199 



Macgillivray . India, apiJarently rare on the continent; Kumaon, R. Blenk- 

 ivorth, Wall. Cat. n. 103 (" Pt. lorigera, Wall."), pinnae and pinnules very 

 wide apart and very obtuse. Singapore, M'all. Cat. n. 102 (" Pt. semihastata, 

 Wall."); Penang, Wall. Cat. n. 99 (" Pt. densa, Wall."). Borneo, Motley,- 

 Indian Archipelago, Seemann, n. 2309. 



Every one is familiar with the common Brakes {Braken, Scotice) of our 

 hills and woods, Pteris aquilina, Linn., which I consider, in a more less varied 

 form, to be found almost all over the world. The figure, by " Nature-print- 

 ing," as given in ' The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland, by Thos. Moore,' 

 Tab. XLIV., we need not say, accurately, represents the normal state of a 

 moderately sized specimen of this plant ; and it will there be seen that the 

 upper portion of the frond has the pinnules more elongated, narrow and entire, 

 while those of the lower part are all (except those at the very apex of the pinnae) 

 very regularly and equally pinnatifid for the whole length. Sometimes, however, 

 the elongated and simpler form of the pinnules is more prevalent ; they are 

 placed more apart, the terminal ones are peculiarly elongated and contracted, 

 whence arose the Pt. caudata of authors ; sometimes nearly the whole plant is 

 made up of the more closely placed and more uniformly pinnatifid pinnules, and 

 these are frequently, especially in warm countries, more or less villous or woolly 

 beneath, and thence we have the Pt. lamiyinosa, Bory ; this is raie in, but not 

 wanting to, the temperate parts of Europe ; and, lastly, the esculenta-form presents, 

 particularly in the southern hemisphere, another feature — those distantly placed 

 and mostly terminal pinnules which have a decurrent base expand there into a lobe 

 (the segment of a circle), forming an auricle or wing-like appendage to the rachis. 

 With almost innumerable suites of specimens before me, there are so many inter- 

 mediate grades that I find it in vain to attempt to distinguish them as species. 

 No doubt many will be surprised to be told that our common Brake is the same 

 genus and species as the famous edible Fern of the South Sea Islanders, but an 

 intelligent and scientific gentleman has recently brought the esculent properties 

 of our Pteris aquilina to public notice, and has himself luxuriated upon this 

 vegetable.* 



64. Pt. (Ornithopteris) coriifolia, Kze. ; frond coriaceous 

 glabrous shining paler beneath oblong acuminate tripinnate, 

 pinn£E and lower and middle primary pinnules exceedingly 

 remote {remotissimis longe), uppermost ones petiolate ap- 

 proximate at length confluent all of them patent oblong 

 acuminate flexuose or curved, secondary pinnules {pinellai) 

 sessile divergent ovato-oblong obtuse subauriculate, lowest 

 ones especially above abbreviated, all of them slightly pin- 

 natifid, segmei^ts ovato-rotundate slightly crenulate beneath 

 with elevated forked veins, the sinuses rounded, sori con- 

 tinuous occupying from the base to the apex of the frond, 

 rachises and stipes short tliickened at the base rufo-tomen- 

 tose flexuose angular rufescent. Kze. in Linn/sa, xviii. p. 120. 



Hah. Cape of Good Hope, Gueinzius. — " Planta distinctissima e sectione 

 Aghardiana Ornithopteridis, affinis aliquo modo Pt. Capensi (our Pt. aquilina, 0.) 

 s. Pt. consobrinoi mea {Pellcea, nobis), imprimis sterili nee vero fronde glauca et 



* See Dr. Benjamin Clarke, F.L.S., " On Pterin aquilina as an Esculent Vege- 

 table," in Hook. Journ. of Bot. vol. ix. p. 212. 



