■i- '■. 



14 MB. BTJNBUBT ON THE BOTANY OF MADEIEA. 



The Perns of Madeira altogether amount to 40 species, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Lowe ; and it is not very likely that, after his zealous 

 and persevering researches, carried on for many years, any new 

 ones should remain to be discovered. Taking the number of phae- 

 nogamous plants, on the same authority, at about 700, the propor- 

 tional number of Perns is nearly twice as great as in Britain, 

 though still very small if compared w^ith the proportion in many of 

 the Pacific islands, or in St. Helena. The Canary Islands, with a 

 much larger phcenogamous flora, have, according to Webb and 

 Berthelot, only 34 Perns. 



The Azores * have 28 Perns to about 400 flowering plants. Of 

 the 40 Madeira Perns, 15 at least are found in Britain f ; perhaps 

 more, but there may be diflerent opinions as to the distinctness of 

 some of the species. I am myself strongly inclined to believe that 

 Asj)lenmm ancepSj LoAve, is only a variety of A. Trichomanes, and 

 Nephrodium offine^ Lowe, of N. Filix-mas, Asplenium acutum^ 

 Bory, whether it be a true species, or a variety of A, Adianttim' 

 nigrum^ appears to have been found in Ireland, and is therefore 

 included in the 15. Of the Perns of the Canary Islands, Hyme- 

 nophyllum unilaterale,^ .% (=if. Wilsonij Hook.) ^ Fteris lonyi- 

 folia J Uteris catidata §, and Cheilanthes pulchella^ have not, as far as 

 I know, been discovered in Madeira. On the other hand, the Ma- 

 deira Perns, which appear to be strangers to the Canaries, are 



Polypodiiim drepamim. Gymnogramme Loicei, 



Folystichiim falcinellum, Scolopendriiim vitlgare. ' 



P.frondosum. Acrostidium squamosum, 



Nephrodium affine, Dicksonia Culcita. 

 N, foenisecii. 



The Perns found in the Azores, and not in Madeira, are 0^- 



munda regalis^ Opliioglossttm vulgntum (if O. Lusitanicum be really 

 distinct from it), and perhaps Ilymenopliyllum WilsonL A much 

 greater number belong to Madeira, and not to the Azores. 



Dr. Hooker ]| enumerates 5 species of Perns which are common 



* Watson ill Hook. Lond. Jouni. Bot. vol. iii. p. G15. 



t ExcUuliiig tlio Clianncl lalauds, wliielx do not naturally belong to tliis 

 countiy. 



X Tliis inay likely enough exist in Madeira, and have been confounded with 

 H., Tunhridgense. 



§ There may be some doubt, whether the Canary plant so called be 

 from Pt, aqiiilma. 



London Journ. Bot. vol. vi. Oymnogramme Lowei should be added to the 

 Ust, according to Lowe, Primitise, Appendix A, Note 4 ; he says it has been 

 found in Jamaica. 



distinct 



