membranaceous, having a strong midrib and numerous 

 very closely-placed, parallel, oblique, delicate nerves, the 

 margin a little thickened, and quite entire. The lines of 

 fructification are very copious, densely placed in parallel 

 lines almost from the base to the extremity of the frond, 

 and extending from near the midrib two-thirds of the way 

 towards the margin. Involucres very long and extremely 

 slender. Capsules globose, dark brown, on long, slender 

 stalks, and surrounded by a rather broad ring. 



The Bird's Nest Spleenwort is a native of the Peninsula 

 of India and Islands of the Indian Seas, extending to those 

 of the Pacific Ocean, where it has been found in the La- 

 drone Islands, and to Oahu of the Sandwich group. Our 

 finest dried specimens are from the Mauritius, gathered by 

 C. Telfair, Esq., Professor Bojer, and M. Bouton. 



Professor Raddi has given it has an inhabitant of Brazil, 

 but neither his figure nor description agree with the true 

 plant, and it does not appear to be an inhabitant of the 

 New World at all. In the stoves of our country it has only 

 been cultivated, according to Loudon's Hortus Britannicus, 

 since 1820 ; but it is a highly ornamental plant, and de- 

 serving a place in every collection. The mode of growth 

 of this plant, its fronds forming a circle, hollow in the 

 middle, would alone justify the specific name given by 

 Linn^us; but it seems to have originated from another 

 circumstance : " the root," he says, " fixes itself upon the 

 lofty trees, whence the leaves rise erect, and arrange them- 

 selves in a circle, like an umbel, in the hollow centre of 

 which the birds are frequently accustomed to build their 

 nests/' 



Fig. I. Plant, greatly reduced in size. 2. Portion towards the Apex of 

 a Frond, with its Lines of Fructification. 3. A Sorus. 4. Capsules :— 

 magnified. 



