31. PTERIS, EUPTERTS. 1G1 



33. P.flabellata, Thumb. ; st. 1 ft. or more 1., strong, erect, naked, glossy, straw- 

 coloured ; fr. 1-3 ft. 1., 1 ft. or more br. ; terminal pinna 6-12 in. 1., 2-3 in. br., 

 made up of numerous almost contiguous erecto-patent linear lobes 1-2 in. 1., 2-3 

 lin. br., which reach down nearly to the rachis, and are finely serrated when- 

 barren ; pinnae several on each side, similar to the terminal one, the lowest with 

 J to 3 similar smaller pinnl. from the base on the lower side ; texture herbaceous ; 

 rachis and both surfaces naked ; veins in. apart at the base, usually once forked ; 

 sort narrow, continuing along nearly the whole length of the segments. /3, P. 

 Ascensionis, Swartz ; much smaller, the lower pinnse sometimes with several small 

 compound pinnules on both sides. Hk. Sp. 2. p. 185. 



Hab. Cape Colony northward to Bourbon, Abyssinia, and Fernando Po. This comes 

 very near P. arguta. The best character is in the sori, which here are longer and nar- 

 rower. The Ascension plant grows in a very exposed situation, and has more or less 

 horizontal fronds with ascending or nearly vertical pinna}. 



34. P. tremula, R. Br. ; st. 1 ft. 1. or more, strong, erect, naked, polished, bright 

 chesnut-brown ; fr. 2-4 ft. 1., 6 in. to 2 ft. br., the apex with a few closely-placed 

 linear entire lobes, which are decurrent obliquely at the base, the largest hardly 

 more than 1 in. 1., 1 lin. br. ; upper pinnae simply pinnate, with numerous similar 

 lobes on both sides, the largest about 6 in. 1., more than 1 in. br. ; lower pinnce 

 often very compound, sometimes 1 ft. 1. and bipinnate ; texture herbaceous ; rachis 

 and both surfaces naked ; veins sunk, | in. apart at the base, usually once forked ; 

 sori copious, sometimes filling up the whole segment except the midrib. Hk. Sp. 2. 

 p. 174. t. 120. B. /3, P. Kingiana, Endl. ; ult. segm. larger, sometimes l in. 1., 

 nearly in. br., without being toothed. Hk. Sp. 2. p. 188. 



Hab. Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand. j3 was originally published 

 from Norfolk Island, but some 'of the New Zealand specimens agree with it. 



35. P. Chilensis, Desv. ; st. 6-12 in. 1., erect, naked, pale or brownish ; fr. 1-2 ft. ]., 

 9-18 in. br., deltoid, only the very uppermost lobes simple ; upper pinnce lanceolate, 

 cut down nearly or quite to the rachis into short linear-oblong pinnl., which are 

 finely serrated in the barren frond; lowest pinnae sometimes 1 ft. L, deltoid, with 

 several bipinnatifid pinnl. on each side, the largest undivided segm. not more than 

 \ in. L, in. br. ; texture herbaceous, or slightly coriaceous ; rachis and both surfaces 

 naked ; veins sunk, oblique, about 1 lin. apart at the base, usually once forked ; 

 sori extending from the base to the apex of the segments. Hk. Sp. 2. p. 175. 

 t. 120. A. 



Hab. Chili and Juan Fernandez. Agardh gives also Peru, and a plant gathered by 

 Mann on the banks of the Gaboon river in West Tropical Africa I believe to be the 

 same. It is near P. tremula, but the segments are broader and shorter, and in the barren 

 frond finely toothed. 



Tripartitse. Lowest pinnce much larger than the others, often nearly 

 equalling the central portion of the frond. Sp. 36-39. 



36. P. pellucens, Agardh ; st. 1-2 ft. 1., erect, naked, straw-coloured ; terminal 

 pinna about 6 in. 1., 1 in. br., with numerous erecto-patent linear-oblong lobes 

 on each side, which are cut down very nearly to the rachis, about ^ in. 1., 2 lin. br., 

 bluntly toothed towards the point when barren; lateral pinnce numerous on each 

 side (often 20), not more than 1 in. apart, the longest simple one about 6 in. 1., 

 the lowest large, compound, sometimes nearly as large as the central portion of 

 the frond, 1 ft. 1., 6 in. br. ; texture herbaceous ; rachis and both surfaces naked ; 

 veins not prominent, once forked, about in. apart at the base ; sori falling short 

 of the apex of the segments. Hk. Sp. 2. p. 191. 



Hab. South flank of the Himalayas, and a similar plant, with more caudate pinnules, 

 and segments not so close, and decurrent at the base, gathered by Mr. Cuming in the 



x 



