j _'- (J-j 



. 

 I 



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16 4. CYATIIEA. 



1. T. elegans, Kze., in Schk. Fil Suppl p. 3. t. 1. Hk. Sp. 1. p. 65. 

 Hab. Juan Fernandez, Bertero. A solitary and very rare Fern. I remove this genus 

 to the Tribe Cyathece, to which, I think, it has a closer affinity than to Dicksonicce. 



GEN. 4. CTATHEA, Sm. (see p. 450). 



Sori on a vein, or in the axil of the forking of a vein. Recept. elevated, globose, 

 or elongated. Invol. globose, inferior, covering the whole sorus, afterwards break- 

 ing at the summit and forming a more or less persistent cup, even or irregular at 

 the margin. Arborescent, tropical or subtropical. St. often aculeated. Fronds 

 simple or pinnate, or decowpoundly pinnate. TAB. I. f. 4. 



* Fronds undivided. Sp. 1. 



1. C. sinuata, Hk. & Gr. ; caud. slender, erect, 2-4 ft. 1.; fr. simple, 2-3 ft. 1., 

 1-2^ in. w., elongato-lanceolate, sinuated at the margin, acuminate, tapering into 

 a short stipes at the base. Hk. Sp. 1. p. 15 ; and Gard. F. t. 21. Thw. En. PL Cey. 

 p. 396. 



Hab. Wooded mountains, Ceylon, rare ; most abundant in the Singhe-rajah Forest. 

 If not among the smallest, certainly among the most elegant and graceful of Cyatbeaceous 

 plants, and the only one we know with quite simple fronds. A native only of Ceylon. 



** Fronds pinnate. Sp. 2, 3. 



2. C. Brunonis, Wall. ; fr. large, pinnate, glossy ; pinnce 8-14 in. I., oblong- 

 lanceolate, finely acuminate. Hk. Sp. p. 15 ; Gen. F. t. 2. 



Hab. Malay Islands, frequent. Caudex unknown to me. 



3. C. Hookeri, Thw. ; small but arborescent ; caud. 1 J in. thick ; st. short, 

 black, muricated at the base and subpaleaceous ; fr. coriaceo-membranaceous, 

 2-3 ft. 1., 4-5 in. w., elongato-lanceolate, acuminate, pinnate, pinnatifid at the apex ; 

 pinnce from a broad base auricled on both sides, sublinear-lanceolate, acuminate, 

 subsessile, coarsely dentato-pinnatifid, more or less entire towards the apex ; veins 

 pinnated ; sori dorsal on the veins or in the lower axils ; invol. breaking into 

 irregular lobes. Thw. En. PI. Cey. p. 396. 



Hab. Forest of Singhe Rajah, Ceylon, Thwaites, C. P. 3722. A very distinct and 

 peculiar species. 



*** Fronds decotnpoundly pinnate. % Sp. 4-55. 



t Species of tropical America. Sp. 4-24. 



4. C. arborea, Sm. ; unarmed or copiously prickly, often strongly so at the 

 base of the st. ; st. and rachis pale brown, or dark purple, or black ; fr. ample, 

 bipinnate ; second, pinnce 5-8 in. 1., sessile, oblong-lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid or 

 again pinnate ; lobes or pinnl. oblong, subfalcate, serrated, paler beneath ; invol. 

 chartaceous,pale or dark brown, exactly cup-shaped in maturity, with a beautifully 

 even margin. Hk. Sp. \.p. 17. Var. pallida ; st., rachis, and invol. pale-coloured. 

 C. elegans, Hew. C. Grevilleana, Mart. Hk. Sp. 1. p. 22. C. minor, Eat. 



Hab. W. Ind. Islands ; most abundant in Jamaica, both varieties. Brazil, Pohl. 

 I have again examined with great care the two states of this plant, and am only the 

 more confirmed in my opinion that they constitute but one species. 



J The three preceding species are readily enough distinguished by the undivided or 

 simply pinnated structure of the frond, combined with other peculiarities ; but it is far 

 otherwise with those which follow, whose fronds are more compoundly divided, which 

 present a much greater similarity one with another, and of which, on account of their 

 frequently gigantic size, we rarely receive other than mere fragments, telling nothing 

 of their arborescent trunks or caudices, and rarely of their stipites, which often present 

 useful characters. I am unable to offer any better sections or subdivisions than according 

 to the countries they inhabit. 



