147 



ADIANTUM. 



Adiantum patens Willd. Sp. PI. 5 : 439. 1810. 



Foothills, Sierra Madre, near Colomas, State of Sinaloa, July 16 (No. 3250). 



Specimens somewhat lax, but with the characteristic reddish, pubescent stipes 

 and rachises. 



Adiantum thalictroides Willd. ; Fee, 9" Mem. Foug. 6. 1857. 



Sierra Madre, near Santa Teresa, August 12 (No. 2204.) 



From the frequency with which this lovely Adiantum is turning up in collections 

 it must be quite plentiful. It is certainly a very beautiful fern, and in some early 

 stages of its development its very symmetrical involucres are made more attractive 

 by a pinkish coloring of the center. 



The species resembles somewhat the more branching forms of J. capillus-veueris, but 

 may readily be distinguished by the character of its sori. These are remarkably 

 uniform in size and shape, reiiiform, placed within the margin of a deep, roundish 

 sinus, the extended edges of which form a semicircle, with a small eyelet hole that gives 

 to the whole frond, when held against the light, the appearance of being perforated 

 all around the margins. Hemsley ' places this under A. aetltiopicum as a synonym, 

 but I doubt if any well-authenticated specimens of that species have ever been 

 found in North America. 



DRYOPTERIS. 



Dryopteris ampla (Mett.) Gilbert, Bull. Torr. Club, 25 : 599. 1898. Aspidium amplum 

 Mett. Pbeg. & Asp. no. 170, excl. syn. 

 Pedro Paulo, Topic, August 13 (No. 3327). 



I am not sure of this. The specimens consist of two sterile fronds only, but with a 

 portion of the caudex showing an entangled mass of long, linear-lanceolate, silky 

 scales which envelop the base of the stipe, and which, as well as the fibrillose 

 scales on the rachises, seem to make the determination fairly certain. They also 

 agree with some fertile fronds of this species recently collected in the valley of Cor- 

 doba (December, 1897) by C. Gonzatti and V. Gonzalez. (No. 594.) 

 Dryopteris contermina (Willd.) Kuutze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2:812. 1891. Aspidium 

 conterminum Willd. Sp. PI. 5 : 249. 1810. 

 Small plants from Pedro Paulo, Tepic. August 12 (No. 3330). 

 Dryopteris martinicensis (Spreng. ) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PL 2 : 812. 1891. Aspidium 

 martinicenae Spreng. Anleit. 3:133. 1*01. Aspidium maeropkyllum Sw. Syn. 

 Fil.43, 239. 1806. 

 Near Colomas, July 20 (No. 1778). Young plants, but with the usual character of 

 this striking and unmistakable species. 



Swartz cites Sprengel's name as a synonym and Dr. Kuntze takes it up under 

 Dryopteris. Beyond this I find no evidence to show that the plants are identical. 

 Dryopteris parasitica (L.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2 : 811. 1891. Polypodium para- 

 siiicnm L. Sp. PI. 2 : 1090. 1753. Polypodium molle Jacq. Icon. Rar. t. 040. 1781. 

 Aspidium molle Sw. Syn. Fil. 49. 1806. Aspidium parasiticum Sw. 1. c. Nephro- 

 dium molle Desv. Mem. Sot'. Linn. 6: 258. 

 Pedro Paulo, August 3 (Nos. 3325 and 3326). Specimens unusually fresh, bright 

 green, and perfect in every way. 



Linnaeus appears to have founded his species on the tigure and description of 

 Rheede,- but neither his own description, nor that of Rheede, nor the figure, makes 

 it (dear to me that P. parasiticum L. and A. molle Sw. are identical. Rheede's figure 

 and description point to a very much larger plant in every way than our molle, and 

 in view of the uncertainty surrounding Linuaus's species I think it would be better 



1 Biol. Centr. Am. 3 : 607. 



- Hortus Indieus Malabaricus, 35, 1. 17. 1703. 



