252 43, ASPIDIUM, § POLYSTICHUSL 



mucronate, the central one the lavs:est, and all sometimes a little toothed, the 

 hase cuneate, nearly equal on botli sides, tlie lower ones distinctly stalked ; 

 texture very coriaceous ; veins obscure ; sori in two close rows. — Hk. Sp. 4. 

 p. 15. t. 21.5. 



Hab. Jamaica ; gathered by Purdie and Wilson. — This and the preceding are both 

 united by Grisebach with triangulum. 



*** Lower pinnce once xnnnate. Sp. 18-29. 



18. A. (Polyst.) aculeatum, Sw'. ; st. tufted, 6-12 in. 1., more or less clothed 

 with ovate-lanceolate and tibrillose pale brown-scales ; fr. 1-2 ft. 1., 8-12 in. br., 

 ovate-lanceolate ; lower pinnce close, lanceolate, 4-6 in. 1., J-f in. br. ; pinnl. 

 ovate-rhomboidal, unequal-sided, auricled on the upper side at the base ; teeth 

 aristate ; texture subcoriaceous ; racMs straw-coloured, more or less scaly ; 

 under surface slightly fibrillcse ; sori principally in two rows nearer the midrib 

 than the edge. — a, A. lobatum, Sw. ; texture coriaceous ; pinnl. confluent at the 

 base. — /3, A. aculeatum, Sw. ; texture less rigid ; pnnnl. sessile, the lower ones free. 

 — 7, A, annulare, Willd. ; textu)'e less rigid, lower pinnl. stalked, sometimes 

 deepl}^ pinnatifid. — Hk. Sp. 4. p. 18. 



Hab. Throughout the world ; rare in the Arctic regions and Eastern N. America. — 

 A. squatrosum, Don {rufo-barbatum, Wall.) has the rachis densely clothed with reddish- 

 brown fibrillose scales ; A. proliferum, Br., is a proliferous Australian form ; A. vestitum, 

 Sw., has the rachis densely clothed to the point both with reddish-brown fibrillose and 

 large lanceolate dark-brown scales ; A. biarisiatum, Blume, has the frond narrowed sud- 

 denly upwards, and large rhomboidal pinnules, aristate principally at the point and 

 auricle ; the Cape A. luctuosum, Kunze, has the scales of the rachis fibrillose and nearly 

 black ; A. Tsus-Simense, Hk., is probably a slender form ; and A. ordinaturn, and Moritz- 

 ianum, Kunze, and Polyp, muricatum, L., are luxuriant forms from S. America. We 

 have non indusiate forms from New Zealand {Polyp, sylvaticum, Colenso), Britain (var. 

 plumosum, Moore) ; and there is a wide range of forms in S. America included under 

 Polyp, rigidum (Sp. Fil. 4. p. 246 ; Ic. Fil. t. 163), which correspond to the various forms 

 of this species, differing only by the want of an involucre. 



19. A. (Polyst.) 2>unc/ens, Kaulf. ; rhizome stout, wide-creeping ; st. scattered, 

 1 ft. 1., stramineous, scaly only below ; fr. 2-.3 ft. 1., 9-12 in. br. ; lower pinnce 

 6-12 in. 1., 1-2 in. br. ; jnnnl. ovate-rbomboidal, unequal-sided, often deeply 

 pinnatifid, the teeth awned ; texture subcoriaceous ; both surfaces naked ; sori 

 principally in two rows nearer the midrib than the edge. — Schlecht. Adumb. 

 p. 21. t. 10. 



Hab. Cape Colony and Natal. — Best distinguished from aculeatum by its creeping 

 rhizome. 



20. A. (Polyst.) mohrioides, Bory; st. tufted, 2-6 in.]., stout, more or less 

 densely clothed with lanceolate dark-brown scales; /r. 6-12 in 1., 2-3in.br., 

 with numerous dense, often imbricated, lanceolate pinnce, which are cut down 

 below into slightly-tootlied oblong-rlioniboidal pinnl.; teeth blunt or mucronate ; 

 texture coriaceous ; both surfaces naked ; rachis stout, compressed, scaly ; veins 

 close, immersed ; sori copious. — Ilk. Sp. 4. p. 26. 



Hab. Patagonia and the Cordilleras of Chili. — Like a stout reduced form of lobalum ; 

 but tetth in the typical specimens not at all spinulose. Gathered lately on Marion 

 L-iland by Mr. Moseley, of the Challenger expedition. 



21. A. (Polyst.) obtusum, Mett. ; st. tufted, 4-6 in. 1., densely clothed with 

 large, ovate-acuminate, bright-brown scales ; fr. 1 ft. or more 1., 4-6 in. br., 

 lanceolate, with numerous distant linear-lanceolate pinnce, the lower ones 3-4 

 in. 1., I in. br. ; innnl. distinct, oblong-rhomboidal, the obscure teeth blunt or 



