BY W. WALTER WATTS. 379 



among the Aspidiece, and (c), the growing cumbrousness of the 

 genus Dryopteris, as defined in Christensen's Index, I venture to 

 suggest the separation of the supposedly oak-leaf ferns, in order 

 to make them a new tribe, Dryopteridem. 



The new tribe will include Dryopteris in what appears to have 

 been Adanson's original sense ( = Lastrcea), Nephrodium, Phcgo- 

 pteris, Goniopteris, andMeniscium, all considered as genera. 



I put forward this suggestion after much hesitancy, but in 

 the belief that it will serve the double purpose of bringing within 

 manageable bounds the, at present, unwieldy genus Dryopteris, 

 and of promoting the interests of a more natural classification. 



In accordance with the requirements of the Vienna Rules, I 

 submit a Latin description, and an analysis, as follows : — 



DRYOPTERiDEiE, Trib.nov. 

 Stipes ad rhizoma non articulatus; frondes foliorum quercus 

 memorantes, venis solutis vel plus minusve unitis; sori indusiati 

 vel exindusiati, reniformes vel rotundati vel plus minusve 

 oblongi, ad venas mediales vel terminales, interdum confluentes, 

 indusiis, si exstantibus, soris sequiformantibus. 



1. Dryopteris Adans., 1763; Lastrcea Presl; Endryopteris auctt. 

 Soi'i, for the most part, distinctly indusiate; veins free. 



2. Nephrodium Schott, 1834; Aspidium^ Christ; Eunephrodium 



auctt. 

 Veins more or less united, especially alongside the costa; sori 

 indusiate. 



3. Phegopteris (Presl) Fee; Euphegopteris auctt. 

 Exindusiate, or indusium early shrivelling and disappearing; 



veins free. This includes Leptogramma (sori oblong or linear). 



4. Goniopteris Presl, 1836; Phegopteris^ auctt. 

 Exindusiate, or indusium early shrivelling or disappearing; 



sori never confluent; veins more or less as in Nephrodium. This 

 includes Stegnogramma (sori oblong or linear). 



5. Meniscium Schreb.; Phegopteris% auctt.; Dryopteris^ auctt. 

 Veins uniting as in Goniopteris; exindusiate; soi'i often con- 

 fluent at the junction of the transverse veinlets and "not rarely 

 running along the excurrent veinlets." 



