Sal)-Or&er I. aioichoniaeceo. 

 Sort Buporflcial, dorsally iuscrted composed of 

 few 01- several grouped, sessile, s^o a j which 

 are globose or subglobose, and circumscribed by 

 a complete, broad, transverse ring opening 

 vorlically at maturity ; invohto-c none 



Geaus 1. Qleiclieida, * '^ 



Sori puuctiforiD, formed of 3-12 ( arelj more) 

 cliist<Ted sjyoranf/ia, (which appear in some cases 

 scattered,) medially inserted on the veinletb roof 

 ff/ocA-slcudcr.nottliickcrthanaqull f ee c ceping 

 fronds ascending or sub-scaiident w th &1 ndcr 

 rigid, stems and distant lateral leaf-branches, 

 which arc mostly dichotomously-forked and 

 flabelliform, having scaly axillary buds ; pinnte 

 pectinate ; veins forked, free. 



A well marked group of plants of singular bnt nearly 

 nniform habit, diffused abundantly throughout the 

 island from the lowest to the highest elevations, cover- 

 ins road-sidp Lanks and very extensive tracts of open 

 and, not verv deosely, shaded land, where tbey form 

 entangled and haidly penetrable thickets, and mono- 

 polise" the entire pos.se^.sioD of the ground. Theloc.il 

 species are about a «xth of the known number, which 

 are spread ibroug-Ii the tropics oC both tlie Old and 

 New World extending into the warmer regions of the 

 1 Hemisphere. In all the spd 







1 branched, 

 2 fronds' scattered ou ita axis. 

 § Led f -branches* dichotomoasly forked ; pinna 



j-i lu a group 



la, Kaulf, t 



elnMv abundant along the 



once forked. — Cf. 



■.\\ t In 1 



4 G levol . 



B K nookc and Baker 



1. G. piibeseeiis, H. B. K. ; stem aseendiii! 

 flexuose, eventually naked, I while immature 

 clothed with minute scattered appressed scurfy 

 scales ; leaf-branches in 1-4 opposite distant 

 pairs, which nro once to twice dichotomously- 

 forked; common petiole of branch scariously mar- 

 gined, with a few pimiHltt; at the base on the 

 inner side only, reaching a thirdot halfway up : 

 secondary petioles with pinnulaj reaching quite 

 to their base, or a few abseut on the outer side ; 

 pLinfv 9-24 in. 1. 1^-3 in. w., gradually taper- 

 ing outwards ; ^jimiui-r linear, 2-3 lines wide, 

 connected at the base, naked on the upper side, 

 densely coated beneath with rusty or greyish felt- 

 like tomeiitum : sori copious ; capsules 3-5 in 

 a group, usually 3, immersed in the tomentum ; 

 veitis once forked. 



Very common, forming thickets in open and halE- 

 open fiituntions, ascending from the seadevel, up to 

 6000 ft. altitude. Unmmistakablc by means of its 

 dense under-coating of far-like tomoDtum and long 

 rigid tapering pinna;. G. longipiiinuta. Hook, is the 

 form with very long pinnee. — Diffused commonly 

 through the tropical regions of the New World. 



2. G. fun-ata, Swartz ; strong, the immature 

 ascending stem clothed with ragged rufus scales 

 which ultimately become p-ole ; leaf-branrhcs 

 in two to three opposite pairs, spreading fan-like, 

 the ends of the pinnos drooping, 3-4 times dicho- 

 tomously-forked ; connnon petiole devoid of 

 pinnula; as are alsu the secondary, but more or 

 less clothed with red lacinate scales ; costa 

 aealy beneath, and rusty-tomentoae above ; pin- 

 na: 6-10 in. 1. 1.^-2 in. w. ; pinntdte linear, 

 1-1^ lines w., naked above but with very miuuto 

 scattered greyish stellate scales beneath ; sori 

 not plenliful ; ca^ystdes 3-4 ; veins once forked. 



V.;rv cummoD in the mid-region of the great moun- 

 tain nnge at about 4000 ft. altitude, in low forest 



leaf branches be leath 

 rach ses clothe 1 w th fer ug nous scales repeatedly 

 dichotomons, sometimes proliferous, rig d , j iniim 

 linear-acuminate, coriaceous ; pinnule ovate, 

 obtuse, horizontal, with rcvoluto margins, glau- 

 cous on the underside ; cajisules 2-4. 



Found bv Povdie on the summit of the Blue Moun- 

 tain. ; jipparentiv well luarked by the narrow linear 

 pinnre and short'broadish revoUite-margined segments. 



Found also at high elevations in the Andes of Quito 



and in Urasil. 



• • Lcaf-hranclies nal-ed (or almost soj; capsulet 

 12 or feiver. 

 5. G. pectinutit, Pr. ; stipites slender, brownish ; 

 stem slender, zigzag, with two or more pairs of 

 opposite loosely extending leaf-branches, which 

 are 1-2 ft. 1., the vaehis zigzag, cartUaginous 

 margined, and having several alternate dichoto- 

 mously-forked spreading similar secondary loaf- 

 branches ! petioles cartilaginous margined, devoid 

 of pinnulce but with foliaceous bracts in the 

 axils; pinnae 6-10 in. 1. 1^-2 in. v., outer sido 

 wider below, inner reduced there ; pinnnUx con- 

 nected at the base, linear, bluntish, emarginate, 

 2 lines wide at the little dilated base, pale glau- 

 oou", and in eases sligbtly rust.y-tomentose on tha 

 veins; wnu 2-3 times "forked ; sori usually not 

 plentiful; capsules in clusters of ^12 (13) or less. 

 Generallv'd iff used in greafabvindanee from the sea- 

 level up to" nearly 6000 ft. 'altitude, covering road- 

 "e banks and other open places. Much more common 

 m the next specie**, from which it is clearly dis- 

 ...^"uished by its long leaf-branches and the absence of 

 the" axillary pair of pinnso which subtend the forks of 

 that. There is a form common about Mt. Moses, 

 intermediate between them, with abortive axillary 

 pinnre and very broad. ultimate ones,— Spread.through- 

 out^Tropical America. 



6. G. dirhotoma, Willd. ; stem pale, glossy, 

 with 2-3 opposite pairs of short leaf-branches, 

 which are 2-3 times dichotomously-forked, hav- 

 ing, in addition to the axillary foliaceous bracts, 

 a pair of divaricated deflexed inferior axillary 

 pinnce, uniformly pectinate but much shorter than 

 the principal pinnse; the latter 6-10 in. 1. 1^-2 

 in. w. ; pintiuliE emarginate, pale glaucous be- 

 neath ; veins 1-3 times forked; sori copious; 

 capsules 12 or less in each cluster. 



Frequent on the slopes of .the Blue Moantain range 

 iu onen iilaccs from ^000--"iOUO ft. altitude, and on 

 ill,, 'il.iiii 1, - ' [ II .1- J'.t lunch less common than 

 ti„. L--. 1 much lesf diffase ' and 



f..„'h"i,,ik 111 ...- ....■■> !,/...:■; it,— Tropical _and warm 



§ § leaf-b 



isheil from the pi 



eceding by the plentiful 

 usly divided loaf- branches, 



The plant has a faint aurc 



'PP , , 



■prcading from each other, with the drooping endfj of 

 the pinna?, are quite umbrella-like in form,— Spread 

 from the West Indies to Guiana and^Brasil. 



3. G. JIatthetusii, Hook. ; stein ascending, de- 

 ciduously scaly, sometimes forked, each one hav- 

 ing 2-3 pairs of opposite leafy -branches which 

 a,re 2-3 times dichotomouslj'-forked ; common 

 petiole lined on both sides (usually) at the base 

 with pinmilie, serondary lined throughout ; pin- 

 7Ke 5-S in. 1. ^-1 in. w., naked, but slightly 

 glandular beneath and suh-glaucous ; rinnmix 

 foliaceoiu, and with the petioles ) and costa? 

 densely clothed with chesnut colored lacinate 

 soaleB, the latter only beneath ; sort sparse ; cap- 



nches not dichotomoitsly-forked, pin- 

 parallel j" sporangia 3-6. 



7. G. hnqissima, Bl. ; stipites er6ct,"about the 

 size of a stout quill, subaugular, dark-colored, 

 glossy ; stem 3-6 ft. high, with 1-2 pairs of long 

 opposite branches, which extend at right anglea 

 arch-like ; terminal bud densely , clothed with 

 linear-acuminate light-brown scales ; leaf-punches 

 bi-pinnate, 3-5 ft. 1. 15-21 in. w., theirjpinnio 

 close, 6-10 in. 1. 1^ in. w., Bpreading^orizon- 

 tally ; pinmdes close, linear, acute, the'margina 

 often reflexed, | in. 1. 1-1^ lines wide, the 

 inferior free and aubeordote at the base on the 

 upper^side, adnate and shortly decurrentW the 

 lower*; rachis with two light-colored marginal 

 lines down the face ; surface * glaucous beneath ; 

 texture rigid ; veins rarely twice forked ; sori 

 sparse or ;;copions ; capsules 3-5 in a cluster, 

 mLxed with a few lanate hairs. G. Bancroftii, 

 Hook. — Var. gracilis, Jenman ; pinnse and pin- 

 nula; smaller, and finely cut, the ^former ^ in. 

 the latter ^ line w. 



A fine' and Jwell' marked species, of ^singular babit, 

 not to be confounded with any other plant. Very com- 

 mon on the skirts of forests and more open places at 

 6000-6000 ft. altitude. It usually has only a single 

 pair of branches. — Spread, in different forms, through 

 much of both the Old and the New World at high 

 elevations within^thc tropical zone. 



(Jamaica Ferns.) 



