31. PTjatis, §§ p^siA. * 163 



or more 1., 12-24 in. br., subdeltoid in general outline, only the uppermost pinnai 

 simple, those next in order lanceolate, cut down nearly or quite to the rachis 

 into short triangular or linear piniU., the lowest long-stalked, 1 ft. or more 1., 

 with ample lanceolate pinnl., which are cut down to the rachis into numerous 

 lanceolate segm., which are again fully pinnate ; largest entire ult. divisions 

 1 in. 1., 2 lin. br. ; textwre subcoriaceous ; rachis and both surfaces naked or 

 pubescent ; veins close, conspicuous, often twice forked, involucre double or the 

 inner one obsolete. — jS,. P. caudata, L. ; pinnl, sometimes linear and entire or 

 with less crowded segm. than in o, and the terminal lobe linear entire, 1-2 in. 1. 

 — y, P. esculenta, Forst. ; ult. divisions narrower and not contiguous, suddenly 

 decurrent at the base, so that the bases are connected by a narrow lobe. — Hh. Sp, 

 2.^.196. P. arachnoidea, ^aj«^. 



Hab. All ronnd the world both withiQ the Tropics and in the North and South Tem- 

 perate Zones, unless it be absent from South Temperate America, jrom which there are 

 no specimens in the Herbarinm. In Lapland it jnst passes within the Arctic circle, 

 ascending in Scotland to 2,000 ft., in the Cameroon Mountains to 7,000 ft., in Abyssinia 

 to 8,000 or 9,000 ft., in the Himalayas to about 8,000 ft. ; y inhabits principally New 

 Zealand, Australia, the Polynesian Islands, and Tropical South America. — Dr. Spruce 

 has seen it in the Andes 14 ft. in height. 



41. P. (Psesia) mscosa, Jloore ; rhizome wide-creeping, subscandent, densely 

 clothed with dark-brown fibrillose scales ; St. 1 R. or more 1., flexuose, dark- 

 brown, glanduloso-vUlose ; fi: ample, decompound ; upper pinnce small, lan- 

 ceolate, pinnatifid, the lower ones 1-2 ft. 1., 6-9 in. br., spreading, with 

 numerous lanceolate pinnl. on each side, which are cut do^-n into deeply lobed 

 lanceolate-deltoid spreading segm., about ^ in. 1., J in. br. ; texture scarcely 

 coriaceous ; rachises very wavy, like both surfaces, densely clothed with brown 

 viscid glands ; invol. double, membranous, the inner one sometimes obsolete. 

 Psesia viscosa, iSt. JBilaire. P. scalaris, Moritz. Rh. Sp. 2. p. 200. t. 121. 

 B. & 3. t. 141. C. 



Hab. Jamaica, Venezuela, and Peru. — Dr. Spmce's Peruvian specimens have the 

 largest pinnules not more than 1^ in. 1., \ in br., their segments cut down to the rachis 

 into sn^l oblong-cuneate lobes about \ lio. br. 



42. P. (Passia) scaherula, Richard ; rhizome wide-creeping ; st. 6-12 in. I., 

 strong, flexuose, bright reddish-brown, scabrous ; fr. 12-18 in. 1., 6-9 in. br., 

 lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, tri- or quadripinnatifid ; lower pinnm lanceolate- 

 deltoid, 4-9 in. 1., cut down to the rachis into numerous lanceolate pinnl. on each 

 side, which are ag^n cut down into oblong toothed segm, 2-3 lin. 1., 1 lin. br. ; 

 texture subcoriaceous ; rachis flexuose and scabrous like the stipe, upper surface 

 asperous ; sori copious, occupying when mature nearly the whole segment 

 except the midrib. — Hk, Sp, 2. p. 174. t. 93. A. 



Hab. New Zealand. 



43. P. (Psesia) divaricatissima. Baker ; st. strong, glossy, nearly smooth, 

 pale-brown ; fr. ample, quadripinnatifid ; lower pinncB 12-18 in. 1., 4-6 in. br. ; 

 pinnl. lanceolate, distant, spreading at right angles ; lower segm. deltoid, cut 

 down to the rachis into numerous oblong deeply toothed ult. divisions ; texture 

 herbaceous ; rachis rigid, zigzag, glossy, scarcely asperous, both surfaces of the 

 frond naked ; sori 1 lin. 1., placed along the sides of the ult. divisions. — Hypo- 

 lepis rugulosa, Hk. Sp. 2. p. 68, Cheila thes divaricatissima, Dryand. MSS. 



Hab. Society Islands. — This is slearly a Pleris, not a Hypolepis ; and both this and 

 P. scaierula show occasionally a narrow membrane on the inner side of the receptacle, 

 as in aquUina and viscosa. 



