16 NOTE ON THE FERN GENUS BRAINEA. 
away, and their apical axis was gone; they were considered to be dead, 
and appeared to be those of Lomaria Boryana, Sadleria cyathoides, or 
some analogous species. They were placed with the Orchids on them 
in the hothouse, and in about two years after, I was much surprised to 
find that two of them had pushed out a lateral bud, which in due time 
were transferred into pots, and ultimately became fine plants. About 
the same time, the late Sir William Hooker had received specimens 
of this Fern from Sir John Bowring, and, finding it to be the type of 
a new genus, he dedicated it to that gentleman, (Kew Miscellany of 
1853,) under the name of Bowringia insignis, giving Sir John Bowring, 
instead of Mr. Braine, the credit of having introduced the living plant 
to Kew. Some time after, whilst engaged in drawing up an enume- 
ration of the Ferns of Hongkong, for Seemann’s ‘ Botany of the Voyage 
of the Herald,’ I found that Mr. Bentham had previously applied the 
name Bowringia to a Leguminous plant. . Bringing these facts to the 
notice of Sir William Hooker, I proposed to re-name the plant Brainea, 
and this name I adopted in the ‘ Botany of the Herald,’ and also in 
my ‘ Catalogue of Cultivated Ferns,’ in 1857, with my name affixed as 
the authority. 
The next point I have to notice is Dr. Hance's opinion of the affinity. 
After showing the views of Pteridologists on that point, he proceeds to 
say, “ I certainly think Gymnogrammee the true and natural station for 
Brainea,” and “ that it would be difficult to produce a more perfect in- 
stance of parallelism between two tribes ( Lomariee and Gymnogrammea) 
than that shown in the following diagram in which the opposite genera 
exactly correspond :" that is to say, that Blechnum corresponds with 
Gymnogramme, $ Coniogramme, Sadleria with Brainea, and Woodwardia 
with Gymnogramme $ Dictyogramme. Now, I admit that Sad/eria and 
Brainea are a perfect instance of parallelism, but I must confess, in all 
my study of the relationship of Ferns it never came into my mind that 
there was any connection between Blechnum and Gymnogramme, or 
Woodwardia and Diclyogramme. The reason which has led Brainea 
to be placed in alliance with Gymnogramme seems to rest solely on the 
character of the sori, but by too strict adhering to that organ Sir 
William Hooker was led to place such a very heterogeneous mass of 
species under Gymnogramme, that even Brainea might have been in- 
cluded as a species of that genus. If the Darwinian theory of the 
origin of what is called species from antecedent species be admitted 
