PTERIS. 203 



Willd. En. p. 462. Pt. biaurita, Kze. Acotyl. Afr. Austr. 

 p. 436, et var. edentula, Kze. Syn. Poepp. p. 75" {Ag.). 



Canipteria Eottleriana, Presl, Tent. Pterid. p. 147. t. 5. 

 /. 26. 



Ilab. Agardh gives "East India, China, Ceylon, Bourbon, Guinea, Congo {Ch. 

 Smith), Cayenne, Brazil," etc., as localities. My own herbarium only exhibits 

 specimens from E. India, IValUch, 1820, mixed with undoubted Pt. quadrianrita. 

 Bourbon, Capt. Carmichael (named by Agardh) ; China, Macao, Jiev. G. H. 

 Vachell (named i)y Ag.) ; Ceylon, Gardner, n. 1331 (frond 2 feet long, more 

 coriaceous substance opaque dark brown almost black when dry) ; Sierra Leone, 

 Barter, inBaikies 2nd Niger Exped. (1857) ; one specimen, gathered at the same 

 time and place, has the lower pinna; pinnate and bipinnate. — Thanks to the 

 investigations of Professor Agardh in the genus Pteris, he has thrown much light 

 on the vexed question of the identity of Pt. quadrianrita, Retz, Pt. nemoralis, 

 Willd., and Pt. biaurita, L. All three are liable to similar variations as to size, 

 and the composition of the lower ramifications or pinnpc, — yet all have the same 

 luiiform aspect and general outline ; and, as far as has been possible, he has con- 

 sulted authentic specimens in their determination. The result is that Pt. quadri- 

 anrita has entirely free venation (§ Eupteris) ; Pt. nemoralis* vacillates between 

 sections Eupteris and Canipteria, having on the same plant partly the free vena- 

 tion of one, and partly the united basal veins on the segments of the other : and 

 here I must leave it to others to determine how far it deserves the rank of a spe- 

 cies ; and if not, whether it should be transferred to Pt. quadrianrita or to the 

 Pt. biaurita, which latter has the perfect venation of Campteria, and which we 

 shall consider under our next number. 



Agardh has described the present species to be equally widely diffused 

 with Pt. biaurita : but at the time he was engaged upon his ' Recensio Spe- 

 cierum Pteridis ' he was only able to find in my herbarium tsvo samples, 

 which he named nemoralis, and I have since only been able to add two more 

 localities. 



69. Pt. (Campteria) biaio'ifa, L. ; fronds generally ample 

 subcoriaceo-membranaceous pedately ovate pinnate, pinnre 

 subsessile lanceolate acuminate lowest pair bi-tripartite or 

 again pinnate mostly downwards, all the pinnae deeply pin- 

 natifid (leaving however a broad wing on each side the costa), 

 segments oblong or linear-oblong obtuse entire scarcely fal- 

 cate, basal veins uniting in pairs into an arch below the sinus 

 and then bearing 4-6 or 8 simple veinlets which extend to 

 the margin at or above the sinus, stipes and rachises strami- 

 neous smooth. — " Pt. biaurita, Linn. Sp. PL p. 1534, nee Siv. 

 {Ag.) Willd. Sp. PI. v. p. 386, in pari. Bl. En. PI. Jav. 

 p. 210. Belang. Voy. p. 42. Wall. Cat. n. 100, in part 



* Agardh's observations upon the Pt. nemoralis, Willd., deserve to be here 

 recorded : — " A sequente {Pt. biaurita) nonnisi venarum structnra differre vidctur. 

 VeniE basales nunc omnino discretae et ad ipsum sinum excurrentes, nunc ex 

 laciniis adjacentibus infra sinum obvia;, et raniis furCiE inferioribns sese tangenti- 

 bus vel immo in unu7n coalescentibus, arctim, minus tamen quani in sequente 

 specie, regularem, formantes." 



