TAB. 



LXI 



ACROSTICHUM VISCOSUM. 



FILICES. — Gyrat^. Br. 



Polypodiace^. Kaulf. Filices verae. Willd 



Gen. C 



frondi 



ACROSTICHUM, Linn 



(interdum diversae) vel ad 



e J 



Sori amorphi, seu Capsula per totam paginam inferiorem 

 us partem sparsae. Indusium nullum (nisi squamulae, v. 



setae in quibusdam capsulis interstinctae) . Br. 





Acrostichum viscosum ; squamoso-hirsutum, subviscidum, frondibus lineari-lanceolatis acuminatis 



basi in stipitem longiusculum squamosum attenuatis ; fertilibus linearibus 



Acrostichum 



Swartz. Syn. Fil. p. 10 et 193. Willd. Sp. Pl. v.b. p. 103 



Spreng 



Syst. Veget. v. 4. p. 33. 



Acrostichum petiolatum. Sivartz. Fl. Ind. Occ. p. 1588. 



Acrostichum salicifolium. Willd. Herb. Kaulf. Enum. Fil. p. 58. Sieher. Syn. Fil. n. 28. 



Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 4. p.33. 

 Hab. In truncos muscis repletos in montibus altis Jamaicae ; et in India Orientali. Swartz. 



Insula Mauritii. Sieber. Bojer. Borboniae. Desfontaines. Insula Sancti Vincentii Indiae 



Occidentalis. Rev. L. Guilding. 



Caudex reyens, crassiusculus, dense fusco-squamosus, fibrosus, fibris numerosis, filiformibus, flexuosis, ramosis. 

 Stipites plurimi ex eodem caudice, subcongesti, graciles, castanei, hinc sulcati, inferne nigri, nitidi, squamis minutis 



lanceolatis, membranaceis, reticulatis, spinoso-ciliatis obsiti, demum nudi; sterilium duas ad tres uncias longi; 



fertilium duplo triplove longiores. 

 Frondes sex ad octo uncias longae, erectae, nunc subfalcatae, coriaceo 



membranaceae 



lanceolatae, basi 



apiceque attenuatae, integerrimae, utrinque, statu juniore praecipue, squamuloso-viscidae, squamis minutissimis 



membranaceis reticulatis, magis minusve profunde 

 frondes fertiles lineares, sterilibus plerumque long 



distincta 



parallelae plerumque furcatae 



Capsulcz totam paginam inferiorem frondis tegentes, 



Semina flavo-fusca, limbo tuberculato. 



Fio-. 1. Capsulae. f. 2. Semina. f. 3. Squama stipitis 



fuscae, sphaericae, stipitatae ; annulo subcompleto 



f. 4. Squama frondis : — magn. auct. 



We have scarcely less pleasure in figuring a speeies of Fern which has been involved in obscurity, 

 than in making known one which is altogether new. In the present instance we have, from the 



Island of St. Vincent, g 



what we believe to be the 



true Acrostichum viscosum of Swartz and 

 published. We think, however, that too 



Willdenow, of which no representation has hitherto been 

 much stress must not be laid upon the viscid nature of the plant, nor upon the scales of the frond ; 

 both of which are liable to vary : and the latter in particular, we know almost entirely disappear with 

 age, remaining on the midrib, and at the margin, and 011 the underside of the frond, the longest. 



The scales, too, vary in size 



and in the relative length of the ciliae, which sometimes give the 



ppearance 



of mere stellated hairs to the scales. This kind abounds more on the upper surface of 



the frond of our specimens from the Mauritius, which can by no fixed character be distinguished 

 from the species of the West Indies 



