CO. ACUOSTICIIUM. (^ 'Vy 401 



7. A. couforme, Sw. ; rhizome woody, wide-creeping, densely clothed with large 

 lanceolate brownish membranous scales sometimes J in. 1., 1 liu. br. ; st. 1-12 in. 1., 

 firm, erect, stramineous, naked or slightly scaly ; fr. 2-9 in. 1., -2 in. br., the 

 point acute or bluntish, the base cuneate or spathulate, the edge cartilaginous, 

 entire ; texture coriaceous ; both sides naked or nearly so ; veins subparallel, 

 usually once forked ; barren fr. usually narrower than the fertile one, the edge 

 inflexed. Hk. Sp. 5. p. 198. 



Hab. Mexico to Chili and Brazil, Sandwich Isles, Samoa, Fiji, Java, Queensland, Hima- 

 layas (up to 6,000 ft.), Neilgherries, Ceylon, Tristan d'Acuuha, Mascaren Isles, Cape 

 Colony, St. Helena, Guinea Coast. From this we cannot distinguish clearly A. Leper- 

 vanchii (Bory), A. didynanum (Fe"e), A. laurifolium (Thouars), A. angulatum (Blume), 

 A. impressum (F^e), A. marginatum (Wall.), A, obtusifolium (Brack.), and A. vagans 

 (Mett.). The Polynesian A. Feejeense, Brack., is thinner and darker green than usual, 

 and narrowed downwards more gradually ; A. alatum, Fe"e (Hk. Sp. 5. p. 204), has a more 

 distinct haft to the frond; and the Sandwich Island .4. cemulum, Kaulf., and Andine 

 A. Gayanum, Fe"e, and A. unitum, Bory (A. affine, M. & G.), and probably the Brazilian 

 A . minutum, Pohl., are small narrow- fronded varieties. Vittaria acrostichoides, Hk. & Gr. 

 t. 186, is an abnormal form, with the fruit in two submarginal lines. 



8. A. Wrightii, Mett. ; rhizome wide-scandent ; st. 1-2 in. apart, l-l in. 1., 

 firm, erect, clothed throughout with ovate-acuminate membranous scales ; fr. 

 G-9 in. 1., 1-1^ in. br., the point cuspidate, the lower part narrowed very gradu- 

 ally, the edge thickened, white, and crisped ; texture coriaceous ; both sides naked ; 

 midrib scaly in the lower part ; veins stout, immersed, subparallel, usually once 

 forked ; fertile fr. much smaller, the edge entire and inflexed. -Hk. Sp, 5. p. 195. 



Hab. Cuba, Wright, 965. Perhaps a form of the last. 



9. A. flacddum, Fee ; rhizome short-creeping, woody, the scales small, lan- 

 ceolate, dull-brown ; st. tufted, those of the barren frond very short ; fr. 6-12 

 in. 1., -|-1^ in. br., the point very acute, the lower part narrowed very gradually ; 

 texture subcoriaceous ; both sides quite naked, colour dark-green, edge not thick- 

 ened ; veins not close, simple or forked ; fertile fr. smaller than the barren one, 

 and on a distinct st. 3-4 in. 1. Hk. Sp. 5. p. 204. A. Karstenianum, fZze. 



Hab. Panama to N. Brazil. This is thinner in texture than the preceding, and in the 

 shape of the frond is most like A. simplex on a larger scale, with sessile barren fronds but 

 long-stalked fertile ones. A. oxyphyllum, Brong., appears to be a large form ; the Peru- 

 vian A. Lechleri, Mett. differs only by its stout wide-scandent rhizome ; and a plant 

 labelled by Mettenius A. pallidum, Beyr., is thinner and more glossy than the type, with 

 the costa and long stem of the fertile frond ebeneous. 



10. A. Burchettii, Baker ; rhizome short, woody, the scales small, linear, dark- 

 brown ; st. 8-12 in. L, erect, nearly naked ; fr. 1-2 ft. L, -1 J in. br., the point 

 very acute, the lower part narrowed very gradually ; texture subcoriaceous ; both 

 sides naked and glossy ; veins fine, close, usually once forked ; fertile fr. much 

 smaller than the other. A. punctulatum, Mett. MSS. (not L.~). 



Hab. Brazil, JJurchell, 5155. Very near the last, differing mainly in the finer veins 

 and long stem of the barren frond. 



11. A. Norrisii, Ilk. ; caud. stout, woody, the scales long, linear, dull-brown ; 

 barren fr. sessile or nearly so, tufted, 12-18 in. 1., |-1 in. br., the point blunt, the 

 lower half narrowed very gradually ; texture coriaceous ; both sides nearly naked ; 

 veins immersed, indistinct : fertile fr. much narrower than the other. Hk. 

 Sp. 5. p. 215. 



Hab. Penang, Sir W. Norris, Mactier. Not unlikely identical with the Javan A . melano- 

 stictum, Blume. It is \\keflaccidum in the shape of the barren frond, but the texture 

 is that of conforme and latifolium, and the fertile frond also is subsessile. 



3 E 



