PLANTS OP BERMUDA. 101 



1. P. caudata (BYacken) . An erect, much divided fern, four to sis 

 feet high ; leaves triangular in outline, three-parted, branches twice 

 pinnate, ultimate segments distant, narrow, oblong, blunt, lower 

 ones pinnatifid, upper entire, oblique at the half-auricled base, 

 terminal segment elongated ; -sori continuous along the reflexed 

 margin. Distribution, Southern United States ; habitat, marshes, 

 one of the largest and commonest of our ferns : the leaves present a 

 dry, brownish-green appearance. 



2. P. heterophylla. Leaves about eighc inches high, pinnate 

 above, twice pinnate at the base ; fertile segments few -serrate at 

 the apex only ; barren segments coarsely serrate above the wedge- 

 shaped base ; sori naked continuous beneath the margin of the leaf- 

 lets. Distribution, Jamaica ; habitat, caves, "Walsingham. 



Fteris longifoUa, a species with simply pinnate leaves and very 

 long, narrow, and finely serrated leaflets, appears to have quite 

 established itself in grottoes, &c., below Mount T^angton. 



III. WOODWARDIA, 



Sori distinct^ oblong, parallel with the midrib, 



1, W. Virginica. Leaves all alike, two to three feet high, smooth, 

 pinnate, with alternate leaflets, the latter deeply pinnatifid with 

 lanceolate segments, the veinlets arising from a central chain of 

 loops, parallel with the midrib, on which the oblong sori are situ- 

 ated. Distribution, United States ; habitat, Devonshire marshes, 

 plentiful. Kesembles at first sight the baiTen fronds of Ommnda 

 ci/mamomci, from which it may easily be distinguished by its deeper 

 green coloiu- and the winged appearance of the midveins. 



IV. ASrLENIUM. 



Sori distinct, oblong, oblique to the midrib. 



\. A. Triehomanes. Leaves pinnate, three to six inches long ; 

 petiole wiry, black and shining ; leaflets small, nearly sessile, bright 

 green, roundish obovate, entire at the oblique, wedge-shaped or 

 abrupt base, crenate above ; sori about five in number, oblique from 

 midrib to margin. Distribution, Europe, United States, and Ja- 

 maica ; habitat, wayside rocks and old walls, common, growing in 

 dense tufts. 



2. A. dentation. A. West Indian species, scarcely distinguishable 

 from the above, is found in caves at Walsingham ; the leaflets are 

 less distinct and the petiole is brown. A. cicutarinm is also said to 

 grow in similar situations, and several other species have been in- 

 troduced from the West Indies, but are not met with out of culti- 

 vation, 



V. ACmiOSTICHrM. 



Sori coveri?ig the whole of the underside of the leaflets of the fertile leaf. 



1. A. aiirenm, vel. Chry sodium vulgar e (Giant fern). Leaves stout, 

 erect, leathery, four to six feet high, simply pinnate ; leaflets alter- 

 nate, entire, oblong-lanceolate, six to eight inches long, two inches 



