Vellaa. FILICES. 



33y 



allied to C/ui/nnfliri, fiom whitli it ililTcrs in the continuous iuvolnrie, and in novcr having; to- 

 inentose or scaly tVonds. 



§1. Fronds hevbaceoxis or snbcoriareons ; vebiK chnrhj visible ; inrolncrc broad, 

 and muallij covering the sporangia till they arc full 1/ ?v>e. — Cheilo- 

 PLECTON, Hooker & liuker. 



1. P. Breweri, Eaton, riant 4 to 8 inclies higli : rootstock sliort, stout, very 

 chaffy with narrow fulvous scah^s : stalks crowded, terete, fragile, brigiit-brown, 

 chaffy only at the base : fronds as long as the stalks, oblong, pinnate; pinn.-c six to 

 twelve pairs, short-stalked, membranaceous, G to 9 lines long, mostly two-parted, the 

 upper lobe largest ; lobes and simi)le upper pinnae ovate or triangular-ovate, cunoato 

 and often subcordato at the base ; veins t\vie(! or tlirice forked ; involucre delicate. — 

 Proe. Amer. Acad. vi. 555, Bot. King Exp. 395, t. 40, lig. 17, and Ferns of N. 

 Amer. i. 331, t. 43. 



Clefts of exposed rocks in the liiglier canons of tlic Sierra Nevada, tlienoe eastward to the 

 Walisatch ; also in Colorado near tlie liio Grande. Tliinner in tlie texture of the frond than any 

 of the followinjT, and related to P. (jracilis q[ the East, and to the Mexican P. Sccmnnni. The 

 stalks are excessively fragile. 



§ 2, Frotids coriaceous or subcoriaceous ; veins not evident; involuci-e conspicu- 

 ous. — Allosouus, Hooker & Baker. 



* PinnulHS obtuse or eniarginate. 



2. P. andromedaefolia, Yd^. Rootstock slender, creejiing, chaffy with nar- 

 row rusty scales : stalks scattered, erect, terete, smooth, brownish or reddish, chally 

 at the base, variable in length : fronds 4 to 24 inches long, ovate or ovate-oblong, 

 2-4-pinnate; primary pinmc spreading, cftenest ojiposite, ovate-lanceolate; ulti- 

 mate pinnules glaucescent, sul)sessile, 2 to 4 lines long, broadly oval, slightly cordate 

 and emarginate, fertile ones with the edges rolled back to the uiidveiii : involucre 

 herbaceous with a narrow whitish edge. — Gen. Eil. 129 ; Hooker, Sp. Fil. iL 149 ; 

 Eaton, Ferns of N. Amer. i. 203, t. 27, fig. 1. Allosorus andromedafolius, Kaulf. 

 in Kunze, Analect. Pteridogr. 18, t. 11. 



Kocks and liillsides, mostly in the Coast Uiuiges ; also in Cliili. Plants with blood-red fronds 

 occur in the southern counties (var. ruhcn.i, Eaton in Torr. IJot. Bulletin, vi. 360). The color is 

 now believed to be occasioned by direct sunlij^ht. 



« Pinnules acute or inucronatc. 



-t- Fronds bipinnate onlij. 



3. P. Wrightiana, Hooker, liootstock short, thick, nodose, densely chaffy 

 ■with narrow a[)pressed dark-brown scales : stalks clustered, dark-jturplish, polishecl, 

 very rigid, 4 to 10 inches long : fronds 4 to 10 inches long, lanceolate or triangular- 

 lanceolate in outline, bipinnate, piunic subsessile, spreading; pintuilcs coriaceous, 

 smooth, beneath glaucescent, at most about six pairs, crowded or remote ; those of 

 tlie sterile fronds roundish-oval, 3 to 5 lines long, two thirds as broad, rounded anil 

 even subcordate at the base, the apex obtuse, but with a minute cartilaginous subu- 

 late point ; those of the fertile fronds rolled back to the niidvein, often longer tliaii 

 the sterile ones and curved upwards, similarly mucronato. — Sp. Fil. ii. 142, t. 1 15, B; 

 Eaton, Ferns of N. Amer. ii. 5, t. 47, fig. 1 -3. Also 1\ bwgimxrronata, Hooker, 

 1. c. 143, t. 115 A. r. mucronala, Eaton in Pot. Mex. Bmuui. 233, in part. 



Growing in heavy compact masses fioin mider a rock on Mount San Bernardino, at 7,000 feet 

 altitude (IV. 0. IVricjhl, Lcmmon) ; Arizona, New Mexico, and Bolivia (P. U'cdilcUinnn, Fee). 

 The rontstocks are conijiaeted in great masses, and though the reseniMance to bipinnate forms 

 of P. Oritithiipus is considerable, it seems In-st to keep the two ferns apart. 



4. P. brachyptera, P.aker. Pootstook short, knotted, chaffy witli narrow 

 rusty denticulate scales : stalks fi to 8 inches long, erect, wiry, blackish and shining : 

 fronds nearly as long as the stalks, rigid, narrowly oblong-linear in outline, bipiu- 



