ADIANTUM. 19 



667. WUld. Sp. PL V. p. 435. A. fiuctuosuiu, Kze., and 

 A. tetraphjlluni, Sieb., Sijn. Fil. n. 158 {according to Piesl). 

 Hab. Near Caiipe, Venezuela, Humboldt. — Humboldt and Kunth say 

 of this " an idem cum Adiunto villoso P" Willdenow says "ab A. villoso di- 

 versum, fionde simpliciter pinnata bipinnalave, pinnulis non trapeziis acu- 

 rainalis, soris semper continuis." — Presl retains it as a species, and refers to 

 it A.fructuostim, Kze., and A. tctmphyllum, Sieb. Syn. Fil. n. 158. Of the 

 latter I possess an authentic specimen, and have liltle hesitation in pro- 

 nouncing it a small state of A. villosum, of which the plant under consider- 

 ation is perhaps an unusually large form. 



38. A.falcatiim, Sw. ; " fronds pinnate or bipinnate, pin- 

 nules at the base above rectangular trapezoid acuminate fal- 

 cate serrated at the apex, sori on the superior and anterior 

 margin continuous." Sw. Si/n. Fil. p. 123. Fl. Ind. Occ. iii. 

 p. 1715. Willd. Sp. PI. V. p. 435. Sloane, Jam. i. i. b^,f. 

 1. Pliiken. Aim. ii. t. 253,/. 1. 



Hab. Jamaica, Swartz. — This Swartzian species, again, like A. serrula- 

 tum and denticulatum of the same author, is omitted in Presl's Tentamen 

 PteridographifB. Sloane's and Plukenet's figures quoted l)y Swartz, and 

 which are perhaps the best authority for the present plant, might, I think, 

 be safely referred to A. villosum. 



** Sori short, equal or nearly so {not continuous). (Sp. 39 — 54.) 



39. A. obtnsum, Desv. ; 1 — 2 feet high (frond dark brown 

 when dry) bipinnate, pinnae distant lanceolate attenuated 

 scarcely acuminated, pinnules rather distant coriaceo-charta- 

 oeous glabrous glossy above dimidiato-oblong very obtuse 

 and rounded at the apex upper base truncated sometimes 

 slightly falcate sterile ones denticulato-serrate in the upper 

 margin and round the apex, sori copious approximate semi- 

 oval or semiorbicular thick corneous extending round the 

 apex, stipes ebeneous glabrous but a little rough to the 

 touch, rachis ferrugineo-tomentose. — Desn. in Berl. Mag. p. 

 327. Hook et Grev. Ic. Fil. tab. 188. A. cassioides, Desv. 

 [Kze). — /3, pinnules larger and more elongated and more 

 obliquely cuneate at their base. 



Hab. Tropical America, frequent. Brazil, Gardner, n. 71, Guiana, Ja- 

 maica, and other West Indian Islands. Cumana, Funck, n. 193, '■^ A. 

 rhomboideum." Myubamba, Peru, Mathews. — /3. Trinidad, Baron de 

 Schach, Lockhart. St. Vincent's, Rev. L. Guildinij. French Guiana, Le 

 Prieur. Brazil, Gardner, n. 3550. Bay of Choco, West Coast of Co- 

 lumbia, Hinds. — Characteristic as is the figure we have quoted in the 

 ' Icones Filicnm ' of the ordinary state of the plant, yet I possess forms of 

 it much at variance with that figure, having much larger, and in propor- 

 tion much longer pinnules, with more copious sori; and Kunze observes 

 (Linnaea, 1848, p. 223) of this fern, " Variat pinnulis majoribus et minori- 

 bus, modo imbricatis (Ad. cassioides, Desv.) modo remotiusculis." Again 

 the sterile plant has a still different appearance, with somewhat trapezoid 

 pinna?, broader at the base, and much thinner texture. An indiflTcn nt spc- 



