414 GO. ACROSTICIIUM, *** POLYBOTRYA. 



on the lo%ver side ; texture coriaceous ; rachis and both sides naked ; veins fine, 

 in close pinnated groups, with two veinlets on each side ; St. of barren fr. 1 ft. 1. ; 

 barren pinnce pinnate, the lower ones 2-3 in. 1., 2-3 lin. br., the pinnl. oblong. 



Hab. Tarapota, North Peru, Spruce, 4090. 



76. A. {Po\y\>.) fractiseriale. Baker ; st. (of fertile fr.) 2 ft. 1., naked ; barren fr. 

 4 ft. 1., 2 ft. br., simply pinnate, with 16 innncB on each side, the lower ones 

 short-stalked, 1 ft. 1., 1^-1| in.br., tlie apex acuminate, the edge toothed, the base 

 rounded on the upper, truncate on the lower side ; texture coriaceous ; rachis and 

 both sides naked ; veins distinct, in pinnate groups of 3-4 on a side, with a simple 

 vein springing from the rachis midway between each group ; fertile pinnce 

 distant, simply pinnate, the lower ones 6 in. I., | in. br. 



Hab. Monte Campana, North Peru, Spruce, 4337. — This and the preceding are two 

 interesting novehies, easily recognisable from the other South American species by their 

 quite simple pinnse. 



77- A. (Polyb.) aspidioides. Baker ; 1 ft. high; st. densely clothed with lan- 

 ceolate-acuminate scales ; fr. bipinnatitid ; upper pimicB united at the base, 

 lower 2| in. 1., 1 in. br., cut down nearly to the rachis into blunt linear-oblong 

 falcate subserrulate lobes ; texture subcoriaceous ; surfaces naked ; fertile fr. 

 narrower, bipinnatitid, the lobes fertile on both sides. — Polybotrya, Griseb. Cat. 

 PI. Cub. f. 276. 



Hab. Cuba, Wright, 1827. — This we have not seen, and the description is compiled 

 from Grisebach, who compares the general habit of the plant to that of N. Filix-mas. 



78. A. {V olyh.") piibens. Baker ; rhizome woody, wide-scandent, scaly ; st. 6-9 

 in. 1., firm, erect, villose, scaly below ; barren fr. 2-3 ft. 1., 1 ft. or more br., the 

 lower jnnno} 5-6 in. 1., l^-lg in. br., cut more than halfway down to the midrib 

 into close blunt subentire oblong lobes |^-f in. br. ; texture subcoriaceous ; all 

 the rachises villose and the under surface sliglitly so ; fertile pinnce 1 in. or more 

 apart, the upper ones simple, 8-4 in 1., \ in. br., the lower ones with a few short 

 branches spreading at right angles from the lower part. — Polyb. Kze. Linncea, 

 9. p. 23. 



Hab. Brazil, Martius ; Peru, Poppig, Spruce, 3880, 4740. — This is much less compound 

 than the next, with which it is united in " Sp. Fil.," the lower pinnae being not larger 

 than the central ones and pinnatifid only. 



79. A. (Polyb.) acuminatum, Hk. ; rhizome thick, woody, wide-scandent, 

 densely scaly ; st. 4-6 in. 1., firm, erect, scaly throughout ; barren fr. 1-2 ft. 1., 

 often 1 ft. br., deltoid, bipinnate ; upper pinnce oblong-lanceolate, slightly lobed, 

 truncate on the lower side at the base, 2-3 in. 1., |-1 in. br. ; lower pinnce 6-8 

 in. 1., 4-5 in. br., with several s\m.\\&r pinnl. on each side ; texture subcoriaceous; 

 rachis and both sides naked ; fertile fr. 1 ft. 1., deltoid, tripinnate ; segm. short, 

 linear-oblong. — Hk. tSp. 5. /». 245. 



Hab. Brazil — This resembles the least divided forms of the next in its barren frond, 

 but the fertile frond is more compact and more compound, with much shorter ultimate 

 divisions. The Peruvian P. nutans, Kze., seems to come near to this, but the fertile 

 frond is said to be subquadripinnatifid at the base. 



80. A. (Polyb.) caudatum. Ilk.; rhizome woody, wide-scandent, often 1 in. 

 thick ; St. woody, erect, with long linear scales at the base ; //•. bipinnate or 

 tripinnatifid, 3-4 ft. 1., 1-3 ft. br., the upper barren pinnce lanceolate, pinnatifid, 

 the lower ones sometimes 18 in. 1., 6-10 in. br. ; 2^i)inl. 3-5 in. 1., |-lj in. br., 

 the edge entire, with oblong-falcate lobes reaching halfway down to the 

 midrib ; texture subcoriaceous ; rachis and both sides naked ; fertile pinnl. 2-3 

 in. 1., 1 lin. br., continuous or beaded, j-1 in. apart. — Hk. Sp. 5. p. 244. 



