group by the membranaceous but firm texture of the fronds, the distant veins, and the 

 dentic 



6. ALSOPHILA. 31 



bi-tripinnate, thick, firm, very coriaceous ; prim, pinnce l ft. 1., second, pinnce 

 rather remote, 3-4 in. 1., deeply nearly to the costa pinnatifid, or again pinnate, 

 oblong, narrow-acuminate ; pinnl. or lobes oblong, very obtuse, entire or slightly 

 crenate, often deciduously scaly on the costule beneath ; veins copious, sunk, 

 forked once or twice ; sori occupying the lowest fork close to the costules ; invol. 

 large, hemispherical, inferior, at first covering the lower half of the sorus, then 

 more or less reflexed, and often 2-lobed. Cyathea, Hk. Sp. l.p. 24, and Ic. PI. 

 t. 647 ; Thw. En. PI. Ceyl. p. 396. Amphicosmia, Moore. Alsophila comosa /3, 

 Hk. Sp. l.p. 53. not a. /3 tripinnata; ult. pinnl. larger, lobulato-serrate. 



Hab. Ceylon, to an alt. of 6,000 ft. Our excellent friend Thwaites remarks that its 

 indusium " is very variable, sometimes hardly to be detected ; " and, indeed, while this 

 is in press, he sends me specimens, some of which might be referred to Hemitelia, some 

 to Alsophila, while others have the involucres nearly of Cyathea. 



17. H. (Amphic.) denticulata, Hk. ; fr. ample, eubmembranaceous, bi-tripin- 

 nate, glabrous ; prim, pinnce 14-15 in. 1., 4-6 in. br., petiolate, dilated, and smaller 

 at the base of insertion on the main rachis, pinnate, pinnatifid at the acumi- 

 nated apex ; pinnl. 2-3 in. 1., J in. br., oblong, acuminate, pinnatifid about \ way 

 to the costa, subsessile ; lobes broad ovato-oblong, denticulato-serrate ; veins pin- 

 nate, simple or forked, rather distant, about 4 on each side ; sori small, on the 

 back of the simple veins, or in the axil of the forked veins, nearer, the margin 

 than the costule. 



Hab. Elizabeth Island, S. Pacific, Cuming., n. 1360. Readily distinguished in this 

 by the membranaceous but firm tex 

 :ulato-serrated margins of the lobes. 



18. H. (Amphic.) Smithii, Hk. ; " arboreous, unarmed ; st. below densely 

 crinite, with rigid, elongated, serrulated scales ; rachis and costa below sparsely 

 pilose, with lax, rufcms, deciduous scales above, strigoso-villous ; fr. bipinnate ; 

 prim, pinnce linear-elongate, acute, subfalcate, serrated or crenate, very glabrous, 

 the costules beneath paleaceous .or pilose or glabrous ; sori on the forking of the 

 veins ; invol. hemispherical." Cyathea, Hk.f. Fl. N. Zeal. 2. p. 8. t. 72. 



Hab. N. Zealand, Ralfi. 



19. H. (Amphic.) Junghuhniana, Mett. ; "unarmed ; fr. chartaceous or mem- 

 branaceous, above deep-green, subglossy, paler beneath, at the costae sparingly 

 clothed with minute, flattish, adpressed, broadly-ovate, pale, ferruginous, deci- 

 duous scales ; fr. bipinnatisecto-pinnatipartite ; prim. segm. 2 ft. 1., 6 in. w., 

 subsessile, elongate-acuminate ; second, ones 4^ in. 1., 8-10 lines w., elongato- 

 oblong, crenulato-incised or serrulate at the apex ; veins manifest, lax, 6-9 on 

 each side, forked at the base ; sori in the fork close to the costule, sometimes 

 apart ; invol. squamiform, minute; recept. depresso-globose, here and there bifid ; 

 paraphyscs minute, partly piliform, partly subulate." Mett. in Miq. Ann. Mus. 

 Bot. L. Bat. l.p. 55. Alsophila, Kze. A. lunulata, Bl, and Hemitelia javanica, 

 Pr. (f. Mett.). Amphicosmia, Moore. 



Hab. Java and Sumatra. 



GEN. 6. ALSOPHILA, Br. (See p. 456.) 



Sori globose, dorsal, on a vein or in the forking of a vein. Recept. mostly 

 elevated, frequently villous. Invol. O. Arborescent, chiefly tropical, Ferns, with 

 the general habit of Cyathea and Hemitelia, but destitute of invol. Veins simple or 

 forked, free. TAB. I. f. 6. 



* (Species of S. America. Sp. 1-37.) 

 Pinnate or bipinnate, pinnl. entire or pinnatifid. Sp. 1-0. 



