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CHARACTERS ON TRIBES AND GENERA, 133 
Type. Polybotrya osmundacea, H. B. K. 
Illust. Hook. and Bauer, Gen. Fil, t. 78, B; Schott. 
Gen. Fil, t. 7; Moore Ind. Fil, p. l, fig. 1 to 7; 
J. Sm. Ferns, Brit. and For. fig. 37; Hook. Syn. 
Fil, t. 7, fig. 60, c. d. e. 
Oss.—I now restrict Polybotrya to the species allied in 
general habit to the original type of the genus, Polybotrya 
osmundacea, of which there are about ten all natives of the 
West Indies and Tropical America. In general habit they 
are allied to the Tectaria section of Polystichum, the fronds 
of some of the latter being very similar in every respect to 
those of P. osmundacea, and in Polystichwm ascendens the 
fertile fronds are contracted similar to those of Polybotrya. 
* Fronds pinnate, pinne dentate, or pinnatifid. 
Sp. P. plumbicaule (Baker Syn. Fil.); P. fractiseriale | 
(Baker Syn. Fil.); P. pubens, Kunze. : 
** Fronds bi-tri-quadripinnate, 
P. acuminata Link. (v v.) ; P. caudata, Kze.; P. nutans, 
Kze.; P. incisa, Link.; P. osmundacea, H. B. K. (v v.) 
(P eynlindrica, Kaulf.); P. caniculatum, Klot.; P. Lech- 
leriana, Mett. 
zg Veins combined at the margin. 
49.—OLFERSTA. Radd. (1819). 
Acrostichum, sp. Hook. Sp. Fil. 
— Vernation uniserial, sarmentum thick, scandent, squamose. 
_ Fronds pinnate, 1 to 3 feet long; pinnw ovate lanceolate, 
. adherent and oblique at the base, smooth coriaceous. Veins 
uniform, simple, or forked, direct parallel, their apices 
combined by a transverse marginal vein. Fertile pinnæ 
linear or pinnatifid, convolute, wholly sporangiferous. 
