258 UNDERWOOD: AMERICAN FERNS 
tration from Plumier. The plant has not recently been collected 
in Martinique and is not likely ever to be collected there again. 
It should be sought at the summits of the higher volcanic islands of 
the Lesser Antilles. In St. Kitts it goes by the name of “ stag- 
horn fern.”’ 
By strangely following somebody’s error, Christensen * refers 
Mertensia grandis to Gleichenia Bancroftii (Dicranopteris Ban- 
croft), a member of a distinct section of the genus, 
10. Dicranopteris intermedia (Baker). 
Gleichenia intermedia Baker, JOUr, Bot. 26% 24.1887; 
Gleichenia axialis Christ, Bull. Herb. Boiss. II. 5: 14. 1905. 
(Type from Rio Navarro, Wercklé.) 
Type Locatity : Costa Rica, 7. /. Cooper. 
DisTRIBUTION: Costa Rica. 
Dr. Christ in some way formed the impression that Baker's 
species was “une espéce évidemment alpine,” whereas Cooper's col- 
lection was from near Cartago and not far from the type locality 
of G. aazalis, which is without question a redescription of Baker's 
plant. It really does prevent errors to visit Kew, but it is hard to 
convince continental fern students of that fact. 
11. Dicranopteris jamaicensis sp. nov. 
A mountain species with narrow pinnae much forked, some- 
times proliferous and forming low thickets. Rootstocks creeping, 
frequently branched with abundant brownish scales ; stems erect, 
25-60 cm. long, 2~4-forked; buds densely covered with pale- 
brown ciliate scales ; primary internodes naked or with avery few 
small segments on the inner side at base, scaly at first, becoming 
smooth and shiny, 3-9 cm. long; secondary internodes nearly 
naked or more often with segments on both sides below or all the 
way up, densely scaly as are the rachises with narrow pale-brown 
ciliate scales ; tertiary internodes fully pectinate ; pinnae 16-22 cm. 
long, rarely more than 2 cm. wide, with numerous closely placed 
segments separated by less than their width; under surfaces 
smooth, veins distinct, once forked, a third above the base; sof 
pale, in 3’s and 4’s. 
Blue Mountains of Jamaica, Underwood 1 511 (type), 5 08, 
919, 2500, 2552, 3209; Maxon 2617; also collected by /enman, 
FHlart and others, 
: a8 3 a faeeres i. 
* Index Filicum 423. 1906, 
