( 3101 ) 



Asplenium Nidus. Bird's Nest 

 Spleenwort. 



Class and Order. 

 Cryptogamia Filices. 



( Nat. Ord. — Filices. ) 



Generic Character. 



Sort lineares, sparsi, dorsales. Involucrum e vena latera- 

 liter ortum ducens, margine superiore libero. Br. 



Specific Character and Synonyms. 



Asplenium* Nidus; frondibus lanceolatis integerrimis gla- 



bris subsessilibus, soris confertis parallelis costae ap- 



proximatis. 

 Asplenium Nidus. Linn. Sp. PL v. 2. p. 1537. Swartz, 



Syn. Fit. p. 74. mild. Sp. PL v. 5. p. 304. Br. 



Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. p. 50. Kaulf, Enum. Fil. p. 



164. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 80. Wall. Cat. of 



PL in Mus. oj'E. Ind. Comp. n. 198. 

 " Phyllitis indica maxima foliis latissimis plains Musae 



facie. Moris. Hist. 3. p. 558. s. 14. t. \.f 15." 

 " Scolopendria Indiae Orientalis, Musae facie. Breyn. Cent. 



129. t. 99." 



Descr. This Fern, in its native country, seems to be a 

 parasite on the trunks of trees. Its roots are tufted, and 

 from their summit arises in a spreading circle, a crown of 

 nearly sessile, lanceolate, shortly acuminated fronds, two 

 feet and a half to three feet in length, of a rich green colour 

 somewhat glossy, and of a texture between coriaceous and 



membranaceous, 



* From ., not, and s*>m*, the spleen, some species having been esteemed 

 useful in removing obstructions of the viscera. 



