Slosson: New ferns from tropical America 689 



Nipe, Oriente, Cuba, altitude 450-550 meters, December 22, 1909, 

 /. A. Shafer 3262. The label reads* "Shaded rocks near water." 



This plant is closely related to both Polystichum ilicifolium 

 Fee and P. triangulum (L.) Fee, and very likely may be a hybrid 

 between the two. Numerous specimens have been seen, all 

 Cuban, and excepting Wright's specimens, all from the Province of 

 Oriente. Wright's specimens bear the indefinite inscription of 

 "Cuba" and "Cuba orientate, " but are dated 1859, i860, and 

 1865. During the first two years Wright is known to have collected 

 in the Province of Oriente, but in 1865 he is believed to have 

 collected only in the western part of Cuba.* 



Polystichum machaerophyllum in a mature state is easily dis- 

 tinguished from P. triangulum by the peculiar apices of the fronds, 

 varying from long-drawn-out to flagelliform, non-proliferous to 

 proliferous. It is more likely to be confused with P. ilicifolium^ 

 but may be known by the proportionately broader and shorter 

 laminae; their darker olive-green color, resembling that of P. 

 triangulum; and the larger and longer pinnae, distinctly biauricu- 

 late at base, with the part above the basal auricles not short and 

 margined with large sharp oblique spinescent teeth, as in P. ilici- 

 folium, but more or less extended and subentire or very slightly 

 toothed or crenately lobed, the lobes entire or minutely mucronate. 

 The indusia are peculiar, varying from only slightly erose to 

 markedly so with a few cilia. The indusia in P. triangulum are 

 entire,, and in P. ilicifolium vary from markedly erose to con- 

 spicuously long-ciliate. P. decoratum Maxon, the only other 

 Cuban Polystichum known with fronds flagelliform at apex, may 

 be readily recognized by its pinnae widely excised, not auricled, 

 at base on the lower side. 



The following specimens of P. machaerophyllum at the New 

 York Botanical Garden and in the U. S. National Herbarium in 

 Washington have been examined: 



Cuba: Camp La Gloria, south of Sierra Moa, Oriente, Dec. 

 24-30, 1 910, Shafer 8oq6; bank of river among stones, Camp La 

 Barga, Oriente, altitude 450 meters, February 22-26, 1910, 

 Shafer 4127; on moist rocks, Cooper's Ranch, base of El Yunque 

 Mountain, Baracoa, March, 1903, Underwood & Earle 1179, 1180; 



* See L. M. Underwood, A Summary of Charles Wright's Explorations in Cuba 

 II. Torrey Club 32: 298, 300. 1905. 



