30. PELLEA, § CHEILOPLECTOX. lio 



§ Cheiloplecton, FSe extens. Texture herbaceous or subcoriaceous, and veins 

 dearly visible, the involucre broad, and in most of the species rolled over the sorus 

 till full maturity. Sp. 1-11. 



* Fronds lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate. Sp. 1-4. 



1. P., auricidata. Link ; St. tufted, 2-3 in. 1., flaccid, bright chesnut-brown, 

 slightly scaly ; fr. 3-9 in. 1., 1-lJ in. br., linear-lanceolate, with 12 to 18 rather 

 distant pinnai on each side, which are slightly' stalked and broader in the barren 

 than in the fertile frond, and vary in shape from lanceolate-oblong and entire, to 

 auricled at one or both sides at the base, or cut down nearly to the rachis in the 

 lower part into oblong lobes ; texture herbaceous ; rachis and both surfaces 

 naked ; invol. similar in colour and texture to the frond, broad and much 

 wrinkled.— fiXr. Sp. 2. p. 140. Hk. & Gr. Ic. t. 116. 



Eab. Cape Colony. 



2. P. Breweri, Eaton ; st. tufted, densely fibrillose at the base, 2-3 in. 1., wiry, 

 polished, chesnut-brown, nearly naked; fr. 2-3 in. 1., under 1 in. br., linear- 

 oblong, simply pinnate ; pinnce opposite, 6 to 8 on each side, the upper ones 

 ovate, undivided, sessile, the lower ones cleft down the centre nearly to the base 

 into two unequal halves, of which the lowest is the smallest, each the same shape 

 as the upper pinnse, and not toothed or further divided, the largest half about 

 ■5 in. 1., J in. br. ; texture thick, but scarcely coriaceous ; rachis naked, polished 

 like the stipe ; both surfaces pale-green, naked ; sori in continuous marginal 

 lines ; invol. broad, pale, membranous. Eaton, Proc. Am. Ac. Art. & Sc. vol. 6. 

 p. 655. 



Hab. Califoraia ; gathered by Messrs. Brewer and Hillebrand. — ^Very near P. auricu- 

 lala, but the catting of the pinnae is different, and also the venation. 



3. P. Seemanni, Hk. ; st. tufted, 1-2 in. 1., slender, wiry, naked, slightly scaly 

 at the base ; fr. 3-4 in. 1., 1-2 in. br., deltoid-oblong, bipinnatifid ; lower pinn<B 

 not more than 1 in. 1., lanceolate-deltoid, cut down to the rachis below into a few 

 broad oblong blunt slightly-lobed pinnl.; rachis and both surfaces naked ; texture 

 herbaceous, but the venation scarcely visible ; invol. narrow, membranous. — 

 Hk.Sp.2.p.Ul.t.\n.'B. 



Hab. Mazatlan, Mexico ; gathered by Dr. Seemann. — Very like P. awriculaia inhabit, 

 di£ferlng by its finer venation and narrower iavolacre. 



4. P. gracilis, Hk. ; st. scattered, slender, 2-3 in. 1., naked, straw-coloured or 

 pale-brown, polished ; fr. 2-4 in. 1., 1-2 in. br., ovate, bi- or tripinnatifid ; pinnce 

 lanceolate-deltoid, 1-2 in. 1., cut down to the rachis ; lower pinnl. sometimes again 

 slightly divided ; ult. segm. of the barren frond obovate, slightly crenate, of the 

 fertile one linear-oblong, terminal one much larger than the others ; texture 

 thinly herbaceous and flaccid ; rachis and both surfaces naked ; veins visible ; 

 invol. broad, continuous, membranous. — Hk. Sp. 2. p. 138. t. 133. B. 



Hab. Canada to Wisconsin, rare ; Siberia, Tibet, and N. India, at 9-10,000 ft. — ^This 

 has been confonnded with Cryptogramme crispa, but is not tufted, and is much more 

 delicate in texture. Pteris Slelleri of Gmelin is the oldest name. 



** Frond deltoid. Sp. 5-11. 



5. P. pilosa, Hk. ; st. 6-9 in. I., strong, wiry, brownish-black, more or less 

 clothed with small linear scales throughout ; barren and fertile fr. difi^erent, 

 the former deltoid, 1^ in. each way, cut down to within J in. of the rachis ; lowest 

 pinnce much the largest, deeply lobed, with the lobes again broadly crenate on tha 

 under side, the lower surface densely pilose, and the midrib scaly like the stipe ; 



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