL

CHEILANTHES FRAGILIS, Hook.
Brittle Cheilanthes.

fragilis; caudice subnullo, radicibus dense csespitosis, stipitibus fasciculatis glanduloso-tomentosis parce paleaceis, squamulis subulatis sparsis, frondibus erectis palmaribus ad pedalem oblongolanceolatis bipinnatis, pinnis primariis remotis horizontalibus anguste oblongis sessilibus submembranaceis, pinnulis parvis oblongis obtusis crenatis pinnarum superiorum confluentibus subciliatis,
rachide primaria subtomentosa secundariis sparsim paleaceo-villosis, soris approximatis vix confluentibus parvis subrotundis submembranaceis.

CHEILANTHES

HAB. Limestone rocks: Dammar-slat, Moulmein, Bev. C. 8. P. Parish, n. 93. Not in cultivation in
Europe.

DESCR. Root consisting of copious, tufted, wiry, descending fibres, from which the stipites arise
also in tufts, without the intervention of any evident caudex or rhizome. Fronds, exclusive of stipes,
submembranaceous, from a span to more than a foot long, erect, rather stiff, yet very fragile, oblonglanceolate in outline, bipinnate. Pinnae alternate, wide apart, spreading horizontally; the length of the
longest does not exceed two inches; their form is narrow oblong, and they are rather close-set with
small, sessile, very uniform, oblong, obtuse, irregularly crenate lobes, partially ciliated at the margin;
those of the upper (primary) pinnae are confluent; the colour is a very opaque brownish-green. The
main rachis and slightly scaly stipes (three to four or five inches long) are clothed with a greyish
glandulose tomentum: the secondary rachises bear scattered subulate scales. Sori approximate,
roundish; the involucres apparently formed of the slightly changed lobes of the margin, are bent
down upon the sori, and more or less ciliated. The veins are pinnated, simple or forked.
I cannot but agree with my valued friend Mr. Parish, that this is a Cheilanthes different from
any that has been yet described. I t comes from a very peculiar limestone country, near Moulmein,
which has already rewarded that gentleman's researches by the discovery of some interesting species
of Fern, and none more remarkable than our Adiantum Parishii. I t belongs to that group of the
genus (my § Euchylanthes) of which Ch. microphylla, Ch. multifida, Ch. Mysurensis, etc., may be considered the types; but with none of that set does this agree. I t is peculiar, even in the most perfect
specimens, for its fragile character, and the glandulosely tomentose clothing of the stipes and main
rachis, the former being intermixed with very narrow-subulate scales rather than hairs; and also for
the scattered scales (narrow-subulate) on the under side of the secondary rachises, and the presence of
hairs on the margin, and seen sometimes on that of the involucre. I quote from Mr. Parish's notes
a brief account of the locality in which he found the plant.—" Had these specimens been gathered
later in the season, they would no doubt have acquired more rigidity; but owing to the difficulty
of obtaining them, I was glad to get them when I could. The limestone rocks on which the plant
grows, stand isolated in a vast level plain, which is only passable on foot in the dry season, and then
the ferns ' are not' In the rains they are one vast lake, through which one can only go on elephants,
and not always so when the water is at its highest. In short, considerable difficulty attends going
to these rocks. I went to them on elephants early in the rains twice, and then the water was up to

the elephants' shoulders in many places. The Ferns were not at the time quite matured, and I
have not been since. The specimens too are much broken, but that it is almost impossible to help.
They were only procured by crawling through a small aperture in the rocks at the end of some large
caves, by which means alone can they be ascended. And then the rocks are so steep and sharp as
to require one to hold on by the eyelids. No box, except a very small one, can be carried, consequently the plants must be packed as they best may, and get much damaged. This Fern is very
brittle; and one splendid perfect plant, with fronds full eighteen inches long, which I gathered at
some little height, was broken to pieces before I got through the hole back again. I shall be glad
to hear that it is new."—C. S. P . P .

Plate XCVI. exhibits fertile plants of Gheilanthes fragilis, not. size. Fig. 1. Under side of fertile
pinna. 2. Sori: one with the involucre forced, showing the point of attachment of the capsules. 3. Capsule :—more or less magnified.

Plate, ZCW

*«*

WFiteh.iel.et Mi.

\

•

•v/

!

• • ?.*

' ' .-•' X

«

/

~,Sne etit Br ooksj Imp.

PLATE

XCVII.

PLATYCERIUM WALLICHII.
Br. WallicJbs Stag*s-horn Fern.

Wallichii; frondibus amplis bifariam dispositis demum glabris, sterilibus imbricatis inferne
irregulariter sinuato-lobatis superne elongatis dilatatis profunde copiose, laciniatis, segmentis dichotomis patentibus, fertilibus latissime cuneatis bipartitis basi subito angustatis, disco axillari valde
producto semicirculari subtus sorifero, segmentis elongatis pluries dichotome divisis, laciniis loriformibus pendentibus, maculis soriferis subreniformibus, soris 2-3 in eadem fronde.

PLATTCEEIUM

PLATYCEKITTM

Wallichii. Hook, in Gard. Chron. Oct. 1858, p. 765.

AOBOSTICHUM

alcicorne (A. biforme, Sw.?). Wall. Gat. n. 19 (not Linn.).

HAB. Malay Peninsula, epiphytal on trees: banks of the Irawaddy (1826), and of the river Martaban,
1827, Wallicli; on trees towards Kogun,# 1827, Griffith in Herb. JSTostr.; province of Moulmein,
Bev. C. S. P. Parish. Cultivated in English Ferneries, having been introduced from Moulmein by the
Messrs. Veitch, of the Nurseries, Exeter and Chelsea.

In my description of Platy cerium grande, under Plate LXXXVL, in this volume, when enumerating the several species of the genus known to us, I took the opportunity of alluding to a fifth and
new species, Platy cerium Wallichii, Nobis, of the Malay Peninsula, of which we have long possessed
specimens in the herbarium, from Dr. Wallich, more recently from the Rev. C. S. P. Parish, of Moulmein. I t is this rare species, which the Messrs. Veitch have imported from the latter country, which
we now figure; and which has been mistaken, before its fructification was known to us, for the
Platy cerium biforme of Blume, a native also of Moulmein and of the Malay Archipelago.
Recently PL Wallichii has produced perfect fertile fronds in the collections of Messrs. Veitch, at
Exeter and Chelsea, from which our drawing is made, and of Lady Dorothy Nevill, at Dangstein;
and it will clearly be seen to belong to the same group as P . grande and P . biforme, a group distinguished from the older and better-known species, P. alcicorne, L., and P . Stemmaria, Beauv., by the
gigantic size of the fronds, covering in their native forests a space of from two to four or five feet
in height and breadth, and having always two-forked and very broad drooping fertile fronds, with
long pendent segments, and bearing a large oblate spot of fructification in the sinus of the fork. The
general form and nature of the fronds are very uniform in the three, and as these have been fully
described under our P. grande (Plate LXXXVL), we shall, in as few words as possible, define the
distinguishing characters of the three, as derived from the fructification.
1. PL grande (see our Plate LXXXVL) has the soriferous disc (or portion of the frond bearing
the mass of capsules) unchanged; so that without raising up the fertile frond to inspect the under
side, you could not tell if the fructiferous spot were present.
* Kogun, or Kogoon, a town of Eastern India, in the British territory of Pegu, situate twenty miles
east from Rangoon, and fifty-one miles north from Amherst (Thornton's ' Indian Gazetteer').

2. PL Wallichii. Here, as maybe seen in the accompanying figure (XCVII.), although the
fructification is equally confined to the under side of the disc, yet its presence is indicated in an
altered appearance of the sinus of the forks of the frond; the soriferous disc is protruded, if I may
use the expression, so as to be scutiform (resembling a semicircle or half shield), and this is convex
on the upper surface, and rises or inclines upwards, giving a very peculiar character to the fertile
fronds, and seeming to form almost an intermediate state (yet very constant in its characters) between P . ffrande and the next species we shall notice, viz.,—
P . biforme, Bl., figured by Blume in his Ic. Fil. Jav. t. 18. This indeed we have never had the
satisfaction of seeing alive, for it has never yet been introduced to our Ferneries; but its soriferous
disc cannot be confounded with any of the others. It projects so much from the sinus of the forks
as to form a distinct scutiform disc, elevated upon a nearly terete stalk two or three inches long. We
trust this very remarkable species will ere long be added to our garden collections.
Together with an excellent pencil-sketch of Platycerium Wallichiiy representing the fructification
exactly as in our cultivated specimens, Mr. Parish sends the following note:—" The fertile frond, from
which this rough sketch has been made, is two feet four inches in length; a more than usually luxuriant specimen, gathered off a plant on a tree in my ' compound' for the occasion. The fronds
vary from one foot (about the largest size of those yet in cultivation in England) to this size. Nos.
1 and 2 are perfect sori (if we can call these large patches of fructification by that name); No. 3 is
an attempt at a third.*" The plant produces two such (fertile) fronds each hot season, one falling
towards the right and one towards the left. The specimen now under consideration almost rivals
small specimens of PL biforme in size and beauty "

Plate XCVII. Pig. 1. Plant of Platycerium Wallichii, with sterile and fertile fronds, on a very reduced
scale. 2. Portion of the under side of a fertile frond, with the soriferous disc, nat. size, 3. Portion of
the soriferous disc, with part of the capsules removed, and showing the venation. 4, 5, 6, Sessile and pedicellate stellate scales from among the capsules. 7. Capsule. 8. Spores, highly magnified.

* l a m not aware the PL grande ever bears more than one spot of fructification on each fertile frond.

RG&IDYHL:

~Viri£eittBroote^5np.

PLATE

XCYIII.

NEPHRODIUM FILIX-MAS, var. paleacea.
Male Shield-Fern, scaly variety.

NEPHEODIUM (§ Lastrea) Filix-mas; caiidice erecto depresso crasso paleaceo, frondibus subbipinnatis
coriaceis lato-lanceolatis, pinnis copiosissimis approximatis sessilibus, pinnulis laciniisve oblongis obtusis obtuse dentatis, soris biseriatis in singula lacinia, involucris convexis membranaceis, stipite rachibusque paleaceo-crinitis.
ASPIDIUM Filix-mas. Sw. Sgn. Fil. p. 55, etc.

LASTEEA Filix-mas. Presl, Tent. P erid. p. 76, etc.
( W e restrict ourselves to the more special notice of the following variety.)
Var. paleacea ; stipitibus rachibusque insigniter paleaceis, squamis setisve ssepe aureo-nitentibus nunc nigrescentibus nitidissimis. (PLATE XCVII1.)
LASTEEA Filix-mas, var. paleacea. Moore, Handbook of Brit. Ferns, 1853,^?. 110. Ferns of Great Britain,
Nat. Print, t. 17 A, (a failure in nature-printing, for the paleaceous covering of the stipes, the remarkable character of the var., does not print.)
ASPIDIUM Filix-mas, var.paleacea. Mettenius, Farngatt. iv. Phegopteris et Aspidium,^. 55.
ASPIDIUM paleaceum. Bon, Prodr. p. 4.
ASPIDIUM Donianum. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. Cur. Post. p. 320. Kunze, in Linncea, v. 24<.p. 283.
ASPIDIUM pinnatifidum. Wall. MSS. in Serb.

Hook.

ASPIDIUM Walliehianum. Spreng. 1. c. p. 104 (non Hook.).
ASPIDIUM patentissimum. Wall. Cat. 340.
LASTEEA patentissima. Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 76.
DICHASIUM patentissimum. Braun, in Flora, 1841, p. 710. Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 203.
ASPIDIUM uliginosum. Blunie, MSS. in Herb.

Nostr.

ASPIDIUM parallelogrammum. Kze. in Linncea, v. 13.p. 140, v. IS. p. 345, v. 24. p. 283.
1841,^.710.

Braun, in Flora,

ASPIDIUM adnatum. Bl. Fn. Fil. Jav.p. 152.
DICHASIUM parallelogrammum. Fee, Gen. Fil. p. 202. t. 17. f

2.

ASPIDIUM crinitum. Mart, et Gal. Fil. Mex.p. 67. t. 1 7 . / . 2.
LASTEEA truncata. Brack. Fil. U. S. Fxpl. Fxp.p.

195. t. 27.

NEPHEODIUM affine, Lowe, PI. Nov. Fil. Mad. p. 525.
DETOPTEEIS Filix-mas, var. Borreri. Newm. Brit. Ferns, ed. 3. p. 189.
H A B . Our plant here figured, from the stove of the Boyal Gardens, was derived from Ceylon,-Mr. Thwaites,
whence our herbarium is enriched by copious specimens from that gentleman, from Mr. Gardner,
General Walker, etc. I t is also found in almost every part of India, chiefly in mountain regions,
at elevations equal to from 4-10-12,000 feet above the level of the sea, by Wallich, Hooker and Thomson, and all collectors ; from Java, Blume; Japan, Mr. C. Wriglit; and almost exactly the same state of

the plant from Mexico (where it becomes Aspidium parallelogrammum, Kze.), and other parts of South
America (N. Granada and Quito), and even the temperate and cold climates of Europe, as far north as
Scotland; in these temperate regions more especially, it is seen gradually to pass into the common
form of Nephrodium (Lastrea) Filix-mas. Cultivated at Kew, and no doubt in other collections.

Our readers will wonder, after seeing the long array of names invented by distinguished botanists
for the plant now under consideration, to find that they are all referable to a variety, and certainly a
very beautiful one, of the common Male Shield-Fern, Nephrodium (Lastrea of many authors) Filixmas. In our Brit. Flora (Hook, et Am. ed. 7. p. 585) it is remarked, " Mr. Borrer finds a variety
of this species, common in Devonshire, with more copious and brighter-coloured scales on the stipes,
and with a brighter golden-yellow tinge on the whole frond; the same has also been found in Yorkshire, various parts of Durham, and in Scotland." Mr. Moore has been, in his c Handbook of
British Ferns/ the first to distinguish this as a well marked variety, and to refer to it, and very
judiciously, in his c Ferns of Great Britain, Nature-printed/ many supposed species of foreign
and even^ of tropical climates, which the authors of those species little dreamed were only forms of
the European Male Shield-Fern. Mettenius gives southern Europe, the Tyrol, Canary Islands (he
might have included Madeira), Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, the East Indies, as localities for this variety. Although, however, found in Europe and even in North Britain, it is certain that this variety at
tains its greatest degree of beauty, arising from the copious paleaceous scales, and their often bright
and glossy colour, in tropical regions. It is, too, often so altered in the form of the segments or
pinnules of the fronds, that it would, at first sight, not easily be recognized as belonging to our
Filix-mas; I mean that state of it where the segments have a form so exactly oblong and foursided as to have caused it to be appropriately distinguished by the name of Aspidium parallelogrammum; some segments of this form are seen in the figure here given; but frequently in India,
in Mexico, and even in Madeira, and no doubt elsewhere, it is common for all the segments throughout the plant to have that shape, the apex not only truncated, but even emarginate.
It is the more desirable that this variety of a Fern so familiar to us should be known to cultivators, for perhaps no species is more widely dispersed over the surface of the globe, and no one
has given such occasion for false species to be established. It has even given rise to two new genera.
Mr. Moore has clearly shown that the Dichasium of A. Braun and Fee is our present plant, with an
injured indusium or involucre; and although the same careful pteridologist refers the Arthrobotrys
Avana and macrocarpa of Wallich to the Nephrodium cochleatum, Don (and correctly enough), yet I
think the copious specimens I possess from Dr. Wallich and other Indian botanists, will go far to
prove that even that is in no ways, even specifically, different from N. Filix-mas, though not coming
under our present variety " paleacea."

Plate XCVIII. exhibits a fertile plant of Nephrodium (Lastrea) Filix-mas, var. paleacea (from
Ceylon), nat. size. Fig. 1. Under side of a fertile segment of a pinna, showing the venation and sqri.
2. Single sorus:—magnified.

PLATE

XCIX.

NEPHRODIUM FLORIDANUM, Hook.
Florida Shield-Fern.

NEPHEODIUM (§ Lastrea) Floridanwm; caudice . . . ?, frondibus sesquipedalibus subcoriaceis lato-lanceolatis pinnatis glabris, pinnis sessilibus inferioribus sterilibus deltoideo-lanceolatis basi truncatis
pinnatifidis, laciniis ovato-oblongis, superiore iterum pinnatis fertilibus, pinnulis oblongis obtusis
sessilibus remotiusculis vix decurrentibus, laciniis pinnulisque dentato-serratis, stipite elongato
crasso sulcato rachique parce laxeque paleaceis, squamis lanceolato-acuminatis, soris uniserialibus
intra costam et marginem, involucris magnis reniformi-rotundatis.
HAB. East Florida, Mr* S. B. Buckley (dried specimens communicated by Professor Torrey). Wot yet
known in cultivation.

DESCR. The caudex of this well-marked Fern is unknown to me. The fronds are a foot and a
half to two feet or more long, erect, broad-lanceolate in circumscription, moderately acuminate at the
apex, of a subcoriaceo-membranaceous consistence, pinnated, with the pinnce rather numerous, and of
two kinds, for the lower pinnse, about one for about half the length of the frond, are shorter and
broader than the rest, always sterile and only pinnatifid, but rather deeply so; those of the upper
half are more elongated, and again pinnated, and all of them are soriferous. Of the sterile pinnce the
form is deltoideo-lanceolate, acuminate, the base truncated, quite sessile, the lacinise ovato- or oblongoovate, serrated, rather coarsely so. The upper and fertile pinnce have the numerous pinnules rather
distant from each other, oblong, obtuse, sessile and adnate at the base, scarcely at all decurrent;
the margins dentate rather than serrated, the uppermost pinnules on the pinnse are confluent into an
acuminated point. Veins oblique, generally twice forked, free. Sori in two series, each occupying
the middle between the costule and margin, from five to eight or ten on each pinnule, large. Involucre membranaceous, rotundato-reniform, the sinus rather deep. Stipes moderately stout, six to
eight inches long, and as well as* the primary rachis furrowed in front, paleaceous with scattered,
membranaceous, appressed, lanceolate, finely acuminated scales; on the secondary rachises are a very
few setiform scales on the under side.
I have had the pleasure of receiving specimens of this new Fern, without name, from the estimable American botanist, Dr. Torrey, at two different times, but all apparently from one and the same
locality in Florida, namely, East Florida, there detected by Mr. S. B. Buckley. The species has
some general resemblance to our well-known Nephrodium (Lastrea) Filix-mas, a Fern found in the
United States as well as in various other parts of the world, as stated in our immediately preceding
description; but, besides other characters, it has the peculiarity of having the pinnse of the lower
half of the frond different in shape from the rest, sterile, and only pinnatifid, while the pinnce of
the upper half look as if they might belong to another species, for they are again pinnated, and
have rather remote and all fertile somewhat contracted pinnules. The sori are so large as to occupy
almost all the space between the costule and thennargin, although there is only a single series;
they are consequently very conspicuous.

We here consider Nephrodium in the sense in which Richard and R. Brown employed it, intended to include those Aspidioid genera which have a reniform involucre attached by the sinus, and
we refer our plants to the section or subgenus Lastrea (Pr.), characterized by the free venation.
This would in all probability prove to be able to bear our climate, and it would be a great ornament to our hardy fern-gardens in England.

Plate XCIX. represents a fertile frond of Nephrodium (§ Lastrea, Pr.) Moridanum; the lower
and sterile portion is seen from above, the upper and fertile portion is shown from beneath, not. size.
Pig. 1. Segment of sterile pinna, showing the venation. 2. Pertile pinnule, seen from beneath, with sori.
3. Single sorus:—magnified.

Plate C.

WTitvix/iGLetTith

Vincexit J^Todkg.Imp

PLATE C.

DIPLAZIUM JUGLANDIFOLIUM.
Walnut-leaved Diplazium.

DIPLAZIUM (§ Eudiplazium) juglandifolium ; caudice rohusto erecto subarboreo apice faseiculatim frondoso,
frondibus amplis 2t-3-pedalibus et ultra pinnatis subcarnoso-membranaceis glabris, pinnis numerosis sessilibus supremis liberis basi inferiore decurrentibus (non confluentibus) oblongis vel oblongolanceolatis integerrimis vel apicem versus obscure serratis basi oblique subcuneatis inferiore magis
rotundatis, venis patentissimis copiosis plerumque bis furcatis, soris elongatis plerisque aequilongis
geminatis, stipite breviusculo parcissime deciduo-setoso-squamuloso.
DIPLAZIUM juglandifolium. Sw. Syn. Fil. 91 et 282.

Schkuhr, Fil. p. 80. t. 85.

WilU. Sp. PI v. 5. p. 352.

DIPLAZITJM celtidifolium. J. Sm. in Cat. of Kew Ferns, p. 5; Cult. Ferns, p. 47 (non Kze.).
M i x maxima, in pinnas tantum divisa, oblongas latasque, non crenatas. Sloane, Jam. Hist. v. 1. p. 82. t. 27.
H A B . Jamaica, " sides of Mount Diablo, on the north side of the island," Shane.
Venezuela, Wagener, in
Sort. Kew.; Fendler, 1858, n. 498, in Herb, nostr. Cultivated in the stove of the Royal Gardens
of Kew.

DESCR. Our plant of this is about eight or ten years old, and has a very striking appearance from
its size and beauty, having too the stout and almost arborescent caudes, nearly a foot high, quite erect,
3 - 4 inches in diameter, thickly clothed with stout fleshy fibres or descending radicles, which entirely
conceal the caudex, but it is only the lowest of t h e m t h a t penetrate and derive nourishment from the
soil. The summit of this caudex is crowned with a tuft of large yet delicate pale-green fronds, of the
colour and texture of those of Asplenium (Hemidictyum) marginatum, figured at Plate L X X I I I . of
this volume, two and a half to three feet and more long, independent of the stipes; in form broad oblong-lanceolate, pinnated with numerous pinnce, from 6 - 1 0 inches long, quite glabrous, horizontally
patent, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, all, even to the terminal one, quite free (never confluent), but the
uppermost ones have their lower base decurrent upon the rachis; all are obliquely cuneate at the base,
the inferior base being rounded, while the superior one is cut off, as it were, in a nearly straight oblique
line, the apex acuminated, the margin sometimes quite entire, or generally more or less obscurely
serrated towards the point. Costa slightly furrowed above, very prominent beneath. Veins all free,
horizontally patent, generally twice dichotomous; the veinlets lying close and parallel to each o t h e r ;
the lowest superior branch always soriferous, and always with a very elongated sorus; if another
branch of the same fascicle is fertile, it is generally a shorter and less perfect sorus. These sori are
mostly very uniform and geminate, extending from near the costa to within a short distance of the
m a r g i n ; so that next the costa is only a very narrow space unoccupied by sori, and a broader one
next the margin to which the sori do not extend. Stipes about a foot long, much stouter than a
swan's-quill, subherbaceous, terete, furrowed on the anterior side, glabrous, with only a few, deciduous,
setose scales near the base.
This is a Fern of very great beauty, and, as far as my information extends, of considerable rarity.

For a long time it was only known to me from the circumstance of a living plant having been received by us at the Royal Gardens, direct from Venezuela, through Mr. Wagener, under the name of
Diplazium celtidifolium, Kze.; and knowing that the true D. celtidifolium was sent to Kunze, and
so named by him, from the same country, our plant stands under that name in Mr. J. Smith's
catalogues; but assuredly incorrectly so, as may at once be seen by a reference to the accurate
figure of the real celtidifolium in Mettenius, Fil. Hort. Bot. Lips. p. 75. t. 12. ff. 3,4. My own herbarium, rich in South American Ferns, contained no species corresponding with i t ; but, while the
living plant was under investigation for the purpose of being here described, I had the satisfaction
of receiving very fine native specimens, among many other rare kinds of Ferns, etc., from Mr. Fendler
of Venezuela. I am indebted to Mr. Moore for the suggestion that this might possibly be the
Jamaica Diplazium juglandifolium of Willd., taken up, as far as I Can learn, entirely from Sloane's
figure and description (the latter copied by Schkuhr), though Swartz quotes "Cavanill. Hort. Matrit.
Tab." The figure of Sloane is, though rude, and destitute of fructification, sufficiently characteristic
of our plant; and the description of the frond is so accurate, that I am tempted to quote it in confirmation of the correctness of the present opinion. " This Fern rises," says Sloane, " to about four
feet high, having a light reddish-brown-coloured stalk, which near the root has some ferruginous
moss or hairs, and at about a foot and a half high begins to have pinna, They go out alternately at
about three-fourths of an inch distance, out of opposite sides of the middle rib, which has an odd
pinna or lobe at the end," (very characteristic of this species, particularly as distinguishing it, inter
alia, from D. celtidifolium,) " closing the stalk. Each of the pinnae is about six inches long, and one
and a half broad in the middle where broadest, from a very short or almost no footstalk, increasing
to the middle, and thence decreasing to a point, being equal on the margin, very smooth, having one
middle rib eminent on the under side, from whence go transverse ribs to the sides of the leaf, of a
pale-green colour, in several things resembling the leaves of Hartfs-tongue."
That description was printed more than one hundred and fifty years ago, and it is not till now
that we are able to confirm the accuracy of it, though not by means of Jamaica specimens: it is
probably very local in that island. Sloane gives only one locality for it, and that a mountain-slope
on the north side of the island.

Plate C. represents, at Fig. 1, a plant of Diplazium juglandifoliim, Sw., on a very reduced scale.
2. Portion of a fertile frond, seen from beneath, nat. size. 3. Portion of a pinna, showing veins and sori.
4. Transverse section of a geminate sorus:—magnified.

ENGLISH INDEX.
+—:—
Plate
42 Acrostichum, broad-leaved.
6
29
11
55
51
14
8
30
1
26
75
38
2
85
90
96
95

Acrostichum, shaggy.
Acrostichum, Pilosella-like.
Adiantum, Asarabacca-leaved.
Adiantum, large-leaved.
Adiantum, Mr. Parish's.
Adiantum, Mr. Wilson's.
Adiantum, reniform.
Anemia, flexuose.
Anemia, hill.
Anemia, tawny.
Angiopteris, tall-headed.
Brainea, arborescent.
Bristle-Fern, kidney-shaped.
Camptosorus, rooting.
Cheilanthes, Alabama.
Cheilanthes, brittle.
Cheilanthes, white pulverulent; with
vars.
24 Climbing-Fem, palmated.
23 Club-Moss, Furze-leaved.
57 Davallia, firm-leaved.
37 Davallia, five-leaved.
19 Davallia, Lonchitis-like.
79 Davallia, sunk-fruited.
27 Davallia, various-leaved.
28 Deparia, Mr. Moore's.
82 Deparia, proliferous.
17 Diplazium, alternate-leaved.
100 Diplazium, Walnut-leaved.
36 Fadyenia, proliferous.
71 Gleichenia, fan-shaped.
40 Gleichenia, twin-fruited.
47 Gymnogramme, bright-yellow.

Plate
74 Gymnogramme, elegant.
5 Gymnogramme, Bue-leaved.
13 Gymnogramme, soft downy.
10 Gymnogramme, triangular.
94 Gymnopteris, decurrent.
80 Gymnopteris, Oak-leaved.
77 Hard-Fern, oriental.
35 Hemionitis, heart-shaped.
93 Hemionitis, Wilford's.
69 Hemitelia, prickly-stalked.
66 Hemitelia, showy.
78 Hymenolepis, serpent's-tongue.
67 LindsaBa, coulter-leaved.
54 Lindssea, Panama.
32 Lomaria, antarctic.
49 Lomaria, Paterson's.
98 Male Shield-Fern; scaly variety.
65 Marattia, purple-stalked.
83 Meniscium, entire-leaved.
31 Nephrodium, Siebold's.
62 Nephrodium, Javanese.
89 Nephrodium, white-spotted; var. 0.
60 Nephrolepis, Davallia-like.
68 Niphobolus, Mr. Gardner's.
58 Oleandra, Eosebay-leaved.
43 Olfersia, deer's-tongue.
9 Osmunda, bipinnate.
21 Pellsea, broad-fruited.
50 Pellsea, hastate.
48 Pellsea, round-leaved.
15 Pellaea, ternate-leaved.
81 Polybotrya, eared.
20 Polypody, close-fruited.
91 Polypody, coronal.

Plate
84 Polypody, erenate-leaved.
22 Polypody, dark-fronded.
12 Polypody, glossy.
4 Polypody, Iris-leaved.
87 Polypody, red-veined.
18 Polypody, Scolopendra-like.
59 Polypody, sharp-pointed.
25 Polypody, smooth-rooted.
52 Polypody, two-ffonded.
63 Psilotum, three-angled.
39 Pteris, arrow-headed.
34 Pteris, pedate-leaved.
45 Pteropsis, lance-shaped.
56 Selaginella, Dr. Pceppig's.
53 Shield-Fern, coulter-leaved.
3 Shield-Fern, deparioid.
92 Shield-Fern, falcate.
99 Shield-Fern, Florida.
33 Shield-Fern, triangular-leaved.
88 Spleenwort, Australian bird's-nest.
41 Spleenwort, Belanger's.
46 Spleenwort, blunt-leaved.
72 Spleenwort, erect; proliferous var.
76 Spleenwort, flat-stemmed.
16 Spleenwort, handsome.
73 Spleenwort, margined.
70 Spleenwort, serrated.
44 Spleenwort, short-winged.
61 Spleenwort, sinuated.
64 Spleenwort, viviparous.
97 Stag's-horn Fern, Dr. Wallich's.
86 Stag's-horn Fern, great.
7 Woodwardia, Dr. Harland's.

EBBATUM.—In description of Plate L, line 1, for " Eutrichomanes " read "Euanemia."

LATIN INDEX.
Plate
6 Acrostichum crinitum.
42 Acrostichum latifolium.
29 Acrostichum piloselloides.
11 Adiantum asarifolium.
55 Adiantum macrophyllum.
.51 Adiantum Parishii.
8 Adiantum reniforme.
14 Adiantum WilsonL
1 Anemia collina.
30 Anemia flexuosa.
26 Anemia fulva.
75 Angiopteris evecta.
3 Aspidium* deparioides.
92 Aspidium falcatum.
53 Aspidium falcinellum.
33 Aspidium triangulum,
88 Asplenium Australasicum.
41 Asplenium Belangeri.
44 Asplenium brachypterum.
76
72
16
73
46
70
61
64
77
38
85
90
95
96
27

Asplenium compressum.
Asplenium erectum; vax.proliferum.
Asplenium formosum.
Asplenium marginatum.
Asplenium obtusatum.
Asplenium serratum.
Asplenium sinuatum.
Asplenium viviparum.
Blechnum orientale.
Brainea insignis.
Camptosorus rhizophyllus.
Cheilanthes Alabamensis.
Cheilanthes argentea; cum vars.
Cheilanthes fragilis.
Davallia heterophylla.

Plate
79 Davallia immersa.
19 Davallia lonchitidea.
37 Davallia pentaphylla.
57 Davallia solida.
28 Deparia Moorei.
82 Deparia prolifera.
17 Diplazium alternifolium.
100 Diplazium juglandifolium. f
36 Fadyenia prolifera.
40 Gleichenia dicarpa.
71 Gleichenia flabellata,
47 Gymnogramme flavens.
74 Gymnogramme pulchella.
5 Gymnogramme rutsefolia.
13 Gymnogramme tomentosa.
10 Gymnogramme triangularis.
94 Gymnopteris decurrens.
80 Gymnopteris quercifolia.
35 Hemionitis cordifolia.
93 Hemionitis Wilfordii.
69 Hemitelia horrida.
66 Hemitelia speciosa.
78 Hymenolepis spicata.
67 Lindseea cultrata.
54 Lindssea Panamensis.
32 Lomaria alpina.
49 Lomaria Patersoni.
23 Lycopodium ulicifolium.
24 Lygodium palmatum.
65 Marattia purpurascens.
83 Meniscium simplex.
89 Nephrodium albo-punctatum; (3.
98 Nephrodium Mlix-mas; var. paleacea.

Plate
99 Nephrodium Eloridanum.
62 Nephrodium Javanicum.
31 Nephrodium Sieboldi.
60 Nephrolepis davallioides.
68 Niphobolus Gardneri.
58 Oleandra neriiformis.
43 Olfersia cervina.
9 Osmunda bipinnata.
50 Pellsea hastata.
21 Pellsea paradoxa.
48 Pellsea rotundifolia.
15 Pellsea ternifolia.
86 Platycerium grande.
97 Platycerium Wallichii.
81 Polybotrya aurita.
87 Polypodium appendiculatum.
52 Polypodium bifrons.
20 Polypodium contiguum.
91 Polypodium coronans.
84 Polypodium crenatum.
4 Polypodium irioides.
25 Polypodium leiorhizon.
22 Polypodium nigrescens.
12 Polypodium nitidum.
59 Polypodium percussum.
18 Polypodium scolopendrioides.
63 Psilotum triquetrum.
34 Pteris pedata.
39 Pteris sagittifclia.
45 Pteropsis lanceolata.
56 Selaginella Pceppigiana.
2 Trichomanes reniforme.
7 Woodwardia Harlandii.

* For "Aspidium" read "Nephrodium;" and for "Aspidium (§ Nephrolepis) davaUic es" read " Nephrodium (§ Acrosori) davailioides."
+ Since our description of thi3 rare species was printed, the indefatigable Mr. Wilson, Bath, Jamaica, has detected and sent to us
specimens from that island.