TRICHOMANES. 



mier on mofly trees in Hifpaniola. He is our only certain 

 authority for this fpecies, the defcription of Swartz not an- 

 fwering exaftly to his account, and the figure in R. A. 

 Hedwig, t. 3. f. 2, indicating fomething very different. 

 The true T. pyx'idiferum is fo named becaufe the involucrum is 

 foisned like a box with a convex lid, through w^hich latter 

 the long prominent column is continued. We have feen in- 

 dications of no fuch charafter in any other fpecies. The 

 root is creeping and hairy. Fronds ftalked, three or four 

 inches high, fmooth, very thin, \he\T common as well aspar- 

 iialjlalks winged throughout, and of the fame linear form as 

 the fegments of the leajJets, which are notched at the end. 

 Involucrums one or two about the lower part of each prin- 

 cipal leaflet cup-(haped, quite clofed by the above-mentioned 

 lid. 



T. europmim, European Briftle-fern. (T. pyxidiferum ; 

 Hudf. 461. Bolt. Fil. 56. t. 30. Hymenophyllum tun- 

 bridgenfe /3 ; Fl. Brit. 1142. H. alatum ; Engl. Bot. 

 t. 1417. Filix humihs repens, foliis pellucidis et fplenden- 

 tibus, caule alato ; Dill, in Raii Syn. 127. t. 3. f. 3, 4.) — 

 Frond bipinnate ; leaflets oblong, decurrent, pinnatifid, 

 with linear, obtufe, decurrent, entire fegments. Stalks all 

 winged. Involucrum open, with a flightly fpreading 

 border. Few plants of any country have caufed more en- 

 quiry, or more diverfity of opinion, than this fern, originally 

 difcovered by Dr. Richardfon " at Belbank, fcarce half a 

 mile from Bingley, Yorkfliire, at the head of a remarkable 

 fpring." From thence Mr. R. Teefdale and Mr. Dick- 

 fon have brought us young plants, like Dillenius's f. 4, but 

 could find none hke his f. 3. The botanifts of Ireland have 

 Jjeen more fortunate. Mr. J. T. Mackay met with perfeft 

 fpecimens in fruflification, on rocks about the cafcade, at the 

 bottom of Turk mountain, Killarney. Some of thefe, more 

 perfeft than what is figured in Engl. Bot., lead us to con- 

 cur with Mr. Brown's opinion, expreffed in his Prodromus, in 

 removing this plant from Hymenophyllum, to the prefent 

 genus. It was indeed confidered by Linnatus as not diftindl 

 •from T. pyxidiferum, nor is this opinion fo wide of the truth 

 as has been fuppofed. By a comparifou with Plumier's 

 figure of the latter, this will be found to differ chiefly in 

 being more compound, with a fmaller, more flender, two- 

 edged involucrum, in which we can difcover nothing like a 

 lid. Its margin is narrow, but rather fpreading. The cap- 

 fules are few and large, bright yellow, with a broad ring. 

 Column long and prominent. Some appearances in this and 

 other fpecies lead us to believe the column, laden with capfuks, 

 is generally protruded out of its involucrum after the capfuks 

 are ripe, and it may therefore, in a very early ftate, be found 

 entirely inclofed therein. This being the only European 

 Trichomanes, we hope our fpecific name may be allowed, that 

 of alatum being preoccupied ; fee Willd. n. 1 7. 



T. venofum. Veiny Brifllc-fern. Brown Prodr. n. i 



" Frond pinnate ; leaflets linear, veiny, wavy, fomewhat 

 crenate ; the lower ones lobed or pinnatifid at the bafe, and 

 bearing a folitary involucrum at their inner margin." — Ga- 

 thered by Mr. Brown, in the ifland of Van Diemen, and 

 near Port Jackfon, New South Wales. This fhould feem 

 akin to thetwolaft, but we have feen no fpecimens. 



Sedl. 4. Frond triply pinnatifid, or pinnate. Thirteen 

 fpecies ; Willd. 



T. trichoideum. Capillary Briftle-fern. Swartz Ind. 

 Occ. 1741. Willd. n. 23. (T. tenellum ; R. A. Hedw. 

 Fil. t. 3. f. 1 . ) — Frond triply pinnate ; leaflets linear, almoft 

 capillary, divided, emarginate. Involucrums ftalked, late- 

 ral, folitary, near the bafe of the principal branches. — In 

 nioift, fliady, graffy places, in the cooler parts of Jamaica 

 and Hifpaniola. This is a pecuharly delicate and llender 



fern, from two to four inches high, whofe ramifications are 

 fo exceedingly narrow as to appear capillary, though the 

 ultimate divifions are truly leafy, confifting of a wiry mid- 

 rib, bordered with a continued, even, entire, fcarcely difcerni- 

 ble, leafy margin at each fide, flightly dilated upward, and 

 blunt at the end. The frufiification is lateral and folitary, 

 much as in the three preceding ; each involucrum ftalked, tu- 

 bular, two-edged, with a broad, orbicular, wavy margin. 

 The column is very long and capillary. 



T. rigidum. Rigid Briftle-fern. Swartz Ind. Occ. 

 1738. Willd. n. 29. R. A. Hedwig Fil. t. 2.— Frond 

 triply pinnate ; leaflets pinnatifid, with linear, entire, taper- 

 pointed fegments. Common ftalks two-edged, rigid. In- 

 volucrums ftalked, lateral, folitary, near the bafe of the fe- 

 condary branches. Found about the roots of trees, on the 

 lofty mountains of Jamaica. The creeping root fends up 

 numerous rigid wpng\\t fronds, twelve or eighteen inches in 

 height, of which at leaft one half confifts of a brown, 

 (hining, round, firmfiali. The leafy part is finely and ele- 

 gantly divided, dark green, peculiarly elaftic, and when 

 dry rigid and inflexed. Involucrum urn-fhaped, with a 

 membranous fpreading border. Column thick, not much 

 protruding. 



T. radicans. Winged Climbing Briftle-fern. Swartz; 

 Ind. Occ. 1736. Willd. n. 30. (T. fcandens; R. A. 

 Hedwig Fil. t. 6, excluding the fynonyms. ) — Frond doubly 

 pinnate ; leaflets pinnatifid, with Imear, cloven, obtufe feg- 

 ments. Common and partial ftalks fmooth, all winged. 

 Stem climbing, creeping. ^ound on the mountains of 

 Jamaica, creeping up the trunks of trees to a great 

 extent, the downy rufty- coloured main ffem, or root as it 

 might be called, being firmly attached to the bark of the 

 tree, throwing out little radicles as it goes. Fronds fcat- 

 tered, from nine to twelve inches long, on vr'ingedjlalis 

 meafuring from one to three inches, ovato -lanceolate, twice 

 or thrice pinnate, dark green, fmooth, the ftalks of all their 

 fubdivifions bordered with an entire uninterrupted wing ; 

 branches, leaflets and fegments alternate. Involucrum cylin- 

 drical or fomewhat ovate, flightly winged with a portion of the 

 fegment which it terminates ; the mouth fpreading. Column 

 long and flender. A very different fpecies from the follow- 

 ing, for which it has been miftakeu by feveral botanifts, to 

 fome of whom, though not quoted by Hedwig^ we can 

 trace his error. 



T. fcandens. Great Chmbing Briftle-fern. Linn. Sp. 

 PI, 1562, Willd. n. 31. Swartz Ind. Occ. 1737. 

 ( Adiantum fcandens ramofiflimurji, laciniis retufis diffeftum ; 

 Plum. Fil. 76. t. 93 ; copied in Petiv. Fil. t. 12. f, 5.) — 

 Frond triply pinnate ; leaflets oblong, pinnatifid, with linear 

 obtufe fegments. Common ftalks round ; partial winged, 

 hairy. Stem climbing, creeping. Native of mountainous 

 forefts in Hifpaniola, where it was gathered by Plumier, 

 and fince by Dr. Swartz. A much larger plant than the 

 foregoing, creeping over the trunks of old trees. Each 

 frond, two feet high, has a round, not bordered, rminjlali, 

 the partial ones only being winged. All the leaflets and their 

 ftalks are clothed with long loofe hairs, of a fhining or 

 golden brown, fuch as are often likewife obfervable on the 

 main ilalk. The colour of the whole fern is more ohve than 

 the laft, and its reticulations much coarfer. Involucrum 

 much the fame, nor do we find the column, when perfect, 

 fhorter in one than the other. Sloane's v. i. t. 58. may be 

 intended for T. fcandens, but it is not fufficiently exat't to 

 afford any information. 



T. tamarifciforme. Tamariflc Briftle-fern. Jacq. Coll, 

 V. 3. 285. t. 21. f. 2. Willd. n. 34. — Frond doubly pin- 

 nate ; leaflets lanceolate, pinnatifid, with linear, very narrow, 



fmooth 



