676 FILICES. 



ft Leaf densely rusty -'paleaceous. 



163. A. muscosum, Sw. Leaf lanceolate-oblong, blunt, quite entire, cuneate at the 

 base, supported by a slender, scaly petiole, coriaceous, glabresceut above, rusty-lepidote by 

 dense, appressed scales beneath .- scales lanceolate-acuminate, or ovate, shortly ciliate : leaf- 

 margin thickish ; fertile blade linear, tapering into a long petiole. — Schk. Crypt, t. \.b. sin. 

 — A. squamosum, Schk. (non Sw.) A. Langsdorfii, Hook. Grev. {Ic. t. 164), and A. ru- 

 fescens, Liebm., are probably two forms slightly disagreeing from our Jamaica form. — Sterile 

 blade 5"-3" broad, 1^"-1" long: scales of the upper side scattered, disappearing,; fertile 

 blade about 6" broad, 8'" long : petiole of the former 2"-3", of the latter 6"-8" long.— 

 Hab. Jamaica !, Bancr. ; Dominica!, Lmr. ; [Haiti! and Mexico! to Brazil 1: the above 

 quoted synonyms]. 



164. A. vestitum, Schlecht. Leaf lanceolate-linear, bluntish, quite entire, tapering 

 into the slender, scaly petiole, coriaceous, glabrescent above, rusty-lepidote by dense, ap- 

 pressed scales beneath -. scales lanceolate-acuminate, shortly ciliate .- leaf-margin thickish ; 

 fertile blade linear, bluntish at both ends, long-petioled. — Plum. Fil. t. 13S. Mart. Gal. 

 Fit. Mex. t. 3./. 2.— A. fulvum, Mart. Gal. A polylepis, Kze— Sterile blade 6"-l' long, 

 8"'-10"' broad, fertile 4" long, 6"' broad : petiole of the former 2"-6", of the latter 5"-8" 

 long. — Hab. Jamaica!, Macf, A I., on trees, Blue Mountains ; [Mexico to Brazil]. 



165. A. squamosum, Sto. Leaf linear-lanceolate, bluntish, or pointleted, quite 

 entire, tapering into the short petiole, chartaceous, ciliate and rusty-paleaceous on both sides : 

 scalesspreaAing and crowded along the petiole and the thinleaf-margin,/o»^-«7i'a/^with spread- 

 ing, pectinate bristles, linear- or lanceolate-acuminate along the petiole and on the under side 

 of the blade, passing into pinnatisect bristles on the upper side and often at the margin ; 

 fertile blade linear, acuminate at both ends. — The longer petiole in Swartz's description I 

 regard as an unusual state of a larger form : A. paleaceum, Hook. Grev. (Ic. t. 235 : A. ves- 

 titum, Lowe), the Madeira Fern reduced to the Jamaica species by Swartz, is distinguished 

 by a broader leaf, and the scales mostly broader ; but A. squamosum, PI. Spruce, 7185, is in 

 some respects intermediate, though peculiar in certain, perhaps individual characters from 

 both. — Sterile blade in our single Jamaica specimen 6"-8" long, 8'" broad, fertile 4" long, 

 4'" broad, petiole in both 2"-l" long.— Hab. Jamaica!, Pd., S. Georges, near Springhill ; 

 [Brazil ! and Madeira : the above quoted synonyms]. 



tt+ Leaf glabrous, or little paleaceous. 



166. A. viscosum, Sw. Leaf lanceolate-linear, or linear, acuminate, quite entire, 

 tapering into the slender petiole, rigid-chartaceous, with minute, scattered scales on both 

 sides, or glabrescent : veins excurrent into the thin, revolute margin : petiole scaly ; fertile 

 blade linear, tapering at both ends.— Hook. Grev. Ic. t. 61. Plum. Fil. t. 129 ? : quoted 

 doubtfully by Swartz on account of not excurrent veins, and there exists really a nearly 

 related Fern (A. simplex, PI. Spruce. 2187 and 5320, non Sw., allied to A. scolopendrifolium, 

 Badd.), in which the veins are terminated with a thickish summit, a little distantly from the 

 thin margin.— A. petiolatum, Sw.— Sterile blade 6"-8"(-12") long, 4"'-9 w (-12'") hroad, 

 fertile 4"-6" long, 2"'-5'" broad.— Hab. Jamaica !, Macf, Pd., common ; Dominica !, S. 

 Vincent !, Guild. ; [Cuba ! to Brazil ! ; East Indies !]. 



167. A. simplex, Sw. Leaf lanceolate, or linear-lanceolate, bluntish at the tapenng 

 point, and tapering into the shorter petiole, quite entire, coriaceous, glabrous, or with a few 

 minute scales : veins excurrent within the thickish, revolute margin into a special anasto- 

 mosing arch : petiole glabrescent ; fertile blade linear- lanceolate, tapering into the petiole.-— 

 Hook. Gen. t. 105. A.— Swartz described an extreme, shortly petioled form, agreeing with 

 one of our Jamaica specimens, but from the same locality a much larger, and apparently 

 identical form was sent : the latter is the same with PI. Wright. Cub. 970, and agrees with 

 Bauer's figure quoted above., A. mariinicense, Desv. (Eat.), though much receding inhabit 

 by linear, or lanceolate-linear 3"'-6'" broad leaves, shows the same structure of veins and 

 thick-leathery texture, and from certain, intermediate forms and from the general variability 

 of the leaf-shape in Acrostichum, it may perhaps be a variety only, much diffused on the 

 Continent.— Sterile blade 4"-12" long, 9"'-18"' broad, fertile 5"-S" long, 4'"-8'" broad, 

 petiole of the former l"-4", of the latter 3"-6" long.— Hab. Jamaica !, Pd., on decayed trees, 



