

202 38. ASPLENIUM, EUASPLENIUM. 



with pinnae more narrowly pointed. This and the two next are distinguished from the 

 rest of the group by their very close and regular sori. 



62. A. lineatum, Swartz ; st. tufted, 6-9 in. 1., firm, erect, more or less scaly ; 

 fr. 1-2 ft. 1., 4-6 in. br., oblong-lanceolate, with 20-30 pinnae on each side, which 

 are 3-4 in. 1., about -| in. br., acuminate at the point, dentate throughout, all 

 sessile or nearly so, the base cuneate, but the lower side narrower and 

 more cut away than the upper ; texture herbaceous ; colour dark-green ; 

 rachis brownish-grey, and slightly paleaceous ; veins close, often forked ; sori 

 very regular, reaching from the midrib nearly to the edge. HJc. Sp. 3. p. 104. 



Hab. Mauritius and Bourbon. A very puzzling plant, from the fact that it runs gra- 

 dually into forms with the pinnae again "pinnate, which have either small narrow linear- 

 cuneate pinnules (Darea incequalis, Willd., and D, bifida, Kaulf.), or event these latter 

 again deeply bifid or pinnatifid (D. bifida and violascens, Bory). 



63. A. prionurus, J. Sm. ; st. tufted, 6-9 in. 1., firm, erect, slightly scaly below ; 

 fr. 12-18 in. 1., 6-9 in. br., oblong, with 9-18 pinnae on each side, which are 4-6 

 in. 1., rather over -| in. br., very much acuminated at the point, deeply and 

 regularly toothed throughout, the base rather unequal, more truncato-cuneate 

 on the lower side, with a short distinct petiole on the lower ones ; texture her- 

 baceous ; veins usually simple, with sori on each reaching nearly to the edge. 

 Hk. Sp. 3. p. 103. 



Hab. Philippines, Cuming, 197. Probably this should be united with A. lineatum. 



64. A. erectum, Bory ; st. tufted, 2-4 in. 1., firm, nearly naked, grey or 

 ebeneous ; fr. 6-18 in. 1., 1^-2 in. br., narrowly lanceolate-oblong, with 12-20 

 horizontal pinnae on each side, which are l-l| in. 1., -| in. br., bluntish or 

 acute at the point, more or less deeply inciso-crenate throughout, the two sides 

 unequal, the upper one at the base narrowed suddenly at about a right angle, 

 the lower one obliquely truncate ; lower pinnae often deflexed ; texture herbaceous ; 

 rachis firm, greyish ; veins simple or once forked ; sori falling short of both edge 

 and midrib. HJc. Sp. 3. p. 127. 



Hab. Universally distributed throughout the Tropics ; America, from Cuba to Rio 

 Janeiro and Juan Fernandez ; Sandwich Islands, Indian and Malayan Peninsula, Ceylon, 

 Cape Colony, Tristan d'Acunha northward to Bourbon, St. Helena, Ascension, and the 

 Guinea coast. A. harpeodes, Kunze, Hk. Sp. Fil. 1. 178, is a large form with acuminate 

 pinnae ; A. Fernandesianum, Kunze, a form from Juan Fernandez, with a more rigid 

 lachis and subcoriaceous pinnae ; A . tenellum, Roxb. (A . reclinatum, Houlst., Hk. Fil. 

 Exot. t. 72), a form with wide-spreading, dark-green fronds copiously proliferous at the 

 apex ; A. Barteri, Hk. 2nd Cent. t. 75, a slender flaccid plant, also proliferous ; A. pter- 

 opus, Kaulf., and A. camptorachis, Kze., forms with the rachis compressed and slightly 

 winged ; and the pinnae are sometimes more or less distinctly pinnatifid, as in the 

 S. African A. lobatum and A. gracile of Pappe and Rawson, and the Polynesian A. Ma- 

 crcei, Hk. & Gr. t. 217. Kunze and Mettenius consider this to be the A. lunulatum of 

 Swartz, which is an older name than wectum. 



65. A. persicifolium, J. Sm. ; st. tufted, 6-9 in. 1., firm, erect, nearly naked ; 

 fr. 18-24 in. 1., 6-8 in. br., oblong-lanceolate, often gemmiferous at the apex, with 

 10-20 horizontal subsessile pinnce -on each side, which are 4-6 in. 1., f-1 in. br., 

 acuminate at the point, the margin nearly entire or inciso-crenate, especially 

 upwards, the two sides unequal, the upper one broader and less obliquely 

 truncate than the lower one ; texture herbaceous ; veins usually once-forked ; 

 sori distant, falling short of both midrib and edge. HTc. Sp. 3. p. 109. 



Hab. Neilgherries, Ceylon, Philippines and Solomon's Islands. A. salicinum, J. Sm., 

 is a form with narrow pinnae 6 in. 1., 4 in br., serrated throughout. A. Zenkerianum, Kze., 

 is the oldest name with a description. 



66. A. obtusifolium, L. ; st. almost tufted, 6-9 in. 1., firm, erect, dark-green, 



