ACROSTICIIUM, § GYMNOPTERIS. 273 



niinal one coadunate at the base forming the pinnatifid apex 

 and more entire at the margins of the segments, venation 

 manifest, costules distinct, veins anastomosing forming ra- 

 ther large unequal anguUir areoles inchiding free ofren forked 

 and divaricating ve'uAe.tti; fer/.i/e fronds nmch smaller ])in- 

 nate beh)w, pinnatifid at the apex, j)innce and segments 2-3 

 inches long 4-5 lines wide oblong obtuse entire or more or 

 less lohed.—Siv. Fl. Ind. Occ. p. 1595. Syn. Fil. p. 13. 

 UiUd. Sp. PL V. p. 120. Gymnopteris, Pr. Hook. Gen. Fil. 

 t.85. Fee, Acrost. p. 84. Anapausia, Moo7-e. Chrysodium, 

 Metten. Acrost. brunneum, IVilld. [Kze. in Herb, noslr.). 

 A. caudatum, Cav. and Willd., is by some authors referred 

 here. Acrost. cladorhizans, Spr. A. Portoricense, Spr. 

 A. hastatum, Liebm. Fil. Mex. p. 20 [and in Herb, nostr.). 

 A. umbrosum, Liebm. I. cp. 22 [and in Herb, nostr.). Plum. 

 Fil. p. 10. t. 10. 



Ilah. Tropical America. West Indies : Jamaica, Sicartz, and prol)ahly in most 

 of the islands; Cuba, Linden, n. 1755, C. Wright, n. 783; Porto Rico, Sc/nna- 

 necke. New Granada, Purdie, Fendler, n. 336. Mexico, Liebold, Galeotti, n. 

 6572. Guatemala, Skinner. — Our ])late in the ' Genera Filicuni ' well represents 

 the sterile and fertile fronds and the venation of this plant, and Plumier's figure 

 is much less exaggerated than is usual in his representations of Ferns. The spe- 

 cies is, however, as Fee remarks, " extremement variable dans ses formes et dans 

 ses dimensions ;" and some of the smaller states scarcely differ from those of A. 

 semipinnaiifidum, e.xcept in the presence of copious free veinlets. 



151. A. (Gymnopteris) semipinnatifidum, Hook.; caudex 

 creeping thick as a goose or a swan's quill subsetaceo-palea- 

 ceous, stipites a span to a foot long, \\ foot of the fertile 

 frond, fronds firm or subcoriaceo-membranaceous very dark 

 green 10-15 inches long; sterile ones subdeltoid pinnatifid 

 or in the perfect state pinnated below with 1-2 or rarely 3 

 pairs of sessile or subpetioled pinntc, near the middle with 

 1-2 pairs of very decurrent pinnae, the rest upwards are co- 

 adunate so that the apex of the frond is more or less deeply 

 pinnatifid, pinnaj 4-i) inches long f-li hich wide lanceolate 

 more or less attenuated at tlie base acuminate entire or 

 lobato-pinnatifid at the margins, lowest pair dilated at the 

 lower margin and there more deeply pinnatifid with the low- 

 est lobe sometimes very much elongated, lowest segments 

 of the upper portion also much elongated, the apex itself 

 lobato-pinnatifid, venation manifest, costules subhorizontal 

 distant, the veins variously anastomosing but forming elon- 

 gated costal and costular areoles, the areoles destitute of free 

 included branched veinlets or very rarely here and there with 



VOL. V. 2 N 



