252 43. ASPIDIUM, POLYSTICHUM. 



mucronate, the central one the largest, and all sometimes a little toothed, the 

 base cuneate, nearly equal on both sides, the lower ones distinctly stalked ; 

 texture very coriaceous ; veins obscure ; sori in two close rows. Hk. /Sp. 4. 

 p. 15. t. 215. 



Hab. Jamaica ; gathered by Purdie and Wilson. This and the preceding are both 

 united by Grisebach with triangulum. 



*** Lower pinnae once pinnate. Sp. 18-29. 



18. A. (Polyst.) aculeatum, Sw. ; st. tufted, 6-12 in. 1., more or less clothed 

 with ovate-lanceolate and iibrillose pale brown-scales ; fr. 1-2 ft. 1., 8-12 in. br., 

 ovate-lanceolate ; lower pinnae close, lanceolate, 4-6 in. 1., -f in. br. ; pinnl. 

 ovate-rhomboidal, unequal-sided, auricled on the upper side at the base ; teeth 

 aristate ; texture subcoriaceous ; rachis straw-coloured, more or less scaly ; 

 under surface slightly fibrillcse ; sori principally in two rows nearer the midrib 

 than the edge. a, A. lobatum, Sw. ; texture coriaceous ; pinnl. confluent at the 

 base. /3, A. aculeatum, Sw. ; texture less rigid ; pinnl. sessile, the lower ones free. 

 y, A. angulare, Willd. ; texture less rigid, lower pinnl. stalked, sometimes 

 deeply pinnatifid. Hk. Sp. 4. p. 18. 



Hab. Throughout the world ; rare in the Arctic regions and Eastern N. America. 

 A. squarromm, Don (rufo-bai-bafum, Wall.) has the rachis densely clothed with reddish- 

 brown fibrillose scales ; A. proliferum, Br., is a proliferous Australian form ; A. vestitum, 

 Sw., has the rachis densely clothed to the point both with reddish-brown fibrillose and 

 large lanceolate dark-brown scales ; A. biaristatum, Blume, has the frond narrowed sud- 

 denly upwards, and large rhomboidal pinnules, aristate principally at the point and 

 auricle ; the Cape A. luctuosum, Kunze, has the scales of the rachis fibrillose and nearly 

 black ; A. Tsus-Simense, Hk., is probably a slender form ; and A. ordinatum and Moritz- 

 ianum, Kunze, and Polyp, muricatum, L., are luxuriant forms from S. America. We 

 have non indusiate forms from New Zealand (Polyp, sylvaticum, Colenso), Britain (var. 

 plumosum, Moore) ; and there is a wide range of forms in S. America included under 

 Polyp. rigidum(Sp. Fil. 4. p. 246 ; Ic. Fil. t. 163), which correspond to the various forma 

 of this species, differing only by the want of an involucre. 



19. A. (Polyst.) punffens, Kaulf. ; rhizome stout, wide-creeping ; st. scattered, 

 1 ft. 1., stramineous, scaly only below ; fr. 2-3 ft. L, 9-12 in. br. ; lower pinnae 

 6-12 in. L, 1-2 in. br. ; pinnl. ovate-rhomboidal, unequal-sided, often deeply 

 pinnatifid, the teeth awned ; texture subcoriaceous ; both surfaces naked ; sori 

 principally in two rows nearer the midrib than the edge. Schlecht. Adumb. 

 p. 21, t. 10. 



Hab. Cape Colony and Natal. Best distinguished from aculeatum by its creeping 

 rhizome. 



20. A. (Polyst.) mohrioides, Bory ; st. tufted, 2-6 in, 1., stout, more or less 

 densely clothed with lanceolate dark-brown scales ; fr. 6-12 in. 1., 2-3 in. br., 

 with numerous dense, often imbricated, lanceolate pinnce, which are cut down 

 below into slightly-toothed oblong-rhomboidal pinnl. ; teeth blunt or mucronate ; 

 texture coriaceous ; both surfaces naked ; rachis stout, compressed, scaly ; veins 

 close, immersed ; sori copious. Hk. Sp. 4. p. 26. 



Hab. Patagonia and the Cordilleras of Chili. Like a stout reduced form of lobatum ; 

 but teeth in the typical specimens not at all spinulose ; and a specimen from Bourbon 

 quite agrees with the Patagonian plant. 



21. A. (Polyst.) obtusum, Mett. ; st. tufted, 4-6 in. L, densely clothed with 

 large, ovate-acuminate, bright-brown scales ; fr. 1 ft. or more 1., 4-6 in. br., 

 lanceolate, with numerous distant linear-lanceolate pinna, the lower ones 3-4 in. 

 1., | in. br. ; pinnl. distinct, oblong-rhomboidal, the obscure teeth blunt or 



