dual just alluded to was discovered, all the known Aspidia 
“ frondibus simplicibus” possessed this remarkable character. 
PLUMIER first described and figured the Aspidium nodo- 
sum from plants that he discovered on the trunks of fallen 
trees in the Island of Martinique, and he seems to have 
been much struck with its beauty. “ La racine pousse” (says 
he) “ en toute sa longueur des feuilles & pédicules noirs, et 
d’une membrane trés ferme, d’un vert foneé, si unie et si 
polie, que vous prendriez les feuilles pour des pieces de sa- 
tin, bordées d’un galon blane, et toutes traversées par des 
_ lignes paralléles, droites, et tirées & angles droits sur la prin- 
cipale uerviire.” ScHxkunr only knew the plant from Pxv- 
MIER’s figure; and the author of Lamancx’s Encyclopedia, 
as well as Swartz, appear never to have seen specimens, as 
they have confounded it with their 4. articulatum, a native 
of the Isle of France, which has never yet been delineated, and 
which is distinguished from the present individual by its chaffy 
stipes and scattered fructification. 
For the possession of this plant in my Herbarium, I am 
indebted to the Reverend Lanspown Gur.p1ne, who finds 
the species in the Island of St Vincent's. 
Fig. 1. Portion of the frond. Fig. 2. Cluster of capsules with its involucre. 
Fig. 3. Single capsule. Fig. 4. Seeds.—All more or less magnified. 
