The Ferns of Nicaragua. 



An Account of the Ferns Collected by the Nicaragua 



Botanical Expedition op the State University 



of Iowa in 1893. 



BY B. SHIMEK. 



The region which is covered by this paper is very narrow. 

 It includes a strip along the San Juan River in Nicaragua in 

 no case extending more that six miles from the river, and in 

 addition to this the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. 

 Yet within this narrow territory, in the brief space of less than 

 four months, the author, while engaged in general botanical 

 work, succeeded in collecting over one hundred and twenty 

 species of Ferns, — more than four-fifths of the total number 

 found within the limits of the United States. That the number 

 is not greater is due to the fact that the work done in this brief 

 period was rather in the nature of a general preliminary survey 

 of the flora of the region under consideration. 



Fournier 1 reports 121 species of Ferns from Nicaragua, and 

 of these only about one-fifth occur in this list. 



Hemsley 2 specifically credits Nicaragua with 135 species, of 

 which only about two-fifths are found in this list, the others 

 being largely from the mountainous district of Chontales. 



Baker 3 and Hemsley 4 report 139 species from adjacent Costa 

 Rica of which less than two-fifths are given in this paper. 



1 Ferns of Levy's collection, Sertum Nicaraguensc, Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr., vol. 

 xix, pp. 249-261. Eug. Fournier. 



8 Biologia Centrali- Americana. Botany, vol. ill. 



3 In Hook, and Bak. Syn., Fil., pp. 457-525: Journal of Botany, vol. xxn, 

 pp. 362-4. 



4 Biol. Cent. Am., vol. III. 



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