420 ME. J. G. RAKER OK A COLLECTION OF FERNS 



Basal scales minute, bright brown, linear. Frond pendulous, lanceo- 

 late, simply pinnate, 6-10 inches long, 12-21 lines broad. Pinnae 

 entire, ligulate, linear, obtuse I inch broad above the dilated base, a 

 few of the lower ones reduced in size. Texture chartaceous, elastic. 

 Both surfaces green, the lower thinly clothed with soft brown-purple 

 hairs like those of the stipe. Veins obscure, immersed, forked. Sori 

 superficial, globose, subcostular, reaching more than halfway to the 

 edge, 20-30 to the central pinnse. 



Near P. suspension, melanopus, and celebicum. 



Polypodium (Niphobolus) fissum, Baker. Only known previouslj 



in India and Java. There is also another Niphobolus in the collection, 

 but in barren state only with coriaceous strap-shaped fronds 3-4 

 inches long, with broadly revolute edges, scarcely any stipe, a creep- 

 ing woody rhizome clothed with dense small glossy castaneous line ar 

 scales, and loose ferruginous stellate tomentum. 



P. (Phymatodes) lycopodioides, L. 

 P. (Phymatodes) laxceolatum, Linn. 

 P. (Phymatodes) lineare, Thunb. 



r 



P. (Phymatodes) bullatum, Baker, n. sp. Stipe broken away. 

 Frond linear-lanceolate, entire, 12-15 inches long, an inch broad at 

 the middle, narrowed gradually to both ends, acuminate, cuneate at 

 the base. Texture membranous. Both surfaces green and quite 

 naked. Veins distinct, anastomosing copiously in angular areolae 

 with free included veinlets. Sori round, material, placed in a single 



row nearer the midrib than the edge, immersed so that their top is 



nearly level with the back of the frond ; and they form large papilla 

 like those of P. nigrescens on the upper side. 

 Allied to P. lineare and P. normale. 



P. (Phymatodes) normale, Don, var. madagascariense, Baker. 

 Near the Cape P. Pappei, but lamina broader and sori more nume- 

 rous. Stipe reaching a length of 4-5 inches. Frond 2-2£ inches 

 broad at the middle. Sori subuniserial or scattered in 2-3 irregular 

 rows over the central half or two thirds of the frond. 



P. (Phymatodes) irioides, Lam. 

 P. (Phymatodes) phymatodes, L. 

 P (Drynaria) Willdexovii, Bory. 

 Gymnogramme javanica, Blume. 



New to the Mascarene Isles, but known in West Africa. 



