474 Eaton : Pteridophytes observed in Florida 



* 



happened on the type station of the fern, and that he had also sur- 

 mised that it might be of hybrid origin, a view in which D. C* 

 Eaton appears to coincide. The cocoanut tree he mentions is 

 now quite large and often resorted to for fruit. Evidently Mr. 

 Holden did not explore the bluffs far enough to get the best 

 specimens, as he mentions but one recess where they grew. The 

 bluff faces the east but is protected from the sun by a fine growth 

 of mangroves, the moisture of the soggy earth beneath them keep- 

 ing up a considerable humidity. The bluff arises to a height of 

 6-10 feet and its shelving walls and recesses, as well as detached 

 boulders at the base and the rocks of the neighboring" woods 



b UUWIlu b 



above are carpeted with A. dentataw, A. verecundum and this 

 species, which though common is the least so of the three. An 

 extended search for half a mile along the bluff failed to show 

 any individuals of A, biscaynianum removed from the other 

 species. 



Though having most of its characters in common with one or 

 both of its associates, the aspect of A. biscaynianum was peculiar to 

 itself, the fronds being erect, the stipes long, pinnae remote and 

 ascending, bipinnate, the pinnules often with 2-5 sori, while in A. 

 verecundum the stipes are short (1/5 or less of the total length of 

 fronds), the fronds spreading, tripinnate, the pinnae longer, spread- 

 ing nearly or quite at right angles, the segments rounded on the 

 inner face, the sori small, one to each segment, remote from the 

 margin. From A. dentation it is most readily distinguished by 

 the large size and the cutting. The uppermost pinnae of the 

 frond are often very similar to those of A. dentattnn, but are not 

 oblique nor auricled, and the main nerve is in the middle. 



ASPLENIUM DENTATUM L. 



This species does not appear to thrive so well in the small 

 lime-sinks as does A. verecundum, very few plants, and these not 

 thrifty, being found in them. It is at its best on nearly perpen- 

 dicular walls of limestone, where sufficiently shaded. It is usually 

 abundant where found at all. Breckell hammock, bluffs north of 

 the Punch-bowl and on rough coral-rock in the woods ; roadside, 

 hammock near Cutler, on sides of large sinks and on boulders ; 

 Costello's hammock, in small sinks. 



