2CG 44. NEPHRODIUM, LASTREA. 



gradually narrowed from the base to the acuminate apex, all sessile, cut down 

 very nearly to the raclris into erecto-patent, blunt, entire lobes 2 lin. br. ; texture 

 coriaceous ; rachis and veins beneath densely villose ; veinleh 6-8 on a side ; sori 

 marginal ; invol. large, persistent, villose. Aspid. Fee, Fil. Ant. t. 23. 



Hab. Guadeloupe, L'Herminier.A. Capitainei, Fe"e, is very closely allied. A. aspe- 

 rulum, Fe"e, has narrower pinnae and a decumbent caudex. All are from the same 

 island. 



38. N. (Last.) triste, Hk. ; st. 1 ft. or more 1., naked or slightly villose ; fr. 

 2-4 ft. 1., 8-18 in. br. ; pinnce 4-9 in. 1., 1-1 in. br., cut down two-thirds of the 

 distance to the rachis into entire, bluntish or acute, subfalcate lobes 2-3 lin. br., 

 the lower ones with a distinct stalk and the lowest lobe narrowed out into a 

 decurrent cuneate wing to it ; texture subcoriaceous ; rachis and veins beneath 

 finely villose ; veinlets 12-15 on a side ; sori medial ; invol. small, fugacious. 

 Hk. Sp. 4. p. 104. 



Hab. Columbia to Peru and Brazil. Distinguished by its rigid texture and the distinct 

 stalk of the lower pinnae, the pagina of which is narrowed down gradually into it. A 

 plant authenticated by Mettenius as A. monostichum, Kze., seems to differ from this only 

 by the sori being confined to one at each side of each lobe at the base. 



39. N. (Last.) tetragonum, Hk. ; st. tufted, 1 ft. or more 1., finely pubescent ; 

 fr. 1-2 ft. 1., 8-12 in. br., oblong-deltoid ; pinnce 4-6 in. 1., f-1 in. br., cut half- 

 way down to the rachis or more into close entire lobes 1^-2 lin. br., the lower 

 lobes gradually reduced and lower pinnae distinctly stalked ; texture papyraceo- 

 herbaceous ; rachis and veins beneath pubescent ; veinlets 8-12 on a side ; sori 

 medial ; invol. small, setose. Hk. Sp. 4. p. 103. 



Hab. Columbia to Peru and Brazil. This agrees with the last in the character of the 

 lower pinnas, but the lobes are shorter and blunter, and the texture is more herbaceous. 

 We cannot clearly distinguish A. luyubre, Mett., although favoured with an authentic 

 specimen. 



40. N. (Last.) crassifolium, Hk. ; st. tufted, 1 ft. or more 1., glossy, slightly 

 villose ; fr. 1^-2 ft. 1., 8-12 in. br. ; pinnce 4-6 in. 1., 1-1^ in. br. ; lobes blunt, 

 falcate, 2-3 lin. br., reaching from half to two-thirds down to the rachis, the 

 lower ones distinctly stalked ; texture subcoriaceous ; both sides glossy, but the 

 rachises finely villose ; veinlets 10-12 on a side, with the sori close to the midrib. 

 Hk. Sp. 4. p. 114. Lastrea nephrodioides, Bedd. Fil. Brit. Ind. t. 199. 



Hab. Philippines and Malaccas. A closely-allied plant from Borneo (N. Motley anum, 

 Hk. MSS.) has the pinnae not cut more than halfway down, with medial sori, with the 

 groups of veinlets free in the fertile, but invariably anastomosing in the barren frond. 



41. N. (Last.) echinatum, Baker; st. 1 ft. 1., clothed with long, spreading, 

 brown, lanceolate-subulate scales, scabrous when they fall ; fr. 1 ft. 1., 8-9 in. 

 br., lanceolate-deltoid ; lowest pinnce stalked, 5 in. 1., 7 lin. br., cut down to a 

 narrowly-winged rachis into close, linear-oblong, entire lobes ; texture coriaceous ; 

 rachis scaly like the stem ; under surface thinly pubescent and glandular ; 

 veinlets 7-8 on a side ; sori nearer the midrib than the edge. Aspid. Mett. Fil. 

 2nd. p. 230. 



Hab. Borneo, Kortliah. In this, as in the three preceding, the lowest veinlets some- 

 times join. 



42. N. (Last.) Leprieurii, Hk. ; st. 1-2 ft. 1., grey, deciduously villose ; fr. 2-3 

 ft. L, 12-15 in. br. ; pinnce 6-8 in. 1., l in. br., cut* down within a short distance 

 of the rachis into entire subfalcate lobes 2 lin. br., furnished with a prominent 

 aland at the base, the lower ones sessile and lower lobes scarcely reduced ; 



