260 



JA^MATCA FERNS. 



Aspidi'um triangulum, Sw., var. latipinmim, Jenman : XDinnae in 

 oi^posite iDairs, large, 1^ inch long, f inch wide, ovate rhomboid ; 

 teeth of the margins very shallow, appressed, spinulose, acute 

 point mucronate ; complete row of soii medial, 1 to 2 incomplete 

 outer rows ; apex of frond lobed or pinnatifid, rooting at the point. 

 No. 105, Herb. Kew. 1878. 



8.*^ AspiDiuM CAUDATUM, Jemiian, n. sp.- — Stipites 5 to 8 inches 

 long, scaly at the base, caespitose, spreading from a decumbent 

 rootstock, which is |- to ^ inch thick; fronds prostrate, simply 

 pinnate, 10 to 15 inches long, 2 to 3| inches wide, oblong-lanceolate 

 or lanceolate, the base not reduced, tapering gradually upwards 

 and attenuated, terminating in a 1 to 2 inches long, stiffish, 

 tail with a scaly bud at its point, apparently fully pinnate 

 throughout, but the upper third narrowly margined ; pinnae 

 numerous, spreading horizontally, apart, but not distant, 1 to 1^ 

 inch long, | to ^ inch wide, lower petiolulate, the inferior edge 

 within obliquely cut away, curved outw^ards to the acute point, the 

 upper side usually with a short rounded auricle at the base, inner 

 edge parallel with the rachis ; margin inciso- serrate or sometimes 

 cut into shallow, roundish lobes, teeth obtuse, not spinulose, and 

 the point not mucronate ; texture coriaceous ; surfaces naked, 

 glabrous ; veins close, 1 to 3 times forked (above the basal amicle) ; 

 sori terminal on the anterior inferior veinlet, near to, or remote 

 from, the edge ; involucre deciduous ; rachis stiffish, channelled, 

 slightly scaly; colom* on both sides greyish or pale green. No. 51, 

 Herb. Kew, 1878.--" Matches AVright, Cuba, 828," Baker, MSS. 

 Approaching triangulum by the var. P. ilicifolium, Fee., but 

 differing in habit, with flat spreading pinnae, and without the 

 rigidity and spinulosity of that species. Looked at in a broad view 

 this, tridens, viviparum and some other allied plants, can only be 

 regarded as sub-species ; lii;king together by gradual transitions 

 typical triamjulum and aculeatum. However, for practical purposes, 

 it seems better to keep them separate. 



49."' Nepheodium firmum. Baker MSS., n. sp. — Rhizome freely 

 creeping, hardly thicker than a quill, but beset with the persistent 

 bases of the old stipes, the advancing point clothed with narrow 

 acuminate brown scales ; stipites slender, erect, scattered, 8 to 12 

 inches long, glabrous, subpolished, brown or nearly straw-coloured, 

 channelled, having a few deciduous scales at the base; fronds 

 9 to 12 inches long, 4 to 6 inches wide, larger ones ovate-lanceo- 

 late; pinnaa spreading, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, sessile, 

 pinnatifid, or fuUy pinnate at the base, lowest 1 to 2 pairs little 

 reduced and reflexad, central 2^ to 3|- inches long, ^ to | inch 

 wide ; pinnules slightly connected by their dccurrent bases, but the 

 basal pair not adnate and nearly free, all entke or subentu-e, the 

 crenulate edge slightly reflexed, i to 1 inch long, ^ to 2 lines wide, 

 apices bluntish or acute, basal pair not (or only that on the 

 inferior side) enlarged; texture firm, subcoriacous ; surfaces naked ; 

 under side pale, upper dark green and shining ; rachis and costae 

 slender, glabrous beneath, puberulous above, the latter slightly 

 wavy; vems oblique, simple or forked, pellucid, raised and 



