﻿598 Gilbert : Revision of the Bermuda Ferns 



the European and North American forms of A. TricJiomancs, but 

 comparison with a considerable number of specimens shows that 

 the two forms gradually shade into each other. In Bermuda the 

 fronds often measure 1 2 to 15 inches in length and are fully one 

 inch wide. A peculiar feature of the plant in its native condition 

 is that the pinnae rise like a series of numerous shelves one above 

 another, instead of lying in the same plane with the rachis as in 

 the majority of ferns. The fronds also grow upright, whereas in 

 A. Trichomancs proper they spread out more in the form of a 

 rosette. 



ASPLEXIUM MYRIOPHYLLUM Presl 



Lefroy says that this is M The rarest of Bermuda ferns and is 

 only found about the Church cave." Hemsley quotes Paynter's 

 Vale as a locality, but I could not find it there, although I had a 

 guide who was thoroughly familiar with that part of the island 

 and took me to every spot where ferns were likely to be found. 

 I obtained it at the Church cave, but it is very scarce there and 

 liable to extinction. It exactly agrees with the Jamaica and 



Florida forms. 



Asplexium Laffanianum Baker. 



This is another of the endemic species of Bermuda. Gov- 

 ernor Lefroy supposed it to be a form of A. crenulatum Baker, 

 and published it as such. A plant was sent to Kew for cultiva- 

 tion by Governor Laftan, and proving to be entirely new it was 

 dedicated to him. This also has come to be a very rare fern in 

 the islands. The only specimen I possess came from a plant in 

 the fernery of Mrs. William Bluck, Hamilton, which she obtained 

 at the Church cave some years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Bluck accom- 

 panied me to that locality, hoping that we might procure a few 

 specimens ; but we were not successful, nor was I able to find it 

 on a later visit to the same cave. Lefroy said it was " found 

 chiefly in the Walsingham tract, and is not very common." Mr. 

 Baker puts it "near A. crenulatum" but it seems to come nearer 

 A. Mildei Kuhn which was found in the Andes of Equador by 



T 

 Jameson. 



Dryopteris aculeata (L.) Kuntze. 



Neither Lefroy nor Reade mentions this species. Hemsley 

 gives it as growing at " the caves," but without special locality. 



