28 i 



EKISTLE FEP.N. 



SgiiOKgiws, J;igtttcs, iff. 



? Trichomanes radicans, Swartz, Fl. Ind. Occ. 1736, Syn. 

 Fil. 143. 



Trichomanes radicans, Neicm. in litt. 1838 ; Hook, and Am. 

 576; Bab. 416; Aloore, 199. 



Trichomanes speciosum, Willcl. Sp. Plant, v. 614 ; Neiom. 

 N. A. 29, F. 305, Phytol. AjJj). xxix. 



Hymenophyllum alatum, Sm. E. B. 1417. 



Trichomanes brevisetum, B. Br. in Ait. Hort. Keiv. v. 529 ; 

 Sm. E. F. iv. 324 ; Mack. Fl. Hib. 344 ; Franc. 62. 



Trichomanes europseum, Sm. in Bees' Encijc. xxxvi. 



Trichomanes alatum, Hook. Fl. Lond. t. 53. 



There is a good figure of this fern in Hooker's ' Flora Lon- 

 dinensis (t. 53), under the name of Trichomanes alatum ; and 

 another in 'English Botany' (1417), under that of Hj'meno- 

 phyllum alatum. 



This plant is supposed to be the " Filix humilis repens " of 

 Ray's ' Synopsis,' (Eaii Syn. p. 128, tab. iii. f. 3), and there 

 stated to have been found by Dr. Richardson near Bingley, in 

 Yorkshire. Passing over the synonymes of Hudson, Bolton, 

 Withering, and Berkenhout, which, although usually supposed 

 to be intended for the present plant, must be received with 

 doubt, we come to the description by Brown in the ' Hortus 

 Kewensis ' (Hort. Kew. v. 529, 2nd ed.), who considered the 

 species new, and gave it the name of Trichomanes brevisetum, 

 which has been adopted by most modern botanists. Smith, in 

 Rees' ' Cyclopaedia ' (Art. Trichomanes), described it as Tri- 

 chomanes europseum ; and Sprengel, in his ' Systema Vegeta- 

 bilium ' (Syst. Veg. iv. 130), as Trichomanes hibemicum. In 

 preparing the first edition of this work for the press, I identified 

 the Irish Trichomanes with the well-known and widely- distri- 

 buted Trichomanes speciosum of Willdenow, an inhabitant of 

 Madeira, Teneriffe, &c., some beautiful specimens of which 

 had been recently brought to England by my late lamented 

 friend, William Christy. I was not, however, wholly satisfied 

 with the discovery, important though it were ; but having at 

 that period a disposition to associate allied species, I carefully 

 compared the T. speciosum of Willdenow with the T. radicans 



