TAB... CCVI. 
TRICHOMANES PYXIDIFERUM. 
 FILICES.—GvxRArEx. Br. | PorvropracEx. Kaulf. Finrezs vere, Willd. 
Gzw. Cuag. ZAICHOMANES, Sm.  Sori marginales. Capsule sessiles, receptaculo communi 
cylindraceo inserte, intra Z/nvolucrum monophyllum, suburceolatum, ore hiante, textura fron- 
dis. Dr. 
TarcHoMANEs pyaidiferum; frondibus oblongo-ovatis pinnatis, rachi alata, pinnis bipinnatifidis 
membranaceis pellucidis subnitidis, laciniis linearibus glabris integerrimis apicibus emargi- 
natis, involucris solitariis in lacinia brevi axillar1 immersis cylindraceis, ore patentissimo con- 
cavo integro, receptaculo longissimo filiformi, stipite superne marginato. 
Trichomanes pyxidiferum. — Linn. 'Sp. Pl. p. 1561? Swartz, Fl. Ind. Occ. v.3. p. 1739. Syn. 
Fil. p.143.  WFF'illd. Sp. Pl. v. 5. p. 508. — Spreng. Syst. eget. v. 4. p. 129. 
'Trichomanes pedicellatum. | Desv. (fide Sprengel). 
Filicula pyxidifera. Plum. F9. p. 74. t. 50. f. E. 
Has. In India Occidentali. Hispaniola. Z/wmier. Insula Jamaice. Swartz. Insula Sancti 
Vincentis. ev. L. Gwilding. 
Caudez filiformis, flexuosus, repens, radiculosus. 
Stipites erecti, graciles, inferne subteretes, superne marginati, unciam ad duas uncias longi. 
Frons digitalis, circumscriptione oblongo-ovata, pinnata, membranacea, glaberrima, diaphana, subnitida, pulcher- 
rime reticulata, rachi alata superne precipue, inferne potius marginata. —Pinnc laxe, remotiuscule, erecto- 
patentes, profunde bipinnatifidze; laciniis linearibus, costatis, apicibus emarginatis. 
Involucra solitaria, in lacinia brevi axillari immersa, subcylindracea, ore dilatato, magno, patentissimo, inte- 
gerrimo. 
Receptaculum longissime exsertum, involucro octies longius, fragile, flexuosum, filiforme. 
Capsule globoso-compressse, peltatee, annulo latissimo cinctee. 
Semina intense fusca, ovali-globosa, subangulata. 
Fig. 1. Portio frondis cum involucro. f. 2. Involucrum. f. 3. Lacinim pars. f. 4. Capsule. f. 5. Semina:— 
magn. auct. 
Sir James Smith has well observed, under the article ** Zrichomanes pyeidiferum" in. Rees's 
Cyclopzdia, that our only certain authority for this species is Plumier, in the work above quoted, 
the description of Swartz not answering exactly to his account.—If we are correct in our ideas of 
T. pyaidiferum, Swartz's description is by no means inaccurate, except where he says that the colu- 
mella or receptacle is shorter than the involucre; but then it ought to be considered that this 
columella, though longer than in any other species of the genus that we are acquainted with, is 
very fragile, and the description might have been taken from imperfect specimens: and in all that 
concerns the rest of the plant it is very satisfactory. With regard to our considering this species 
to be the J'icula pyaidiferum of Plumier, the general outline of the frond is sufficiently charac- 
teristic: the wing of the rachis, and more especially of the stipes, 1s, however, certainly too broad. 
A remarkable character is described by Plumier in the fructification of this plant ; for the fronds, 
he says, are * garnies la pluspart, dans le fond de leur découpure, d'une petite boéte, ou calice, 
rempli de plusieurs vesicules, et scelé par un couvercle garni d'un petit poil dans le milieu Now 
that the involucres should be closed by a convex lid, through which the columella is continued, we 
consider to be a circumstance impossible in the genus: but we can very well believe that, to an eye 
unassisted by the microscope, the large expanded and entire (not two-lipped) mouth of the invo- 
lucre may have the appearance of a lid. And this dilatation of the mouth of the involucre is more 
remarkable than in any other species of the genus we are acquainted with. We shall be happy if 
other botanists concur with us in this opinion, and thus determine with tolerable satisfaction the 
identity of a species, which no one seems to have understood since the time of Plumier. 
Our figures and description are made from numerous specimens communicated by Mr. L. Guild- 
ing from the Island of 5t. Vincent, where, upon trunks of trees, at an elevation of from fourteen 
hundred to two thousand feet above the level of the sea, the plant is very abundant, as it also pro- 
bably is in other of the West Indian Islands. 
