316 CHARACTERS OF TRIBES AND GENERA. 



and which contains no less than 2,059 names, of which 

 335 are adopted species, the rest being synonyms. 



The greater number were originally comprehended under 

 two genera, namely, Asplenium and Diplazium, but even 

 these are not considered by some to be generically distinct. 

 In the greater mass the veins are free, in a few they are 

 anastomose, and which with the different modes of growth 

 afford sufficient characters for arranging the species under 

 the following genera. 



* Veins free. 



181. ASPLENIUM, Linn. (1737). 

 Hook. Sp. Fil. ; Tarachia, Pr. ; Loxoscaphe, Moore. 



Vernation fasciculate, decumbent, or erect, acaulose, rarely 

 uniserial sarmentose. Fronds varying from simple entire 

 to decompound, and from a few inches to 2 to 6 feet 

 high, generally smooth. Feins forked or pinnate, from a 

 central or excentric costae, or rayed ; venules free, sporan- 

 giferous on the superior side. Sori oblong or linear, in 

 some very short and marginal. Indusium lateral operculi- 

 form, opening exteriorly. 



Type. Asplenium marinum, Linn. 



Illust. Hook, and Bauer Gen. Fil., t. 30 ; Moore Ind. 

 Fil., p. 30 ; J. Sm. Ferns, Brit, and For., fig. 110. 



OBS. In the "Species Filicum" about 287 species are 

 enumerated, which are divided into four sections, namely, 

 Thamnopteres, Eusasplenium, Athyrium, and Eudiplazium, 

 which I characterise as distinct genera. In "Ferns, 

 British and Foreign," 120 species are enumerated as 

 having been seen by me in a living state, and as they 

 contain examples representing the principal sections and 

 groups, I here enumerate them. 



