54 OCHROPTKRIS. 



Hab. Java. " Pra-cedenti (.1. rhizophoro, Sw., A. caiidato, nobis), prox- 

 imum, sed diversissimum.'' 



Adiantura papijraceuni, Desv. ; " pinnae subopposite sub- 

 rhomboid cuneate and entire at the base dentato-incised stri- 

 ated, capillary stipes and rachis pubescent." Desv. I. c. p. 307. 



Hab. " Mauritius." 



Adiantum cassioides, Desv. ; " fronds densely pinnated, 

 pinnae imbricato-pinnate, pinnules rhorabeo-ovate cuneate at 

 the base denticulated, stipes angular, rachises pubescent." 

 Desv. I. c.p. 310. 



Hab. Wanner parts of America, (Desv.). " Piunae of J., obtusion, but 

 the frond more leafy.'' Desv. 



Adiantura roiundatum, Desv\; "pinnules ('pinellis consis- 

 tentibus ') subrotundato-cuneate entire obscurely sinuoso-tri- 

 lobate, sori subreniform, stipes glabrous." Desv. I. c. p. 310. 



Hab. Peru, (Desv.). " Lower piiinae about 6 inches long; pinnules 4— 5 

 lines broad, less than that in length." 



Adiantum pauperculum, Kze. in Schk. Fil. Suppl. ii. p. 

 65, t. 127, will be here placed under Hypolepis. 



Adiantum pallens, Sw., forms our next genus, Ochropteris, 

 J. Sm. 



2. Ochropteris, J. Sm. 



(Hook. Gen. Fil. Tab. CVI. A.) Adiantum, Sw. Chei- 

 lanlhes, Bory, Pr. 



Sori marginal, always occupying the apex of a lobe, trans- 

 versely oblong, uniform. Involucre of the same shape with 

 the sori, formed of the reflexed margin of the frond, nearly of 

 the same colour and texture, and covering the sorus which 

 occupies the apex of 3 or 4 veinlets terminating at the base 

 of the involucre. — Fern of Mauritius. Frond deltoid, on a 

 fofiff glabrous stipes, very decompound, ultimate pinnules 

 lobed, the lobes cuneate soriferous, the whole coriaceous and 

 glossy. Stipes and rachis pale-coloured. Veins dichoto- 

 mously divided. 



Obs. Kaulfuss long ago observed of the Adianlvm palleni;, Sw., "habitu 

 et fructificatione ab omnibus diversissimum, proprium constituet genus : " 

 Mr. J. Smith has however more justly observed that the chief distinction 

 is in the Iiabit, which neither harmonizes with Adiantum nor with Chellan- 

 thes, nor with Ht/polepis ; so that I gladly adopt Mr. J. Smith's name of 

 Ochropteris, derived from the pale colour of the entire fern, but especially 

 the stipes and rachis. 



