POLYPODIACEAE. 



423 



3. Asplenium monteverdense Hook. 



PARSLEY FERN. (Fig. 460.) Rootstock very 

 short; roots very slender. Leaves tufted, 

 10' long or less, the petiole smooth, much 

 shorter than the delicately 2-3-pinnate 

 blades, which are oblong-lanceolate in out- 

 line and long-acuminate ; pinnae lanceolate 

 or ovate-lanceolate in outline, mostly 12-15 

 on each side of the rachis, the middle pairs 

 j'-li' long, the lower much smaller ; pinnules 

 obovate-cuneate in outline, deeply incised 

 or divided into several oblong, or obovate- 

 cuneate obtuse or acute segments ; sori few, 

 scattered. [A. myriopliyllum of Lefroy and 

 Gilbert; A. rhisopliyllum of Hemsley and 

 Verrill; A. cicutarium of Jones.] 



Local, in a cave between Harrington Sound 

 and Castle Harbor. Native. Cuba, Hispaniola, 

 Jamaica. 



9. DIPLAZIUM Sw. 



Mostly large ferns, with simple or com- 

 pound leaves, the venation free. Sori linear, 

 borne at the sides of veinlets, the indusium 

 mostly of a double membrane. [Greek, referring to the double indusium.] Many 

 species, of tropical and subtropical distribution. Type species: Asplenium 

 plantaginifolium L. 1 Diplazium La ffanianum (Baker) 



Christensen. GOVERNOR LAFFAX 's FERN. 

 (Fig. 461.) Rootstock short, erect or 

 oblique, bearing several leaves, somewhat 

 scaly. Petioles 4'-8' long, blackish and 

 scaly toward the base, green and naked 

 above, the brown lanceolate acuminate 

 scales 2 "-3" long; blades bipinnate, 

 ovate-deltoid in outline, 8'-12' long, 

 about half as wide as long, bright green, 

 rather firm in texture, smooth on both 

 sides ; pinnae lanceolate in outline, nearly 

 sessile, 3i'-5' long, close together; pin- 

 nules oblong to lanceolate, obtuse, or the 

 larger acute, serrate, or the larger incised; 

 sori l"-2" long, simple, or mostly so, 

 slightly curved, the persistent indusium 

 glabrous, membranous. [Asplenium Laf- 

 fanianum Baker; A. cnm/lntum of Le- 

 froy.] Illustrated at pi. 12 Botany of 

 the Challenger Expedition. 



Local, in caves and crevices between Harrington Sound and Paynters' Vale, 

 where it existed up to 1905, but has, since, apparently, been exterminated. Endemic. 

 Nearest related to A. Mildei Kuhn, of the Andes of Ecuador, according to Gilbert ; 

 allied to the West Indian A. Franconis and A. crcnulatum, according to Baker. 



This interesting fern was first described by Mr. .T. G. Baker in Gardener's 

 Chronicle, 51 : 673, 1882, from a living plant sent by Governor Sir Robert Laffan 

 to the Royal Gardens, Kew. in 1880, and from a dried specimen contributed by 

 Governor Lefroy in 1874. It was probably easily found in these years, but by 1905 

 it had become very rare : the plant was observed by us in the wild state in the 

 autumn of that year, but we could not find it again at a known locality in 1913. 

 Two plants were taken to a private greenhouse in Hamilton some years ago, where 

 we had the pleasure of studying them in 1014, and afterwards made the attempt to 

 raise plants from spores then obtained, unfortunately without success, the spores 

 being immature. 



