294 A SYNOPSIS OF THE GENUS SELAGINELLA. 



805. S. platyphylla, n. sp. — Stems very slender, 2-3 in, long, 

 ascending, with root-fibres from the lower half, distantly pinnately 

 branched, the lower branches slightly compound. Leaves of the 

 lower plane spaced, except towards the tip of the branchlets, 

 oblique ovate, patent, subobtuse, a line long, bright green, mem- 

 branous, rounded on both sides at the base, more so on the upper 

 side, not ciliated; leaves of the upper plane one-third as long, 

 oblique ovate. Spikes very short, resupinate, l-12th to l-8th in. 

 diam. ; bracts distinctly dimorphic, those of the upper plane oblique 

 ovate, erecto-patent ; of the lower plane ovate-cuspidate, ascending. 



Hab. Kaieteur Falls, Demerara, E. F. im Thum ! A near ally 

 of 8. Lychnuchus. 



306. S. AMBiGUA A. Br. in Crypt. Nov. Gran. 370. — Stems 

 slender, suberect, 2-8 in, long, copiously pinnate, the lower 

 branches considerably compound, the tips often produced and 

 whip-like. Leaves of the lower plane spaced, erecto patent, 

 oblique ovate, acute, ^-| lin. long, pale greeia, membranous, 

 broadly rounded on the upper side at the base and imbricated over 

 the stem, serrulate, not distinctly ciliated ; leaves of the upper 

 plane half as long, ovate, shortly cuspidate. Spikes short, resupi- 

 nate, 1 lin. diam. ; bracts of the upper plane erecto-patent, oblique 

 ovate, crowded ; of the lower plane rather shorter, ovate-cuspidate, 

 strongly keeled. 



Hab, Venezuela, Fendler 402 ! Cumana, Moritz 221. 



807. S. Lychnuchus Spring Mon. ii. 247. — Stems very slender, 

 suberect from a decumbent base, 3-4 in. long, copiously pinnate, 

 the lower branches slightly compound. Leaves of the lower plane 

 spaced even on the branchlets, more or less ascending, oblique 

 ovate, acute, a line long, bright green, membranous, unequal-sided, 

 broadly rounded, shortly ciliated, and imbricated over the stem on 

 the upper side at the base ; leaves of the upper plane half as long, 

 oblique ovate, with a large cusp. Spikes short, resupinate, ^ lin. 

 diam. ; bracts very dimorphous, those of the upper plane ovate- 

 lanceolate, erecto-patent, slightly squarrose ; those of the lower 

 plane pale, ovate-cuspidate, ascending. 



Hab. Guatemala and Venezuela. 



308. S. ANOMALA Spring Mon. ii. 247. — Li/copodium anomalum 

 Hook. & Grev. — Stems suberect, with root-fibres from the lower 

 part, 4-6 in. long, pinnate, the branches erecto-patent, the lower 

 copiously compound. Leaves of the lower plane contiguous and 

 ascending on the branches, spaced and spreading on the stem, 

 ovate, acute, a line long, dark green, membranous, much dilated, 

 very cordate, strongly ciliated, and much imbricated over the stem 

 on the upper side at the base ; leaves of the upper plane half as long, 

 oblique ovate, cuspidate. Spikes copious, resupinate, as broad as 

 the leafy branches ; bracts of the upper plane oblique ovate-lanceo- 

 late, erecto-patent ; of the lower plane ovate-cuspidate, ascending. 



Hab. Demerara, Parker ! Cayenne, Leprieur ! Scujut ! 749 ! 

 1123 ! S. porturicensis A. Br. in Crypt. Nov. Gran. 372, from Porto 

 Rico, seems from the description to difl'er mainly from this species 

 by its less distinctly dimorphous bracts. 



