278 Broadhurst: Struthiopteris in North America 



thinner fronds of S. Spicant, very finely punctate much as in S. 

 exaltata, without scales; veins indistinct, without conspicuous 

 glandular apices, vein spaces 10-12 to I cm. Sporophyls taller, 

 25-28 cm. long; stipes slender, 9-13 cm. long, reddish brown to 

 almost black, usually shining; lamina 7-16 cm. long, abruptly 

 reduced at the base with slight indications of vestigial pinnae or 

 gradually reduced with the lower pinnae sterile, the apex gradually 

 or abruptly reduced; pinnae 12-19-jugate, 1-2 cm. long, 2-3 mm. 

 wide, falcate, with an abrupt sterile tip 1-2 mm. long, the base 

 dilated; indusium delicate, entire; sporangia tobacco brown or 

 darker. 



Type: Midler 1491, no. 61 in Meissner herbarium (Y) from 



Orizaba, Mexico. 



Distribution: Known from Mexico only. 



Specimens included: Mexico: State of Hidalgo, Trinidad, 

 wet banks, Pringle 8752 (N). State of Hidalgo, Barranca, below 

 Trinidad Iron Works, 5,700 ft., Pringle 13808 (N). Chiapas, 

 Ghiesbreght 207 (Kew; College of Pharmacy, Columbia University). 



The type of L. Gheisbreghtii Bak., Ghiesbreght 207, cannot be 

 distinguished from 5. stolonifera, though Christensen in his Index 

 Filicum considers it a valid species. One or more of the taller 

 sterile fronds in the two type numbers seen have wider sinuses, 

 giving the lamina a slightly more open appearance than the 

 rest of the fronds of these or of the other specimens of S. stolonifera. 

 The College of Pharmacy specimen of Ghiesbreght 207 has also a 

 short, undeveloped stoloniferous shoot. 



S. stolonifera differs from S. Spicant in texture, never possessing 

 the smooth almost transparent pinnae of the more delicate speci- 

 mens nor the coriaceous texture of the smaller fronds of S. Spicant. 

 The lamina is much smaller, and the pinnae often lie so close 

 together that the lamina usually appears lobed rather than fully 

 pinnate; the pinnae are never linear, and as indicated in the key, 

 are proportionately much broader than in 5. Spicant. Three pots 

 of S. stolonifera, now in the New York Botanical Garden con- 

 servatories, have the shorter sterile fronds arranged in a flattened 

 rosette at the base, one of the taller sterile fronds at an angle of 

 about 30 degrees, and the fertile ones erect or almost so. In this 

 they resemble S. Spicant; it would be interesting to know if S. 

 Spicant is ever stoloniferous. 



