ADIANTUM. 33 



§ IV. Fnmih tripiniuile or decompound. 

 {Sort almost inrariabli/ short, equal or nearli/ so, rarrli/ continuous or elon- 

 gated, as in A. speciosuin and fumarioitles.) 

 * Trapeziformef yroupe. (Sp. 6G — 72.) 



CG. A. tnipezf/ortfto, L. ; glabrous, frond large supra-de- 

 compound, ))inuulcs large chartaceo-niembranaceous glaucous 

 beneath all petiolate obliquely rliombeo-cordatc acuuiinate 

 lobed the a])ex (and often the sterile lobes) inciso-serrate 

 upper base truncate, inferior base very oblique lobes sorife- 

 rous, involucres oblong-reniform, stipes racliis and pedicels 

 ebeneous intensely black. Sw. Si/n. Fil. p. 29. IVilld. Sp. 

 PL. V. p. 447. A. rhoniboideuni, Schkh. 1 14, /. 122, {(jood). A. 

 pentadactylon, Laiff/sc/. el FlscJt. Ic. Fil. p. 22, /. 25, [excel- 

 lent). Hook, el (.'rcr. Ic. Fil. I. 98. A. eniinens, Pr. Pterid. 

 p. 155, and Reliq. Hank. (a.sA. trapezi forme). A. Klotzchi- 

 anum, Pr. Tent. Pterid. p. 158 ? A. formosissimum, Klotzsch 

 in Linnmi, xviii. p. 550. Shane Jam. i. /. 59, {reri/ ijood). — 

 &. pinnules smaller obtuse. Plum. Fil. t. 9b.— y. pinnules 

 ap})roximate subobloug obtuse. 



Hab. West Iiidiciii IsUuuls Jamaica, Cuba, /-i»i(/<'M, ??. lyoS). Mexico, 

 Galeotli, n. H338 (jiinnae ol'teii loug-er and navrowev). Cenlial America, 

 Pacific side, Sceman. Caraccas and Brazil, frequent. — ,3. Mexico, near 

 Vera Ciuz, Linden, n. 70. y. Cordillera of Vera Cruz, Mexico, Galeotli, 

 n. 6338. Cuba, Poeppig (Kunze in Herb, nostr). Guatemala, Skinner. 

 — This fine species, from 2—4 feet liioh, has been iniicli misunderstood, 

 mainly owing to sufficient allowance noi being made for those variations to 

 which' Ferns, in general, seem peculiarly liable. Our best authority for 

 this particular species is the figures quoted by Linna-us. Anu)ng them is 

 Sloane's Jamaica,!. 59, whose description seems to have suggested the speci- 

 fic name " A. nigrum ramosum maximum, foliismagnis trapezii in modum 

 figuralis,'' and this figure Linnaeus pronounces "bona." He further 

 quotes Plumier, Fil. t. J)5, which Willdenow undertakes to pronounce 

 " mala ;'' but we will venture to say, that although il does not well exhibit 

 the character of the normal form of yl. traprzifonne, it does that of a com- 

 mom state of the sjiecies. Willdenow, however, and projierly, brings as a 

 synonym to A. Irapeziforme the A. rhoinboidtinn of Sclikuhr, t. 122; l)ut 

 that author, Schkuhr,'excludes the figure ol' riuniicr altogether. Iluin- 

 boldl and Kunth have an A. rhomboidenin, which has nothing to do with 

 Schkuhr's rhomboideum. This latter Dr. Klotzsch, in his notes on the Ferns 

 of.S)quinoclial America (Linnaea, xviii. p. 55(3) lakes up, as an entirely new 

 species, under the name oi' formosissimum, aiul places in a difierent section 

 from his yl. /\')Hi7'aM»iH, 1. c, p. 555, which is closely allied to the true 

 trapeziforme. — The A. Irapeziforme of Schkuhr, Tab. CXXI. b, said to 

 be a native of Jamaica, is quoted by Willdenow as the A. affine of New 

 Zealand, upon what authority is not slated, but it is very unlike any New 



f This and the following grouiiesarc merely not 

 lev l)ass into other forms and jiossess no decided 



I J. Ills itlll.t lilt; millMVIIIJ^ J^IUU (it.-5 lllC IIH.1V IJ ii\7»,v\i »*o mvto ».v^ *•.*.' SllUlCUl . 



they ])ass into other forms and jiossess no decided marks. 



VOL. II. F 



