156 ASPLEXIUM, § EUASPLEXIUM. 



Ilab. Neilgherries, "Schmidt, n. 99 and 122." — "From its near d.\\\,J.nifem, 

 Sw., this differs in the thicker and more opaque frond iialeaceo-hirsute beneath, 

 especially at the baseof thepinn;c, pinnatifid at the apox; the pinna; less caudate, 

 at the base beiieatii less dilated, sjjaringly and slightly serrated more distinctly 

 striato-venose, rachis and stipes paleaceo-hirsute. Fronds 8 inches long and 5 

 wide. Stipites 3-6 inches long, very flexuose." — Quite unknown to me. 



126. A. (Euasplenium) contiguum, Klfs. ; "fronds pinnate, 

 pinnaj linear-lanceolate attenuate inciso-serrate, serratures 

 toothed, the superior base rotundato-cuneate subauriculate 

 inferior abscisso-attenuate, sori contiguous parallel with the 

 costa, caudex repent, stipes G inches long, frond equally long, 

 pinna? an inch and a half to .3 inches." (Tab. CXCIV. 

 Fig. 1.) Kcnilf. En. FU. p. 175. Hook, et Am. in Bot. 

 of Beech. Voy. Brack. FU. U. S. Expl. Exp. p. 158. Metten. 

 Asp/cn. p. 152. Moore, Lid. FU. p. 121. — Var. fiUforme ; 

 piniifc more deeply inciso-serrate elongated at the apex into 

 a long filiform point. Aspl. filiforme, Kaulf. En. FU.p. 172. 

 Hook, et Am. in Bot. of Beech. Voy. p. 106. Metten. Asplen. 

 p. 152. Brack. I. c. p. 158. A. contiguum, /3 filiforme, Moore, 

 lad. FU. p. 121. (Tab. CXCIV. Fig. 2, 3, 4.)— Var. leptu- 

 rns ; piimae larger very deeply inciso-serrate 5-6 inches long 

 gradually tapering into a very long narrow acumen. (Tab. 

 CXCIV. Fig. 5.) — A. lepturus, /. Sin. in Hook. Journ. Bot. 

 \n. p. 408 {name only). FresI, Epimel. Bot. p. 72. Metten. 

 Asplen. p. 152. Aspl. contiguum, /3 filiforme, Moore, I. c. 



Hab. Oahu, Sandwich Islands, C/iamisno, Beechey, Diell (sub nom. A. filiforme, 

 Klf.).—\ax. filiforme. Oahu, Chaniisno, Beechey. Var. lepturuf. Luzon, Cuming, 

 n. 211. Neilgherries, Gardner. — Jspl. contiyuam is a Sandwich Island Fern, 

 established by Kaulfuss and retained by most botanists since his time, and we 

 are under the great disadvantage of not lieing able to have recourse to authentic 

 specimens to form an exact idea of the precise Asplenium the author had in 

 view. Add to which, his very brief description appears to have been drawn ui» 

 from a solitary frond only 6 inches long, with pinna: from IJ to 2 inches only 

 long. His A. fiUforme is now generally allowed to be the same species having 

 pinnre 4 inches long. Under such ditficulties I can only offer the figure (Fig. 5) 

 of a pinna of a Fern from Oahu, which agrees sufficiently with, and I believe is the 

 same as, Kaulfuss's, of which I have some specimens with pinna? 2 inches long, 

 others 4 inches. I represent at Fig. 2, 3, 4, the ^.//(/brwe of Kaulf., which is in- 

 termediate i)etween A. confiyuuin and A. lepfiirusiVi^.b), of which pinnaj are re- 

 presented at Fig. G, 7, and this again borders so closely upon smae states of A.fal- 

 catum (and 1 may add two of A. caudatuni), that I know not how any real line 

 of distinction can be drawn. It is remarkable that notwithstanding the rich 

 harvest of Ferns made by Mr. Brackenridge in the Pacific, and especially the 

 Sandwich Islands, he does not acknowledge any A. caudatuni, from which I infer 

 that the smaller forms of it he would be likely to unite with A. contiyuum (of 

 which he says, " Very closely allied to A. falcatum") or to A. fa/cafum itself, 

 which he tells us occurs frequently on all the groups of islands in the Pacific 

 Ocean. If as variable as in the numerous specimens in our herbarium, and as 

 shown in our Tab. CXCIV, he has good authority for such a measure. 



