408 PTERTS AQl ILIXA. 



Ptcris Capensis, Thunbekg. Willdenow. Agardh. 



" " SCHLECHTENDAL. 



AUosorus aquilinun, Presl. Pappe and I^awson. 



" arachnoideus, Presl. 



" recurvatus, Presl. 



" Tauricus, Peesl. 



" caudatus, Presl. 



'• Capensis, Pappe and Eawson, {not of Bernhardt or 



Presl.) 



" laniiginosus, Presl. 



" villosus, Presl. 



" Uottentottus, Presl. 



" aculifuliiis, Presl. 



PcEsla aquilina, MooBE. 



Axplenium aquU.lnum, Bernhardt. 



Eupteris aquilina, Newman. 



Pteris — From pteron, Greek for a wing. Aqnilina — Eagle-like. 



Fronds deep green, variable in size, from six to one hundred 

 and fifty inches long, according to situation; wIicti dwarf 

 triangular and bipinnate, when vigorous elongated and tripinnate. 



Pinna^ opposite and distant, and oblong-ovate. 



Pinnules narrow-lanceolate, contiguous, sometimes caudate. 

 ntiTnate segments sessile, with apex blunt. 



Caudex thick, extCTisively creeping, black and velvety. Vena- 

 tion circinate. 



Stipes lateral; spindle-shaped. Rachis chaTineled above, 

 rounded behind. 



Veins forked. Sori abundant, linear, continuous, indusiate, 

 and marginal. IndiTsiuTn double. 



Found throiTghout Great Britain and Ireland, and is our most 

 common sjDecies, growing from the level of the sea to Jin altitude 

 of two thoiTsand feet. Also common throughout Europe as far 

 north as Lapland. Found in the Caucasirs, in the Ural and 

 Altai INlountaiTis, Siberia, Sitka, China, Kamtschatka, throughout 

 India, CeyloTi, Penang, Java, Philippines, Sandwich Isles, Ca2)e 

 of Good Hope, Sierra Leone, Abyssinia, Fernando Po, Scne- 

 ganibia, Bourbon, Mauritius, Algiers, Madeira, Canaries, Azores, 

 Isle of Teneriffc, Cape dc Verd, Guatemala, California, ^lexico, 

 Pernambuco, Veragua, CaTiada, Massachusetts, and Kentucky. 



Extensively used Iti sotuc districts as bedding for cattle, and as 

 thatch; as fuel, and for packing; also for preservation of plants 



