202 



38. ASPLKNIUM, §§ EUASPLENIUM, 



pinna more narrowly pointed. This and the two next are diatinguislied from the rest 

 of the group by their very close and regular sori. 



62. A. lineatum, Swartz ; st. tufted, 6-9 in. ]., firm, erect, more or less scaly ; 

 Jr. 1-2 ft. 1., 4-6 in. br., oblong-lanceolate, with 20-30 />«»B£B on eaob side, which 

 are 3-4 in. 1., about \ in. br., acuminate at the point, dentate throughout, all 

 sessile or nearly so, the -base cuneate, but the lower side narrower and 

 more -cut away than the upper ; texture herbaceous ; colour dark-green ; 

 racMs brownishrgrey, and slightly paleaceous ; veins close, often forked ; sori 

 very regular, reaching from the midrib nearly to the edge.— fl*. Sp. S.p. 104. 



Hab. Mauritius and Bourbon. — A very puzzliug plant, from the fact that it runs gra- 

 dually into forms with the pinn« again pinnate, which have either small narrow linear- 

 cuneate pinnules (Darea incequalis, Willd., and D. bHda, Kaulf.), or even these l^ter 

 again deeply bifid or pinnatifid (D. bifida and nolascews, Bory). 



63. A. prionurus, 3. Sm. ; st. tufted, 6-9 in. 1., firm, erect, slightly scaly bekw ; 

 fr. 12-18 in. 1., 6-9 in. br., oblong, with 9-18 pinnce on each side, which areM-6 

 in. 1., rather over \ in. br., very much acuminated at the point, deeply and 

 regularly toothed throughout, the base rather unequal, more ti-uncato- cuneate 

 on the lower side, with a short distinct petiole on the lower ones ; texture her- 

 baceous ; veins usually simple, with sori on each reaching nearly to the edge. 

 —Hh. Sp. 3. p. 103. 



Hab. Philippines, Cummg, 197. — Probably this should be united with A. lineatum. 



64. A. lumilatum, Sw. ; si. tufted, 2-4 in. 1., firm, nearly naked, grey or 

 ebeneous ; fr. 6-18 in. 1., 1-5-2 in. br., narrowly lanceolate-oblong, <svth 12-20 

 horizontal pinnce on each side, which are 1-lJ in. 1., |~^ in. br,, bluntish or 

 acute at the point, more or less deeply inciso-crenate throughout, .the two sides 

 unequal, the upper one at the base narrowed suddenly at about a right angle, 

 the lower one obliquely truncate ; lower pinnae often deilexed ; texture herbaceous ; 

 rachis firm, greyish ; veins simple or once forked ; sori falling short of both edge 

 and midrib. — A. erectum, Bori/. Hk. Sp. 3. p. 127. 



Hab. Universally distributed throughout the Tropics ; America, from Cuba to Kio 

 Janeiro and Jnan Fernandez ; Sandwich Islands, Indian and Malayan Peninsula, Ceylon, 

 Cape Colony, Tristan d'Acunha northward to Bourbon, St. Helena, Ascension, and the 

 Guinea coast. — A. harpeodes, Kunze, Hk. Sp. Fil. 1. 178, is a large form with acuminate 

 pinnae; A. Fernandesianum, Kunze, a form from Juan Fernandez, with a more rigid 

 rachis and subcoriaceoua pinnae; A. tenellum, Eoxb. {A. reclinatum, Houlst., Hk. Fil. 

 Exot. t. 72), a form with wide-spreading, dark-green fronds copiously prolifferous at the 

 apex ; A. Barteri, Hk. 2nd Cent. t. 75, a slender flaccid plant, also proliferous ; A. pier- 

 opus, Kaulf., and j1. camptorachis, Kze., forms with the rachis compressed an<l slightly 

 winged ; and the pinnas are sometimes more or less distinctly pinnatifid, as in the 

 S. African A. loiatum and A. gracile of Pappe and Rawson, and the Polynesian A. Ma- 

 crcei, Hk. & Gr. t. 217. Kunze and Mettenius consider this to be the A. limulaitim of 

 Swartz, which is an older name than erectum. 



65. A. persicifoUum, J. Sm. ; st. and rachis grey, with a few scattered minute 

 grey scales ; fr. oblong-lanceolate, 2-3 ft. 1., often gemniiparous at apex ; pinnoe 



-distant, ascending, 16-30-jugate, subpetiolate,_4-5 in. 1., linear-ligulate-acuminate, 

 5-| in. br., distinctly inciso-crenate throughout, more cuneate on the lower than 

 the upper side at the base, the lowest not reduced ; texture thin but firm ; surfaces 

 dark-green, naked ; veins erecto-patent, fine, forked, not close ; sori regular, 

 parallel, 3-4 lin. 1., reaching nearly to midrib and edge. — Hk, Sp. 3. p. 109, 

 ex parte. 



Hab. Philippine and Sandwich Isles. 



GO. A. ohtusifolium, L. ; St. almost tufted, 6-9 in. 1., firm, erect, dark-green. 



