139 191 



preceding species, it may perhaps be l)esl known from its soft puliescence by long, 

 wiiitish, shining hairs, which are said to burn. Under-surface and indusium glan- 

 dulose, veins free. 



200. Dryopteris mollis (Jacq.) Hieron. Hedwigia 46: 348. 1907. 



Syn. Polijpodiiim molle Jaccj. Coll. 3: 188. 1789; Ic. pi. rar. tab. 640. 

 Dryopteris parasitica O. Ktze. ; C. Chr. Ind. 282 with synonymy. 

 Nephrodiitm qiiadrangiilare Fée, Gen. 308. 1850—52. 

 Aspidiiim pnrnsense Christ, Hedwigia 4-): 192. 1906. 

 Dryopteris Limonensis Christ, Fedde, Repert. S: 18. 1910. 



Jacquin described his species from specimens cultivated in the gardens of 

 Schoenbrunn and I have seen a leaf therefrom in Herb. Sw. (S). In Ark. for Bot. 

 9": 26—28, fig. 4 — 5. 1910 I have pointed out that Pol. parasiticam L. from China 

 can not be identified with P. molle Jacq., which is that "molle" form occurring in 

 Ihe West- Indies and West Africa and later on described as Aspidiiim violascens 

 Link, characterized by the downwards narrowed lamina. 



D. mollis is closely allied to D. normalis; in size, texture, pubescence, structure 

 and colour of the scales of the rhizome, sori and other characters the two species are 

 much alike, but the rhizome af D. mollis is obliquely erect or short-creeping, not wide- 

 creeping, in the typical forms the lower 2—3 pairs of pinnæ are considerably 

 shortened and the basal pair of veins is truly anastomosing. Still the species varies 

 with regard to the two last named characters. The typical West-Indian form is 

 rather small, thin-leaved and soft-hairy, the lamina gradually attenuate down- 

 wards, the basal pair of veins anastomosing; in some continental forms the lamina 

 is not at all narrowed and, as a rule, larger, but otherwise they agree with the 

 type. I have tried to separate such forms as varieties or species but I have failed 

 to find good distinguishing characters, and now I prefer to refer all the different 

 forms to one species, D. mollis. 



D. mollis is in America distributed from Alabama to Paraguay and Argentina, 

 thus of the same range as 0. patens. In the Old World very similar forms occur, 

 which probably must be referred to the same species. The West African form, so 

 common in Madeira, is exactly identical with the West-Indian form; the Polyne- 

 sian form (Pol. nymphale Forst.) is somewhat different but scarcely more so than 

 the American forms diller from each other. 



Below I enumerate a part of the specimens examined, especially such which 

 were distributed with numbers. Some of the Costa Rican specimens were deter- 

 mined by Christ as Aspidium prominuhim Christ, Bull. L'Herb. Boiss. 4: 656. 1896; 

 Bull. Soc. bot. Belg. 30: 212 = Dryopteris prominnla C. Chr. Ind. 286, but they do 

 not at all agree with the description; the species was founded on Pittier nr. 8198, 

 which I have not seen; judging from the description it belongs to Goniopteris. — 

 Asp. purusense Christ from Amazonas (Hurer nr. 4459) is a rather common, large 

 form with the upper basal segments enlarged and lobed. 



25* 



