TAB. XVIII. 





DAN^EA ALATA 





FILICES.— Marattie^. Bory. 



PoROPTERIDES. Wllld 



Gen. Char. DANJEA, Sm. Sori lineares, dorsales, transversi, paralleli. Capsulce in series 



geminatas arcte connatae, superne poro dehiscentes. Indusium superficiarium soros cingens. 

 (Asplenii Sp. Linn.) 



Danjea alata ; fronde pinnata, rachi subnodosa superne alata ; pinnis subsessilibus, sterilibus ellip- 



tico-oblongis acuminatis apice sermtis,f ertilibus anguste lanceolatis integerrimis. 

 Damea alata. Sm. Tracts, p. 261. Siv. Syn. Fil. p. 167. Willd. Sp. Pl. v. 5. p. 68. Sm. i? 



Rees Cycl.—Kaulf. Enum. Fil. t.l.f.3. (pinna fertilis et sorus.) 

 Lingua cervina nodosa minor. Plum. Fil. Am.p. 91. t. 109. 



Hab. In Martinica. Plumier. Jamaica. Swartz. Insula Sancti Vincentii, non raro. Rev. L 



- 



Guilding. 



Caudex longus, repens, carnosus, nigro-fuscus, supra reliquiis stipitum vetustorum tectus, hic illic fibrosus. 

 Frondes bi-tripedales, simpliciter pinnatae, erectae ; 



Steriles, circumscriptione oblonga, basi 



apice 



Stives subpedalis, tres quatuor lineas long 



squamulis ferrugineis obsitus, basi teres, auriculatus, facie superna canaliculatus. Bachis compressa, ad 

 pinnarum insertionem nodosa, superne membrana utrinq 

 oppositae, 4 — 6-pollicares, inferiores multo 



alata 



Pinnce subremotae, breviter petiolatae 



minores 



reliquce oblongo-ellipt 



apice 



dentato-serratae, ba*si inaequali subcordata, supra intense virides, glabriusculae, subtus pallidiores, marginc 

 incrassato ; costa subtus ferrugineo-squamosa, nervis numerosis parallelis distinctis fere horizontalibus, sim- 



1 



plicibus, vel, rarissime, furcatis ; 

 Fertiles, quoad formam, fere omnino ut in sterilibus, sed pinnae multoties angustiores, lineari-lanceolatae 



acuminatae, margine undulatae potius quam serratae. 



Indusium membranaceum 



ndique cingens 



Capsulae 



ovales, nervo, ut nobis videtur, in series geminatas et arcte connatas unitae, massam (vel sorum) 



unicam linearem formantes, parallelae 

 poro dehiscentes. 

 Semina minuta, sphaerica vel subreniformia. 



totam fere inferiorem partem pinnarum 



pantes, superne 





Fig 



Portio pinnae fertilis 



f. 2. Indusium a quo sorus removetur. , f. 



Sorus lateraliter 



f. 



Sorus 



dorso visus 



f. 5. Portio frondis, cum duobus soris, longitudinaliter 



f. 6. Sorus hinc longitudinaliter 



sectus. f. 7. Semina :—magn. auct 



We are not aware that any attempt has yet been made to cultivate this handsome and 



species of Fern : but now that we ha\ 



been so successful with many other individuals of th 



graceful tribe of plants, we do not yet despair of seeing it flourish in our stoves. 



It is probably a native of several of the West India islands, having been found in Martinique by 

 Plumier in Jamaica by Swartz, and in the fertile island of St. Vincent by our friend the Rev. Lans- 



down Guilding, who 



estimable botanical communications from that 



try, particularly of 



Ferns, have been one of the principal inducements for us to undertake the present publication. 



The genus Dancea is a very distinctly marked one, having the under side of the pinnae almost 

 wholly covered with closely placed, parallel, immersed sori, formed of a double row (the rows joined 

 by the lateral nerve upon which the sorus is inserted) of closely united capsules, each opening by a 

 pore at the extremity. Upon removing a sorus, a deep cell or cavity remains ; as at fig. 2. 



