6. ALSOPIIILA. 37 



especially in the small, very close-spaced and strongly pinnatifid lobes, of which the lowest 

 pairs are exactly square, adnate on two sides with the costa and costule. 



28. A. ? sagittifolia, Ilk. ; unarmed ? ;fr. hard-coriaceous, bipinnate, glabrous ; 

 prim, pinnae 8-9 in. 1., 1| in. w., petiolate ; pinnl. 1 in. 1., 2-3 lines w., all free to 

 the apex, shortly petiolate, oblong, acute, crenato-serrate, sagittate at the base, 

 the lobes obtuse, the margin recurved ; veins indistinct ; sori (far advanced) often 

 mixed with paleaceous scales, copious on the forking of the veins, nearer the 

 costule than the margin ; recept. often 2-lobed. 



Hab. Trinidad ? (possibly the opposite coast of Venezuela), Cruger. A very peculiar 

 species, and I regret my specimens are but imperfect. 



29. A. melanopus, Hk. ; " caud. 8-15 ft. high, 1 ft. diam., unarmed, ramen- 

 taceous " (Spruce} ; st. 3 ft. 1., 1 in. thick, intense ebony -black (as well as iheprim. 

 racMses\ slightly tuberculate and at the base paleaceous with very long, narrow 

 scales ; fr. coriaceo-membranaceous, glabrous ; prim, pinnae 5 ft. 1., 12 pairs 3 ft., 

 or nearly so 1., 1 ft. w. in the broadest part ; pinnl. 6 in. 1., 12-14 lines w., distinctly 

 petiolate, from a broad base oblong, rather suddenly tapering into a serrated 

 acumen, deeply pinnatifid to nearly the costa ; lobes oblong, falcate, 3 lines wide, 

 obtuse, entire ; veins distinct, all forked, sori at the forking of each vein, much 

 nearer the costule than to the margin ; costce and costules quite free from scales and 

 mostly quite glabrous. ? /3 caudex slender, subflexuose, 3 ft. high ; pinnl. sessile ; 

 lobes narrower and more acute. 



Hab. In woods, Chimborazo, alt. 3,000 ft., Spruce, n. 5742. /3 Montana de Canelos, 

 Spruce. Habit and size of the pinnules very much as in Cyatliea divergens (p. 17), but 

 clearly an Alsopliila, with intensely ebeneous prim, and second, rachises. I am doubtful 

 about my var. (3, which may prove a distinct species. 



30. A. Chimborazensis, Hk. ; " caud. 15 ft. high, 4 in. diam., aculeate (Spruce) ; 

 st. very stout, 3-4 ft. L, furfuraceo-pubescent, dirty brown, aculeated with very 

 sharp, strong spines, and paleaceous with large, dark, brown, glossy scales ;" fr. 

 9-10 ft. ]., ovato-lanceolate, subcoriaceous ("subscandent amongst neighbouring 

 branches") ; prim, pinnce 2-| ft. 1., by 1 ft. w. ; pinnl. rather distant, distinctly 

 petiolate, 1-1^ in. w., horizontal, from a broad base oblong, acuminate, deeply 

 pinnatifid near to the costa ; lobes oblong, obtuse, subfalcate, entire, the margins 

 a little recurved ; veins conspicuous, forked near the base ; sori at the forks and 

 close to the costule ; main rachis thicker than a man's thumb, and as well as 

 the second, ones aculeate, having a dirty aspect from a clothing of furfuraceo- 

 pubescence. 



Hab. Chimborazo, alt. 3,000-4,000 ft., Spruce, n. 5743. This has still more the aspect 

 of Cyathea diveryens than our Als. mehtnopus ; but here, again, the sori are clearly those 

 of Alsophila. It is, however, the much more strongly aculeated of the two. 



31. A. conjugata, Spruce ; "caud. 40 ft. high, 1 ft. diam., aculeate, destitute of 

 scales " (Spruce] ; st. 3 ft. 1., 1 in. and more thick, prickly with short, stout, not very 

 sharp spines; fr. 9ft. 1., ovato-lanceolate, coriaceous; prim, pinnce 23 pairs, 

 " all exactly opposite, save at the very apex," 2-3 ft. 1. ; pinnl. alternate, quite 

 sessile, 4-5 in. 1., G-7 in. w., pinnatifid nearly to the costa ; lobes linear, from a 

 broad base, acute, crenato-serrate at the slightly recurved margin ; sori rather 

 small, close to the costule, one to each serrature ; rachises (all) and costce and 

 costules rusty-pubescent and hairy. Spruce, mst. in Hb. nostr. 



Hab. Chimborazo, alt. 3,000-4,000 ft., Spruce, n. 4745. Very remarkable for the 

 exactly opposite prim, pinnae : the second, ones are alternate. 



32. A. Sprucei, Hk. ; " caud. none, reduced to a subglobose rhizome" (Spruce) ; 

 st. 4 ft. 1., stout, strongly aculeate at the base, clothed with ferruginous scales of 

 two kinds, long, very slender, dense, hair-like ones, and others large and lan- 

 ceolate ; jr. subcoriaceous, glabrous, 4 ft. 1. ; prim, pinnce 12-14 in. 1. ; pinnl. 



