MAXON—STUDIES OF TROPICAL AMERICAN FERNS. 417 
scales upon the under side of the costa. The few scales which occur similarly in 
Hemitelia sessilifolia are small and brownish. 
The Porto Rican record, which is a new one, relates to specimens collected at Finca 
Alvarez, January 4, 1913, by Brother Hioram (no. 182). These are unusual in showing 
a short transverse veinlet occasionally connecting the lowest vein of each group to a 
similar vein of the next. This feature is not evident in Jamaican specimens, of which 
there are several in the Underwood Fern Herbarium, collected by Wilson, and two in 
the National Herbarium, the collector’s name of the latter not given. These accord 
perfectly with a fragment of the type in the D. C. Eaton Herbarium and with a pho- 
tograph of the type, received from Kew. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 18.—Basal section of a primary pinna in the Underwood Fern Herbarium 
collected by Wilson and presumably a part of the original collection. Natural size. 
4. Hemitelia sherringii Jenman, Journ. Bot. Brit. & For. 24: 266. 1886, Pate 19. 
TypE Locatity: Rose Hill, Port Royal Mountains, Jamaica, altitude about 1,200 
meters. 
DistriBuTION: Known only from the type locality. 
According to Dr. L. M. Underwood's unpublished notes this species is known only 
from a single plant, growing in the Port Royal Mountains, Jamaica, from which 
Mr. R. VY. Sherring collected specimens in 1886. Pinnez of this collection are at Kew, 
in the Underwood Fern Herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden, and in the 
U. 8. National Herbarium. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 19.—Portion of a pinna of the type coflection, in the U. S. National Herbarium. 
Natural size. 
5. Hemitelia calolepis Hook. in Hook. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 29. 1865. PLATE 20. 
Tyre LocaLity: Monte Verde, Province of Oriente, Cuba. 
DistripuTion: Known only from the original collection (Wright 950). 
A strongly marked species somewhat suggesting certain lax states of Cyathea arborea. 
The small roundish, whitish, bullate scales, which occur sparingly upon the coste 
and abundantly upon the costules, are characteristic. Specimens of the original 
collection have been examined in several herbaria. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 20.—Section of primary pinna in herb. D.C. Eaton. Natural size. 
6. Hemitelia costaricensis (Klotzsch) Mett.; Kuhn, Linnaea 36: 159, 1869. 
PuaTeE 21. 
Cyathea costaricensis Klotzsch; Kuhn, Linnaea 36: 159. 1869, as synonym. 
Type LocaLity: Costa Rica or Veraguas, Panama. 
Distrisution: Vera Cruz to Panama, ascending to 1,000 meters. 
Although Hemitelia costaricensis shows wide variation in size the differences are no 
greater than might be looked for in a species covering so wide a range. The original 
specimens, collected by Warscewicz (nos. 36 and 197) in ‘‘Costa Rica and Veragua,”’ 
have the appearance of being decidedly xerophilous for a tree fern; and it is interesting 
to note that the Guatemalan specimens cited below are all from the drier, western 
part of that country and that the Santa Rosa specimens in particular, which in their 
lesser size perfectly match the original, are from a region which, in fact, may even be 
called semiarid. Few tree ferns are able to exist in such surroundings.' In the 
more humid region of Vera Cruz, Mexico, individuals of this species are uniformly 
much larger, the pinne up to 70 cm. long and nearly 25 cm. broad, dimensions much 
greater than those of the specimens just mentioned. Al] of these are otherwise very 
similar. The indusium is peculiar in having the large proximal portion deeply cleft 
into several elongate, lacerate divisions (these with long, tortuous, filamentous apices) 
1 See Maxon, ‘‘The tree ferns of North America,’”? Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst. 1911: 
463-491. pl. 1-15. 1912. Cibotium wendlandi Mett. is another tree fern showing the 
same unusual adaptation. 
