3 1 . PTERIS, P^SI A. 163 



or more 1., 12-24 in. br., subdeltoid in general outline, only the uppermost pinnce 

 simple, those next in order lanceolate, cut down nearly or quite to the rachis 

 into short triangular or linear pinnl. 9 the lowest long-stalked, 1 ft. or more L, 

 with ample lanceolate pinnl,, which are cut down to the rachis into numerous 

 lanceolate segm., which are again fully pinnate ; largest entire ult. divisions 

 1 in. 1., 2 lin. br. ; texture subcoriaceous ; rachis and both surfaces naked or 

 pubescent ; veins close, conspicuous, often twice forked, involucre double or the 

 inner one obsolete. /3, P. caudata^ L. ; pinnl. sometimes linear and entire or 

 with less crowded segm. than in a, and the terminal lobe linear entire, 1-2 in. 1. 

 y, P. esculenta, Forst. ; ult. divisions narrower and not contiguous, suddenly 

 decurrent at the base, so that the bases are connected by a narrow lobe. Hk. Sp. 

 2. p. 196. P. arachnoidea, Kaulf. 



Hab. All round the world both within the Tropics and in the North and South Tem- 

 perate Zones, unless it be absent from South Temperate America, from which there are 

 no specimens in the Herbarium. In Lapland it just passes within the Arctic circle, 

 ascending in Scotland to 2,000 ft., in the Cameroon Mountains to 7,000 ft., in Abyssinia 

 to 8,000 or 9,000 ft., in the Himalayas to about 8,000ft. ; y inhabits principally New 

 Zealand, Australia, the Polynesian Islands, and Tropical South America. Dr. Spruce 

 has seen it in the Andes 14 ft. in height. 



41. P. (Psesia) viscosa, Baker ; rhizome wide-creeping, subscandent, densely 

 clothed with dark-brown fibrillose scales; St. 1 ft. or more 1., flexuose, dark- 

 brown, glanduloso-villose ; fr. ample, decompound ; upper pinnce small, lan- 

 ceolate, pinnatifid, the lower ones 1-2 ft. L, 6-9 in. br., spreading, with 

 numerous lanceolate pinnl. on each side, which are cut down into deeply lobed 

 lanceolate-deltoid spreading segm.) about in. 1., j in. br. ; texture scarcely 

 coriaceous ; rachises very wavy, like both surfaces, densely clothed with brown 

 viscid glands ; invol. double, membranous, the inner one sometimes obsolete. 

 Psesia viscosa, St. Hilaire. P. scalaris, Moritz. Hk. Sp. 2. p. 200. t. 121. 

 B. & 3. t. 141. C. 



Hab. Jamaica, Venezuela, and Peru. Dr. Spruce's Peruvian specimens have the 

 largest pinnules not more than 1^ in. 1., \ in br., their segments cut down to the rachis 

 into small oblong-cuneate lobes about ^ lin. br. ; and with these a plant gathered by 

 M. Deplanche in New Caledonia quite agrees. 



42. P. (Paesia) scaberula, Richard ; rhizome wide-creeping ; st. 6-12 in. l. 

 strong, flexuose, bright reddish-brown, scabrous ; fr. 12-18 in. L, 6-9 in. br., 

 lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, tri- or quadripinnatifid ; lower pinnce lanceolate- 

 deltoid, 4-9 in. L, cut down to the rachis into numerous lanceolate pinnl. on each 

 side, which are again cut down into oblong toothed segm. 2-3 lin. 1., 1 lin. br. ; 

 texture subcoriaceous ; rachis flexuose and scabrous like the stipe, upper surface 

 asperous ; sori copious, occupying when mature nearly the whole segment 

 except the midrib. /7. Sp. 2. p. 174. t. 93. A. 



Hab. New Zealand. 



43. P. (Paesia) rugulosa, Labill. ; st. erect, strong, glossy, nearly smooth, 

 pale- brown ; fr. ample, quadripinnatifid ; lower pinnce 12-18 in. 1., 4-6 in. br. ; 

 pinnl. lanceolate, distant, spreading at right angles ; lower segm. deltoid, cut 

 down to the rachis into numerous oblong deeply toothed ult. divisions ; texture 

 herbaceous ; rachis rigid, zigzag, glossy, scarcely asperous, both surfaces of the 

 frond naked ; sori 1 lin. L, placed along the sides of the ult. divisions. Hypo- 

 lepis, Hk. Sp. 2. p. 68. 



Hab. Society Islands. This is clearly a Pteris, not a Hypolepis ; and both this and 

 P. scaberula show occasionally a narrow membrane on the inner side of the receptacle, 

 as in aquilina and viscosa. 



