2fi0 14 



here. The other species, 0. achalcnsis and D. siambonensis — and perhaps D. Gla- 

 ziovii ■ — might form a pecniiar lillie group, characterized by creeping rliizome and 

 without ch)se affinity to tlie andine species of the group of D. Sprengelii. On the 

 otiier hand South Brazil and neighbouring countries are remarl<al)ly rich in species 

 with a wide-creeping rhizome. 



This difference between tlie fern flora of the Andes and Soutli Brazil, so pronoun- 

 ced in a group of such closely related species, may also be observed within other 

 groups of Drgopteris and other genera of ferns, and it will no doubt become more 

 evident, when the andine flora has been more thoroughly explored. It will pro- 

 bably be proved that only a very small number of those species, now recorded 

 from the whole tropical America, are common to the two regions. 



All species are of terrestrial habitats, as far as known to me none are epi- 

 phytic; unfortunately the labels in rare cases inform us about that point. The most 

 fitted growing-places appear to be the banks of rivers and lakes in well-shaded 

 places; several of them are stated to grow in boggy ground. The great majority 

 of species are of a marked mesophilous habit, and none of them grow at a very 

 high level. In the Andes they occur most frequently at a height of 500 — 2000 m. 

 Species of a more liigh-andine habit are D. Funckii and D. ccaicaensis, which grow 

 in forests 3000-3500 m. above the sea-level. Otherwise 1 cannot give exact data 

 regarding the vertical distribution of the single species. 



1 here enumerate the titles of some of the more important works, which — 

 besides the handbooks — deal with several American species of the group of D. 

 opposita, referring as to other books to the list of literature in my ''Index Filicuni". 



H. Christ: Piimitiæ Floræ Costaricensis. Filices IV— V. Hull. LHerb. Boiss. II. (!: 19Ü6, pp. 57-58, 159 

 — Ifil; 7: 1907, pp. 262-263. 



— Pteridopli3'ta in Ergebnisse der boTanischen E.\pcdition der liaiserlichen Aliademie der Wissen- 

 schaften nach Südbrasilien 1901. I. Band, herausgeg von ü v. Wettstein. — Denkschriften der 

 math.-naturw. Klasse der kais. Akad. d. Wiss. Bd. LXXIX. Wien 1906 



Fée; Histoire des Fougères et des Lj'copodiacées des Antilles. Onzième et dernier mémoire sur la fa- 

 mille des fougères. Paris 1866. 



— Cryptogames vasculaires du Brésil. I — II. Paris 1869 — 1873. 



Fournier: Me.\icanas plantas nuper a collectoribus expeditionis scientificae allatas enumerandas 



curavit E. t'ournier. Pars prima: Crj'ptogamia. Paris 1872. 



G. HiERONYMUs: Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Pteridophytenflora der Argentina und einiger Teile von Uru- 

 guay, Paraguay und Bolivien. — Engler's Bot. Jahrbücher '22, 1896. 



— Plantae Lehmannianae in Guatemala, Columbia et Ecuador rcgionibus finitimis collectae .... 

 Pteridopliyta. Engler's Bot. .lahrbüchcr 34, 1904. 



— Plantae fStübelianae. Pteridopliyta, zweiter Teil. — Hedwigia 4<>, 1907, pp. 328 344 



Jenman: Synoptical list, with descriptions of the ferns and fern-allies. — Bulletin of the Bot. Depart- 

 ment Jamaica. New series 3—4, 1896 — 1897. 

 Klotzsch: Beiträge zu einer Flora der Aequinoctial Gegenden der utuen Welt. Linnaea 20, 1847 p. 337. 

 Mettenius: Filices horti botanici Lipsiensis. Leipzig 1856. 



^- Ueber einige Farngattungen IV. Phegopteris und Aspidium. 1858. 



