TAB. LV. 



LYGODIUM DICHOTOMUM 



FILICES. 



OsMUNDACEiE. Br., Kaulf. SCHISMATOPTERIDES. WUld. 



GLEiCHENiEiE. Spreng. 



Gen 



Char. LYGODIUM, Sw. HYDROGLOSSUM, Willd 



Capsulce sessiles, ovatae 



medio insertae, apice radiatim striato : in spiculis (simplicibus e margine pinnse, v. dichotomis 



n fronde mutata), dorsales, biseriatae. Involucrum : Squamce < 

 piculae ortae, supra liberae. 



Stipes volubilis. Frondes conjugata, divism v. composita. Br. 



psulas distinguentes, e venis 



\ 



Lygodium dichotomum ; frondibus conjugatis dichotomis foliolis bi-tripartitis, laciniis sterilibus lan- 



ceolatis, fertilibus linearibus attenuatis, omnibus acutissimis integerrimis. 

 Lygodium dichotomum. Sivartz. Syn. Fil.p. 154. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 29. 

 •Hydroglossum dichotomum. Willd. Sp. Pl. v. 5. p. 82. 



■ 



Ugena dichotoma. " Cav. Ic. v. 6. p. 74. t. 5,94./. 2." 

 Hab. In Insulis Marianis et Philippinis. 





Sivartz. In Insula Pulo Pen 



seu 



Prince 



of Wales's Island 



»» 



dicta. (D. Sabine.) 



Stipes longissimus, volubilis, teres, flavo-fuscus, subnitidus, glaber, tactu scabriusculus. 



Frondes glabrae, geminatae seu basi conjugatae, petiolatae. Petiolus duas ad tres uncias longus, basi 



superne subalatus, dichotomus, et, ita, bi-foliolatus, foliolis profunde bi-trip 



basi in petiolum brevem 



subalatum attenuatis, lobis sterilium duas ad tres uncias longis, lineari-lanceolatis, acutissimis, etiam subapicu 



piculo hirsuto, fertilium duplo triplove longioribus, linearibus, valde attenuatis, omnibus 

 >, furcato-parallelo-venosis, subnitidis. 



& 



Spicce numerosae, parvae, ad marginem lobor 



venas terminantes, e squamis subdecem subtus imbricatis, facie 



superiore coadunatis, valde concavis, singula capsulam unicam includente 



Capsulcs ovatae, pulcherrime reticulatae, vertice radiatim striatae 

 Semina parva, triangularia, pellucida. 



Fig 



Spica, a dorso 



f. 



Spica junior subtus 



f. 



Eadem magis matura 



f. 



Capsula (1 



- 



videtur, rupta). f. 5. Capsula integra : — magn. auct. 





s 



We regret that our not being able to have 



Cavanilless Icones prevents us from deter 



mining, by his figure, what we can now only conjecture from his descriptive character ; namely, that 

 this is the Ugena dichotoma of that author. It is said by Willdenow to be similar to the Ugena ?na- 

 crostachya of the same writer (Lygodium longifolium of Swartz) ; and our plant, we must confess, 

 also comes very near to the L. circinatum of Authors, figured in Rumph.Amb. t.33. Indeed, were 

 the pairs of barren leaflets in our figure united by the membranaceous portion at their base (which is 

 almost the case in some of our specimens), we should then have a plant perfectly corresponding with 

 the figure of Rumphius, in which the fertile leaflets are actually compound. May not the three species 

 therefore which we have just mentioned, be considered as mere varieties of each other ? They are 

 all inhabitants of the islands of the Indian Ocean ;* and, on account of their beauty, are employed 

 by the natives of Amboyna for adorning the entrances of their houses on marriage festivals, whilst 

 the larger stems are made into cordage for the purpose of binding different utensils. 



