ACTINIOPTERIS. 275 



ceous, cylindrical, quite surrounding the snrus and including 

 the receptacle, bursting Oj)en irregularly and longitudinally in 

 sucli a manner as to be imperfectly 2-valved. — Tropical Fern 

 of the East Indies and Pacific Islands. Fronds ample, pin- 

 nated, Jierhaceo-memhranaceous. Pinnae larrje, uunierons, oh- 

 lung-lanceolate, sessile, finely acnniinated. Veins free, and 

 forked near the base, and tliere only soriferous, anastomosing 

 into subhcxagonal areoles towards the margin. 



1. All. Brunoniana, Wall. PI. Asiat. Rar. p. 44. t. 52. 

 Cat.p.G.i. Hook. Gen. Fit. I.e. Moore, Ind. Pit. jj.A^. Hemi- 

 dictyum? Brunonis, Pr. Tent. Pterid. p. 111. t. 3. /. 25, 26. 

 Asj)lenium Brunonianum, Metten. Fil. Hort. Lips. p. 71- 

 Asplen. p. 170. Asplen. reticulatum, Wall. Cat. n. 188. A. 

 Javanicum, Bl. En. Fil. Jav. p. 175. 



Ilab. Tahiti, Nelson. Nepal and Sheopore, JVallich. Ceylon, Gardner, n. 

 1057. Assam, Shnons. Sikkim, elev. 6000 feet, Hook. fil. and Thomson. Java, 

 Blame, Milled. — This fine Fern is very different in habit and venation from the 

 original Allantodia umbrosa and A. australis,\ih{c\\ can hardly with propriety lie 

 separated from the Jthyritim-group of Aspleninm. It is true that, in both, the 

 unexpanded involucre is oblong-cylindraceous ; but the normal mode of bursting 

 in tlie two now mentioned is at the superior margin, as in Aspleninm: here it 

 is at a distance from either side, so that, when burst, a portion remains attached 

 on eacli side the sorus. The general aspect of the Fern, as well as the venation, 

 resembles Uemidictyum : from wliich the involucres are totally different. 



3. AcTiNioPTERis, Link. 



(Hook. Ic. Pl. tab. DCCCCLXXV.-VI. Asplenium, 

 Sw. and others. Blechnum, Pr. Acrostichum, Vahl, and 



forests, form a majestic crescent three or four miles deep, with a chord of fifteen 

 or twenty miles in length, raising themselves almost perpendicularly to a height of 

 :iOOO or 4000 feet, a Ceterach abounds, varying through every possible grade 

 of form and magnitude, from our common dwarf dry- wall C. officinarum, v.ith 

 fronds 2-4 inches long, to splendid tufts of bright green and golden-ferruginous 

 fronds, 12-18 or even 24 inches long, and presenting in tlieir fullest develop- 

 ment all the characters ascribed to C. aureum. In a less striking manner, be- 

 cause on a wider field, I found the same in Grand Canary. There, in the lower, 

 drier regions, you find only the smaller Madciran form : in the higher and moister 

 {e.ff. the remains of the ancient forest region of Doramas), you have the large, 

 luxuriant plant of El Golfo. I could arrive in the Canaries, therefore, at no 

 other conclusion than in Madeira, viz. that there is in both groups only one 

 Si)ecies, the extreme forms of which appear very different, but which pass imper- 

 ceptil)ly into each other, and that the smaller forms cannot be distinguished from 

 C. oDk'inarum, W. The locality in Ilicrro above specified is remarkable for the 

 rankness and luxiniancc of all its vegetation. So is that of Grand Canary." 



