154 31. PTERIS, EUPTERIS. 



Hab. Tropical and warm temperate regions all round the world ; Spain, Dalmatia, 

 Sicily, Algiers, Abyssinia, Canaries, and Cape Verde Islands southward through Tropical 

 Africa to Angola, Macalisberg, Mauritius, and Bourbon ; Lebanon, Himalayas (up to 

 4,000 ft.), Chusan and Loo-choo southward to S. Australia ; West Indies, Mexico, and 

 Venezuela, 



2. P. moluccana, Blume ; st. strong, erect, naked, polished, dark-brown ; fr. 

 2-3 ft. 1., oblong, simply pinnate ; pinnce in numerous nearly opposite pairs, 

 linear, cuneate at the base, spinuloso-serrated towards the point, the largest 

 12-18 in. 1., TJr-f in. br. ; racMs naked, like the stipe, both surfaces bright-green 

 and shining; texture subcoriaceous.; veins conspicuous, fine, close (about 6 

 to aline), usually simple ; invol. narrow, membranous. Hk. Sp. 2. p. 158. t. 

 112. B. 



Hab. Malayan Islands. P. venusta, Kunze (Bot. Zeit. 6. p. 195), is said to be allied 

 to this, but to have the pinnae subauriculate at the base, and occasionally forked. 



3. P. opaca, J. Sm. ; st. strong, erect, pale, finely pubescent ; fr. 2-3 ft. 1., 

 oblong, simply pinnate ; pinnce in numerous opposite pairs, linear, cuneate at 

 the base, quite entire towards the point, the largest about 1 ft. 1., \ in. br. ; rachis 

 pubescent, like the stipe ; texture coriaceous, both surfaces naked except the 

 midrib beneath ; veins sunk in the frond and only visible as faint striations ; 

 invol. narrow, brownish. Hk. Sp. 2. p. 159. t. 114. A. Pycnodoria, Presl. 



Hab. Island of Samar, one of the Philippines, Cuming, 342. A well-marked species, 

 out of which Presl made a new genus upon a mistaken view of the involucre, which is 

 that of typical Pteris. 



** Furcates. Lower pinnce forked or slightly pinnate below, with a long linear 

 entire point. Sp . 4-1 1 . 



4. P. cretica, L. ; st. 6-12 in. 1., erect, wiry, naked, straw-coloured, or pale- 

 brown, polished ; fr. 6-12 in. 1., 4-8 in. br. ; lateral pinnce usually in 2 to 6 

 opposite sessile pairs, of which the upper one is sometimes a little decurrent, 

 3-6 in. 1., i|-f in. br., the sterile ones considerably the broadest and spinuloso- 

 serrated, the lower pairs often cleft down nearly to the base into two or three 

 linear pinnl.; rachis and both surfaces naked; texture coriaceous; veins fine, 

 close, parallel, simple or once forked ; invol. pale, membranous. Hk. Sp. 2. 

 p. 159. /3, P. stenophyllaSHk. & Gr. Ic. t. 130 ; pinnce 3 to 5 only, clustered at 

 the apex of the stipe. P. digitata, Wallich. y, P. melanocaulon^ Fee ; stipe 

 dark-coloured ; veins sometimes scarcely visible. P. scabripes, Wall. 



Hab. Italy, Crete, Corsica, Abyssinia, Bourbon, Natal, Cape Colony, Ural, Caucasus, 

 Arabia, Persia, Japan, Himalayas (up to 8-9,000 ft.), .Neilgherries, Philippine Islands, 

 Fiji and Sandwich Islands, Florida, Mexico, and Guatemala. A variegated form (albo- 

 lineata, Hort.) is figured in Bot. Mag. t. 5194. The Brazilian station given in Sp. Fil. 

 is a mistake. 



5. P. pellucida, Presl ; st, 1 ft. or more L, erect, naked, straw-coloured or 

 brown ; fr. 12-18 in. 1., ovate-lanceolate, simply pinnate ; pinnce usually in 

 3 to 6 sessile pairs, linear, entire or serrated towards the point, the upper 'ones 

 slightly decurrent, the lower ones often 8 in. 1., 1 in. br., usually all simple, 

 but occasionally the lowest forked ; rachis naked ; texture coriaceous, both 

 surfaces bright-green, often glossy ; veins conspicuous, fine, close (about three 

 to a line), simple or once forked ; invol. membranous, brownish. Hk. Sp. 2. 

 p. 161. t. 129. B. (a simple-fronded state). 



Hab. Himalayas, Neilgherries, Ceylon, Malayan Peninsula, Philippines, Guinea Coast. 

 r-Different in the typical state from P. cretica, but not satisfactorily distinct. Pinnae 

 of the sterile frond not much broader than the others, scarcely toothed, but sometimes 

 crisped at the edge. 



