6. ALSOPHILA- 37 



especially in the small, very close-spaced and strongly pinnatifid lobes, of which the lowest 

 pairs are exactly square, adnate on two sides with the costa and costule. 



28. A. nemicosa, Mett. ; fr. ample, tripinnatifid ; racnises brown-stramineous 

 glabrous; pinmB oblong - lanceolate, ^1 ft. 1.; pinnl. subsessile, ligulate 

 14-2^ in. 1., cut Aovra to a broad wing into oblong ascendmg close blunt entire 

 segm. i in. br. ; texture subcoriaceous ; both surf(Kes green, subglabrous, the ribs 

 below with a few broad whitish scales ; veinlets i-S-jngate, the lower forked ; 

 sort supra-medial, moderately large. — Kuhn LiuTiwa, 36. p. loo. 



Hab. Venezuela, Fendler, 844.— Catting like frOlosa, with a very different vesti- 

 tnre. 



29. A. melanopus, Hk. ; " caud. 3-15 ft. high, 1 ft. diam., unarmed, ramen- 

 taceous " (^Spruce) ; «i. 3 ft. 1., 1 in. thick, intense ebony-black (as well as the jt>r»»». 

 rachises), slightly tuberculate and at the base paleaceous with very long, narrow 

 scales ; fr. coriaceo-membranaceous, glabrous ; prim, pinnce 5 ft. 1., 12 pairs 3 ft., 

 or nearly so 1., 1 ft. w. in the broadest part ; pinnl. 6 in. 1., 12-14 lines w., distinctly 

 petiolate, from a broad base oblong, rather suddenly tapering into a serrated 

 acumen, deeply pinnatifid to nearly the costa ; lobes oblong, falcate, 3 lines wide^ 

 obtuse, entire ; veins distinct, all forked, sori at the forking of each vein, much 

 nearer the costule than to the margin ; costw and costules c[nite free from scales and 

 mostly quite glabrous. — ^ /3 caudex slender, subflexuose, 3 ft. high ; pinnl. sessile ; 

 lobes narrower and more acute. 



Hab. In woods, Chimborazo, alt. 3,000 ft., Spruce, u. 5742. — /3 Montana de Canelos, 

 Spruce. — Habit and size of the pinnules very much as in Cyatkea dirergens (p. 17), bnt 

 clearly an Alsophila, with intensely ebeneons prim, and second, rachises. I am doubtfnl 

 about my Tar. /3, which may prove a distinct species. 



30. A. cTiimhorazensis, Hk. ; " caud. 15 ft. high, 4 in. diam., acnleate {Spruce) ; 

 «*. very stout, 3-4 ft. 1., furfuraceo-pubescent, dirty brown, aculeated with very 

 sharp, strong spines, and paleaceous with large, dark, brown, glossy scales f fr. 

 9-10 ft. 1., ovato-lanceolate, subcoriaceous (" subscandent amongst neighbouring 

 branches ") ; prim, pinrue 2^ ft. 1., by 1 ft. w. ; -pinnl. rather distant, distinctly 

 petiolate, 1-lJ in. w., horizontal, from a broad base oblong, acuminate, deeply 

 pinnatifid near to the costa ; lobes oblong, obtuse, subfalcate, entire, the margins 

 a little recurred ; veins conspicuous, forked near the base ; sori at the forks and 

 close to the costule ; main rachis thicker than a man's thumb, and as well as 

 the second, ones aculeate, having a dirty aspect from a clothing of furfnraceo- 

 pubescence. 



Hab. Chimborazo, alt. 3,000-4,000 ft., Spmee, n. 5743. — This has still more the aspect 

 of Cyathea divergens than onr Alt. mela/nopus ; but here, again, the sori are clearly those 

 of AlsbpAila. It is, however, the much more strongly aculeated of the two. 



31. A. conjugata. Spruce ; "caud. 40 ft. high, 1 ft. diam., aculeate, destitute of 

 scales " {Spruce') ; st. 3 ft. 1., 1 in. and more thick, prickly with short, stout, not very 

 sharp spines; fr. 9 ft. I., ovato-lanceolate, coriaceous ; prim, pinnae 23 pairs, 

 " all exactly opposite, save at the very apex," 2-3 ft. 1. ; pinnl. alternate, quite 

 sessile, 4-5 in. 1., 6-7 in. w., pinnatifid nearly to the costa ; lobes liuear, from a 

 broad base, acnte, crenato-serrate at the slightly recurved margin ; sori rather 

 small, close to the costule, one to each serrature ; rachises (all) and costCB and 

 costules rusty-pubescent and hairy. — Spruce, mst. in Hb. nostr. 



Hab. Chimborazo, alt. 3,000-4,000 ft.. Spruce, a. 4745. — ^Very remarkable for the 

 exactly opposite prim, pinnae ; the second, ones are alternate. 



32. A. Sprucei, Hk. ; " caud. none, reduced to a subglobose rhizome" {^n-uce) ; 

 «t, 4 ft. 1., stout, strongly aculeate at the base, clothed with ferruginous scales of 

 two kinds, long, very slender, dense, hair-like ones, and others large and lan- 

 ceolate; fr. subcoriaceous, glabrous, 4 ft. 1. ; prim, pinnce 12-14 in. 1. ; pinrd. 



