MAXON—STUDIES OF TROPICAL AMERICAN FERNS. 421 
TWO NEW SPECIES OF MARATTIA FROM PANAMA. 
In the North American Flora, volume 16,! but six members of 
the genus Marattia are recognized from North America. This num- 
ber must be increased by the description of the following new species, 
both collected by the writer in the densely forested, mountainous 
region of western Chiriqui, Panama. 
Marattia chiricana Maxon, sp. nov. 
Stipe stout, about 40 cm. long; lamina very large, broadly deltoid, 1.8 meters 
broad, 1.3 meters long, tripinnate in all but the extreme apical portion; basal pinne 
ovate, 95 cm. long, 60 cm. broad at the middle, 40 cm. broad at the anadromous base, 
long-petiolate (12 cm.), nearly equilateral, comprising (below the short-acuminate, 
simply pinnate apex) about 8 pairs of mostly opposite, once-pinnate secondary pinne, 
the larger of these about 30 cm. long, 12 to 15 cm. broad, oblong-ovate, the tertiary 
rachis narrowly alate toward the tip, the segments 9 to 11 pairs, wide-spreading, 
6 to 8 cm. long, 1.3 to 1.8 cm. broad, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate to long-acuminate, 
strongly inequilateral at the base (the distal side widely exciso-cuneate, the proximal 
side rounded or evenly cuneate), the margins elsewhere sharply and deeply dentate- 
serrate, subrevolute in drying; larger primary pinnz 4 pairs, opposite, the second 
pair similar to the basal but less basiscopic, 70 cm. long, 45 cm. broad, the third pair 
60 cm. long, 35 cm. broad, the fourth pair 40 cm. long, 25 cm. broad, all these bipinnate 
like the basal pair but their segments gradually smaller (2 to 2.5 cm. long, 9 or 10 mm. 
broad in the fourth pair) and the tertiary rachises more strongly alate; fifth pair of 
primary pinne simply pinnate, 30 cm. long, 10 cm. broad; sixth and seventh pairs suc- 
cessively smaller, the apex of the lamina (15 cm. long) abruptly pinnate; veins about 
15 pairs, oblique, distant (arising 4 to 5 mm. apart), mostly once forked at or near the 
base, or the anterior branch occasionally forked again; synangia usually 12 to 20 
pairs, 2 to 3 mm. from the margin, 1.5 to 3 mm. long, ovoid, laterally compressed above, 
deeply cleft, the two divisions wide-spreading at maturity, each containing 8 to 10 
loculi. Rachises bearing a few slender deciduous flaccid brownish scales; leaf tissue 
rigidly herbaceous, dull green in drying, slightly lighter beneath. 
Type in the U. 8. National Herbarium, nos. 675926-936, consisting of an entire 
frond, collected in humid forest of Cuesta de Las Palmas, southern slope of Cerro de 
la Horqueta, Chiriqui, Panama, altitude 1,700 to 2,100 meters, March 18, 1911, by 
William R. Maxon (no. 5525). 
In general form M. chiricana is apparently somewhat similar to M. interposita, but 
differs from that species widely in its much greater size, and in its very much larger, 
more distant, and more deeply inciso-serrate segments. The synangia also are much 
larger and are not submarginal, as in that species. It is apparently common in the 
dense, wet forests of the mountainous region of western Chiriqui above El Boquete. 
The following additional specimens were collected: 
Panama: Near Los Siguas Camp, southern slope of the Cerro de la Horqueta, 
Chiriqui, alt. 1,700 meters, Mazon 5424. Forest along the upper Caldera 
River, near “Camp I,’”’ Holcomb’s trail, above El Boquete, Chiriqui, alt. 
1,450 to 1,650 meters, Mazon 5620. 
The description is drawn entirely from the type specimen and unusually complete 
measurements are purposely given, since owing to piecemeal collecting these are 
ordinarily not available for most species of this genus. 
Marattia pittieri Maxon, sp. nov. 
Stipe stout, 60 cm. long; lamina broadly pentagonal-deJtoid, 1.5 meters broad at 
the base, 1.2 meters long, quadripinnate as to the strongly basiscopic basal pinnz, 
1 Pages 21-23, 1909. 
