Notes on Marsilea Villosa Kaulf 
CHARLES N. ForBEs. 
Marsilea villosa, first collected by Chamisso on the island of 
Oahu, Hawaii, was described by Kaulfuss! as follows: 
M. foliolis cuneato-obovatis rotundatis integerrimis strigosis, petiolis 
strictis coarctatis, capsulis subsessilibus villosissimis. Habitat in Owahu 
|Oahu]. Chamisso. Foliola subtus strigosa. Petioli 4-6 pollicares subcapil- 
lares strigosi. Capsulae lana ferruginea inyolutae. 
Brackenridge* referred specimens of Marsilea collected in Ore- 
gon, California, and Oahu, Hawaii, to V/. villosa Kaulf. He consid- 
ered M. vestita Hk. and Grev. to be a synonym, stating in the text: 
The plants from these several localities do not differ from each other in 
any essential respect. The leaves and peduncles in specimens from the same 
locality sometimes vary in being more or less villous. Our Oregon plant is 
evidently the MW. vestita of Hooker and Greville’, although not quite so hairy 
W. J. Robinson* makes the following statement in regard to 
M. villosa: 
The specimens examined indicate that the Hawaiian plant is a larger 
and less hairy species than that figured by Hooker and Greville. 
Through the kindness of Dr. W. A. Setchell I have recently had 
the opportunity to examine the J/. vestita, chietly fruiting specimens, 
in the University of California Herbarium. Although there was con- 
siderable variation in this representative series of specimens, from 
numerous localities in the region extending from Oregon to Lower 
California, nearly all of the plants were less hairy than old fruiting 
specimens of MW. villosa recently collected in Hawaii. The M. ves- 
tita of the west coast of North America grows in places that become 
completely dry in summer. Having had a large colony of MV. villosa 
under observation since 1916, | can now positively state that the 
*Kaulfuss, G. F., Enumeratio filicum quas in itinere circa terram legit 
Cl. Adalbertus de Chamisso, p. 272, 1824. 
* Brackenridge, Wm. D., U. S. Exp. Wilkes, Botany, Filices, p. 340, 1854. 
* Hooker, W. J., and Greville, R. K., Icones filicum, vol. 2, tab. 159, 1831. 
in all its parts as represented by their figure. 
“Robinson, W. J., A taxonomic study of the Pteridophyta of the Hawaiian 
Islands: Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, vol. 39, p. 233, 1912. 
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