28 ADIANTUM TENERTJM. 



lobate; sterile lobes serrulate, the fertile ones entire. The 

 pinnules are petiolate, the base being unequally cuneate. 



Sori oblong-reniform and numerous, from ten to thirteen on 

 a pinnule. 



The length of the frond from eighteen inches to three feet, 

 nearly two-thirds of which is naked. Stipes and rachis ebe- 

 neous and glossy, the polished black stem extending even to 

 the foot-stalk of the pinnules, and this produces a great con- 

 trast to the brilliant green of the pinnules. The frond is 

 lateral, being attached to a short creeping rhizoma. 



There are several varieties of A. tenerum; in one the pinnules 

 are shorter, and in another form they are larger. 



It is a native of the West Indies, Central America, Guadaloupe, 

 The West Indian Islands, Cuba, St. Vincent, Bahamas, Antigua, 

 Acapulco, Realego, Veraguas, and Jamaica. 



It appears to have been introduced into England as long ago 

 as 1793. 



My thanks are due to Mr. Parker, of the Paradise Nursery, 

 Holloway; and to Mr. Lamb, gardener to F. Wright, Esq., of 

 Osmaston Manor, for plants of this species; and to Mr. Jackson, 

 gardener to Lord Scarsdale; and to Mr. Norman, of Hull, for 

 fructified fronds. 



It is in the Catalogues of Sim, of Foot's Cray; Rollisson, of 

 Tooting; Veitch, of Exeter; Lucombe, Pince, and Co., Exeter; 

 and A. Henderson, of Pine-apple Place. 



The illustration is from a plant in my own possession. 



