1, PLATYZOMA, 2. GLEICHENIA, § EUGLEICHENIA, 11 



Oed. FILICES. Ferns. 



Capsules (sporangia) 1-celled, usually membranaceous and dorsal, or marginal, 

 encircled by a complete or incomplete, jointed, elastic rinff, collected in clusters 

 {sori) of a definite but varied form, with or without a covering {involucre, often 

 called indusium) ; or panicled or even spicate, rarely laxly scattered ; or the 

 capsules have the ring obsolete, or none, or the ring is confined to the apex of the 

 capsule, where it forms a longitudinally striated crown, bursting vertically ; or 

 the capsules are sunk in a many-ceUed, fleshy or corky receptacle of varied forms, 

 opening by pores or clefts on the upper surface. Spores minute, various in form. 

 — Yevnationffenerally drcinate, rarely erect. Gejt. 1-75. Tab. I,-IX. Fig. 1-76. 



Sub-Ord. I. GLEICHENIACE^, Br. 



Sori dorsal, of few (2-10) capsules. Capsules opening vertically, surrounded by 

 a broad, transverse, complete ring. Invol. O.— -Gaud, mostly creeping. St. often 

 dichotomous. fronds ngid, generally la/rge and dichotomously branched, frequently 

 hearing axillary buds. Vernation drcinate. (Gen. 1, 2.) Tab. I. f. 1, 2. 



Gen. ]. PiATYzoMA, Br. 



Sori of few sessile caps. (" mixed with a pulverulent substance," Br.), arising 

 from the apex of simple veinlets, and concealed by the singularly revolute mar- 

 gins of the pinnse. — Caudex creeping, beautifully sericeo-paleaceous. Stipites tufted. 

 — Fronds 8 in. to ] ft. ]., pinnated, with small, coriaceous, cucullate pinncB, scarcely 

 1 line 1. Tab. I. f. 1. 



1. P. microphyllum, Br. — HJc. Sp. l.p. 2. 



Hab. Trop. and subtrop. Australia. — A genus too nearly allied to Qleichenia. 



Gen. 2. Gleichenia, Sm. (see Appendix, p. 449). 



Sori of few (2-4 rarelj"^ 6-10) sessile caps., situated on a lower exterior veinlet. 

 — Caud. mostly creeping. Fr. rarely unbranched, generally dichotomously divided, 

 of len proliferous from the axils of the forks ; pinnse deeply pinnatifid, mth the seg- 

 ments small and concave, suborbicular, or pectinate with elongated lobes. Tab. I. f. 2. 



§ Eugleichenia. Sori solitary at the apex of a veinlet on the superior base of a 

 lobe; lobes of the pinnoe small, suborbicular. Sp. 1-6. 



1. G. (Eugl.) moniliformis, Moore ; caud. slender, substipitiform, erect, branched ; 

 St. tufted, 3-4 in. 1. ; fr. coriaceous, 8-12 in. 1., 3 in. br., linear, deeply pinnatifid ; 

 lobes numerous, broad, concave beneath ; sori solitary, mixed with ferruginous 

 hairs. — Stromatopteris, Mett. in Ann. Sc. N. 1861,/). 84. t. 3. 



Hab. New Caledonia, Vieillard, n. 1571. — A very remarkable species, but scarcely 

 difieriog from the present genus. 



2. G. {Eugl.) polypodioides, Sm. ; lobes of the pinnae ovate, glaucous beneath ; 

 caps. 3-4, sunk in a cavity forming a flat-topped sorui, — Schk, F. t. 149 ; Hi:, 

 Sp. l.p. 3. G. glaiica, Sw. (non Hk. Sp. 1. p. 4). 



Hab. S. Afr. ; Cape Colony (north to Angola, Welwitscli). 



3. G. (Eugl.) circinata, Sw. ; lobes of the pinnce ovate or subrotund (most so 

 when fertile), more or less glaucous beneath, the margins slightly recurved ; caps. 

 3-4, superficial, branches and rachis glabrous, or more or less clothed witli chaffy 

 pubescence. — G. microphylla, Br. Hk. Sp. 1. p.3. G. Speluncse, Br. Hk. Sp. 1. 

 p. 2. «. 1. B. ; GuiU. Ic. PI. Austr. t. 12. G. semivestita, Lah. Sert. N. Cal. t, 11 ; 

 Hk. Sp. l.p. 3. t. 2. A (rachises and young fr. very paleaceo-pubescent). 



Hab. Australia, Tasmania, N. Zeal., N. Caledonia, Malacca. 



