276 44. NEPHRODIUM, LASTREA. 



lanceolate ; lowest pinnl. scarcely free, the largest about in. 1., in. hr., cut 

 from one-third to halfway down to the rachis below. L. collina, Newm. 

 6, lepidota, Moore ; rachises chesnut-brown, scaly ; fr. subdeltoid ; lower pinna? 

 deltoid, 5-6 in. each way ; lowest pinnl. much the largest, often 3 in. 1., 2 in. br., 

 its segm. cut down to the rachis below and with lobes again deeply pinnatilid. 

 Hk.'Sp..p.l21. 



Hab. Arctic Europe and America southward to Madeira, the Mediterranean, \V. 

 Himalayas, and Carolina, and found also sparingly in Bourbon and Cape Colony. A 

 very variable plant. 'Var. y is the most distinct form, and from this a recedes in the 

 direction of N. cristatum, and y towards Filix-mas. The common N. American form 

 (A. intermedium, Muhl.) has an oblong-lanceolate frond and pale scales, but is generally 

 larger and more finely cut than our typical plant. L. glandulosa, Newm., is most like/3, 

 but the scales are few and pale, and the frond is narrower, with the under side more dis- 

 tinctly glandular. 



92. N. (Last.) Eatoni, Baker; st. 1 ft. 1., stramineous, clothed copiously with 

 squarrose purplish fibrillose scales ; fr. 12-18 in. L, 6-9 in. br., ovate-lanceolate ; 

 upper pinnce lanceolate, lowest pair subdeltoid, 4-5 in. 1., 2-3 in. br. ; pinnl. 

 lanceolate, close, cut down nearly or quite to the rachis into close, blunt, sub- 

 entire, linear-oblong lobes ; texture herbaceous ; rachis stramineous and fibril- 

 lose like the stem ; under side slightly villose and glandular ; sori small, copious ; 

 invol. gland-ciliated. 



Hab. Kakeah and Loo Choo Isles, E. Asia, C. Wright. Habit and cutting of N. dila- 

 tatum, from which it differs by its dense fine spreading hair-like scales and slightly 

 villose rachises and under surface. 



93. N. (Last.) mexicanum, Hk. ; st. tufted, 12-18 in. 1., stramineous, scaly 

 towards the base ; fr. 1-2 ft. 1., 6-12 in. br., ovate-lanceolate ; pinnce lanceolate, 

 3-6 in. 1., l|-2 in. br., the divisions sometimes spathulate, not cut down quite to 

 the rachis and nearly entire, but more usually the lower ones free, subdeltoid, 

 and deeply pinnatifid ; texture firm, herbaceous ; colour pale-green ; rachis and 

 both surfaces naked ; sori in rows about midway between the edge and midrib ; 

 invol. naked, conspicuous. Hk. Sp. 4. p. 138. t. 267. A. leptorachis, Kze. 

 /3, A. chceropkj/lloides., Moritz. ; more compound, lower pinnae sometimes 9-12 

 in. L, 3-4 in. br. ; pinnl. lanceolate, cut down nearly to the rachis into oblong 

 crenated lobes. 



Hab. West Indies and Mexico to Brazil and Ecuador. The involucres are sometimes 

 orbicular and peltate. There is a wide range in cutting between the extremes, /3 re- 

 sembling the larger forms of Filix-mas. 



94. N. (Last.) sparsum, Don ; st. tufted, 6-12 in. 1., scaly only towards the 

 base, stramineous and glossy upwards ; fr. 1-2 ft. L, 8-12 in. br., ovate-lan- 

 ceolate ; lowest pinnce the largest, 4-6 in. L, l|-2 in. br. ; lowest pinnl. sometimes 

 compound, the others lanceolate, unequal-sided, pinnatifid, with oblong-, blunt 

 lobes ; texture firm, herbaceous ; rachis naked or slightly scaly, both sides 

 naked ; colour pale-green ; sori usually one to each lobe near the midrib ; invol. 

 naked, flat, 1 lin. br.- N. purpurascens, Hk. Sp. 4. p. 132. t. 262. 



Hab. N. India to .N. China, Ceylon, and Malay Isles ; Mauritius. This species 

 resembles the last, and rivals it in range of size and cutting. Mettenius regards 

 A . purpurascens, Blume, as distinct, characterized by being more rigid in texture, with 

 divisions not so unequal-sided and the frond larger and more divided. L. delloidea, 

 Beddoine, t. 248, from Ceylon, has subdeltoid fronds and pinnules ^-f in. br. 



95. N. (Last.) undulatum, Baker ; st. tufted, 6-12 in. 1., scaly towards the 

 base, glossy, and stramineous upwards ; fr. 1 ft. or more 1., 6-8 in. br., ovate- 

 deltoid, the main rachis very distinctly zigzag, the pinnce deflexed and then 

 curved upwards, imbricated, subdeltoid, the lowest pair the largest, 4-6 in. 1., 



