•21G linds.5:a. 



of ripeness of the plant. The present species dries of a very dark colour; 

 L. trapeziformis generally of a light colour. 



40. lj.stricta,'Dxy.', stipes terete grooved on one side, frond 

 rigid (rufescent) bi- rarely tri-pinnate (simply pinnate when 

 young), pinna3 linear elongated straight gradually attenuated 

 erect or slightly patent terminal one elongated, pinnules tra- 

 pezoid flabelliform or lunulato-cuneate gradually smaller up- 

 wards subcoriaceous a little distant, upper base truncated 

 lower margin often arched upper semicircular entire or (bar- 

 ren) serrated (or the pinnne are sometimes lunate wntli a cu- 

 neate base), sori continuous (sometimes short) very broad 

 placed at some distance within the supei-ior margin, often 

 bent back or downwards when dry. — Dry. in Linn. Trans, iii. 

 /?. 42. Schkh. Fil. t.UA. JFi'lld. Sp. PL V. p. 425. Sw. 

 Syn. Fil. p. 119. L. Javitensis, H. B. K., Willcl. Sp. PL v. p. 

 424. Raddi, FiL Bras. p. 56, t. lb,f. 1. L. gracilis, KLin 

 LinntBa, 1844,/?. 549. L. Raddiana, KL in Linncea, 1844, 

 p. 549. L. elata, Desv. L. pusilla, Splitg. En. FiL Sarin, 

 p. 35. — Frond simple ; L. rigescens, Willd. Sp. PL v. p. 424. 

 L. elegans. Hook. Ic. PL t. 98. L. microphylla, Presl, BeL 

 Hcenk. p. 59, t. 10,/ 2 {barren) ?* 



/3. tripinnata; frond tripinnate larger more membranace- 

 ous, pinnules more frequently lunate. — Gardn. Bras. 

 ColL n. 5323. 



Hal). Throughout tropical America, especially on the western side. West 

 Indies, Trinidad, and Columbia, Funck, Cuming, n. 1101. Santa Martha, 

 Piirdie. Mexico, Hanike, Otto. Isle of Gorgona, west of Panama, and 

 Sandwich Islands (?), Barclay. Brazil, Gardner, n. 5324. — j3. Minas 

 Geraes, Gardner, n. 5323. — An extremely variable plant, as is so much the 

 case with the individuals of this genus, in size, ramification, and in the 

 form of the pinnules, though the common form has a very peculiar aspect 

 and colour. According as the different forms of the pinnules have predo- 

 minated, authors have described them under different names, and in lan- 

 guage so different, that, without authentic specimens, no one could suppose 

 that the descriptions applied to the same species. The common form is 

 fairly represented by Raddi, 1. c. under the name of L. Javitensis, as is 

 Schkuhr's of a single pinna. Our figure of L. elegans 1. c. is equally charac- 

 teristic of the unbranched state of the plant, which is often, but not always, 

 so when young, for it frequently retains that character when in full fructifica- 

 tion. The plant is rigid, bearing a few upright, much attenuated pinnae, 

 and pinnules gradually becoming smaller upwards. There are states, how- 

 ever, \vith the pinnas larger, more membranaceous, as is the case with our 

 /S, and then it becomes difficult to distinguish it from L. Guianensis. 



41. L. Guianensis, Dry.; caudex creeping, stipes terete 

 gi-ooved on one side, frond large pinnated rather flaccid 



* See L. parvifnlia, snpr.i, p. 207. 



