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FOUR NEW FERNS FROM SOUTH CHINA. 

 By J. G. Baker, F.R. S. 



In a small parcel of plants just received from Mr. Ford, of the 

 Botanic Garden at Hong-Kong, are several ferns brought by a native 

 collector from some distance up the North river from Canton, four 

 of which prove to be new species. 



1."^' Cheilanthes (Adiantopsis) Fordii, Baker. — Stipe short, 

 wiry, brown, covered with adpressed brown membranous lanceolate 

 acuminate scales. Frond lanceolate, bipinnate, b-Q in. long, 

 1^-1^ in. broad above the middle, narrowed gradually from the 

 middle to the base, firm in texture, green and glabrous on both 

 sides, its purplish-brown wiry racliis obscurely scaly. Pinnae sessile, 

 lanceolate, ^ in. broad, cut down to the rachis in the lower part 

 into oblong obtuse adnate lobes, the lower four or five pairs more 

 distant than the others and growing gradually smaller. Sori 

 round, distinct, placed all round the margin of the secondary lobes ; 

 involucre round, pale green, firm in texture, glabrous, persistent. 

 AUied to the South American C. Lindigii. 



152."' AsPLENiuM (Euasplenium) fuscipes. Baker. — Stipe 3-4 in. 

 long, wdry, flexuose, bright brown, naked. Frond lanceolate- 

 deltoid, tripinnatifid, broadest at the base, 3-4 in. long, 1^-11- in. 

 broad, moderately firm in texture, green and glabrous on both 

 sides, its slender rachis browm in the lower part, green upwards. 

 Pinnae subsessile, crowded, lanceolate-deltoid, cuneately excised on 

 the lower side at the base, cut down to the rachis into contiguous 

 sessile rhomboid deeply pinnatifid secondary segments, with linear- 

 oblong 1-nerved tertiary lobes. Sori \-\ line long, linear-oblong, 

 touching the midrib of the pinnules, but falling short of the tip of 

 the tertiary lobes. Allied to the Indian A. tenuifolium, Don., and 

 American A. rutaceum. 



283.'- PoLYPODiuM (NiPHOBOLUs) CALVATUM, Baker. — Rhizome 

 wide-creeping, ^-^ in. diameter, with a wrinkled brown membranous 

 cuticle. Stipe 4-5 in. long, green, naked, with a tuft of lanceolate 

 acuminate rusty-brown membranous scales at the base. Frond 

 lanceolate, enth-e, rigid in texture, a foot long, an inch broad, 

 narrow^ed gradually from the middle to the base, bright green and 

 naked on the upper surface, covered with a thin coat of deciduous 

 drab tomentum beneath. Main veins fine, erecto-patent, distinct 

 to the edge at a distance from each other of a quarter of an inch. 

 Sori round, superficial, h lin. diameter, confined to the upper part 

 of the frond, filling up the wdiole of the space between the midrib 

 and margin. Allied to the Indian and Malayan P. stigmosum, Sw. 



311.''' PoLYPODiuM (Phymatodes) cantoniense, Baker. — Rhizome 

 wide-creeping, one-sixteenth of an inch diameter, densely clothed 

 with small linear or lanceolate dull brown adpressed scales. Stipes 

 distant, naked, greenish, 2-3 in. long. Frond entire, ovate, firm 

 in texture, green and glabrous on both sides, obtuse, truncate at 



