ACROSTICHUM. 



uninterrupted (hapelefs mafTes, either partially or entirely. 

 Involucrum none. 



The whole genus, as it now ftands, is chiefly tropical, a 

 very few fpecies only being found in the foukh of Europe, 

 and one in North America. None are arborefcent. The 

 fpecies removed from the catalogue of the genus, in our 

 former article, are the following ; and are thus difpofed of 

 by Willdenow, we believe, on the wJiolc, very corredly. 



A. lanceolatum, is Polypodium acroftichoides, Willd. Sp. 



PI. V. 5. 156. 

 heierophyllum, P. adnafcens, ibid. 145. 

 punaalum, Linn. Sp. PI. 1524, P. lingulatum, 159. 

 fpkatum, Sm. PI. Ic. t. 49, Lomaria fpicata, 289. 

 Lingua, Polypodium Lingua, 1 62. 

 hajlatum, P. tricufpe, 163. 

 feptentrionak, Afplenium feptentrionale, 307. 

 aujlrah, A. auftrale, 308. 

 peB'matum, Schizssa peclinata, 85. 

 dichotommn, S. dichotoma, 87. 

 Jigitatum, S. digitata, 86. 

 ferrugineum, Polypodium incanum 13, 1 75. 

 pijlypodiotdes, P. incanum a, 1 74. 

 rufum, Hemionitis rufa, 1 29. 

 punaalum, Linn. Suppl. 444, altsred to punllulatum by 



Swartz, Syn. 13, retains the latter name in Willd. 



Sp. PI. V. 5. 118. 

 areolatum, Woodwardia anguftifolia, Sm. unjuftifiably 



altered to W. onocleoides, ibid. 416. 

 marginatum, Pteris grandifoha, 369. 

 fanHum, Polypodium fanClum, 198. 

 platyneuron, Afplenium ebeneum, 329. 

 Jiliquofum and thalidroides, reduced to one fpecies, as 



Pteris thaliftroides, 378 ; but perhaps they require 



further inveftigation. 

 ihenfe, Polypodium ilvenfe, 198. See WooDSlA. 

 furcaium, Mertenfia furcata, 7 1 ; a genus reduced by 



Mr. Brown to Gleichenia. See that article, and 



Mertensia. 

 nculealum, Davallia fumarioides, 480. 

 barbaium, Todea africana, 76, our OsMUNDA barbara. 

 inviparum, Darea vivipara, 302. 

 ferrulatum, Grammitis ferrulata, 141. 

 graminoiJes, G. graminoides, 141. 



To which we muft add that /I. ebeneum is made by Willde- 

 now the variety (S of cahmelanos, 124; zni petiolatum is 

 reduced to vifcofum, 103. Fifteen fpecies therefore, out of 

 our former lift, are all that are retained by Willdenow, and 

 the generic name remains with plants that do not by any 

 means anfwer to it, though they agree correftly with the 

 generic charafter. 



We proceed to give examples of the feveral fedtions. 



Seft. I. Frond fimple, undivided. Twenty -five fpecies. 

 We fhall here venture to unite two of them, latifoUum and 

 longifolium, adding a new one, limiellaium. 



A. nummularifoUum. Money-wort Acroftichum. Willd. 

 n. I. Swartz Syn. Fil. 419 and 191. t. 2. f. i. — Barren 

 fronds roundifh, obtufe, fomewhat heart -fhaped ; hoary and 

 downy beneath : fertile ones obovate. Common ftalk thread- 

 fliaped, icalv, creeping. — Found by Thunberg in Java. The 

 commnn jlalh creeps extenfively, attaching itfelf by copious, 

 tutted, black radicles, and bearing feveral alternate fimple 

 fronds, or ha'ves, not an inch long, on (hort partial foot- 

 ftalks ; thefe are fmooth on the upper fide, veinlefs ; the 

 hoary down of their under furface is inttrfperfed with flarry 

 hairs. The fertile fronds are fewer and fmaller, tapering at 

 the bafe, fcmetimes befprinkled with ftarry hairs ; their 



5 



backs covered with /hining-brown capfules, intermixed 

 with ftarry hairs of a rufty hue. Siuarlz. 



A. fimbriatum. Fringed Acroftichum. Willd. n. 3. 

 " Cavan. Annal. de Nat. Scienc. v. i. 102." Swartz Syn. 

 Fil. II. — Fronds lanceolate, fringed. Stalks briftly. — Na- 

 tive of fhady mountainous places in the kingdom of Quito 



We have been favoured with a fpecimen, gathered by WilKam 

 Swainfon, jun. efq. of Liverpool, on damp rocks in woods, 

 among the mountains at Rio Janeiro, which anfwers to the 

 above definition, but we are not authorized, without better 

 information, to affert that it is Cavanille's plant. The fronds 

 of ours grow eight or ten together, in tufts, with a fibrous, 

 blackifti, fcarcely hairy, root : each being an inch and a half 

 long, one-third of an inch wide, bluntifh, ftiaggy on both 

 fides with coarfe, briftly, reddifh -brown hairs, fpreading 

 copioufly beyond the edges. Stalls fimple, equally ftiaggy, 

 rather longer than the fronds. The iertWe fronds are convex 

 above, almoft linoded ; their concave under furface covered 

 with brown capfules. The fize and habit of this fern refemble 

 Blechnum Lanceola, of Swartz, in Stockholm Tranf. for 

 1817, 71. t. 3. f. 2, a native of Brafil ; but the latter is 

 fmooth and naked, with the proper frudlification and involu- 

 crum of a Blechnum. 



A. •vifcofum. Glutinous Acroftichum. Willd. n. 8. 

 Swartz Syn. Fil. 10 and 193. (A. petiolatum ; Sw. Ind. 

 Occ. 1588.) — Fronds linear -lanceolate, pointed, fmooth on 

 both fides ; their ribs, as well as ftalks, fcaly and vifcid : 

 fertile ones hnear ; hairy beneath and covered with capfules 

 to the very margin. — Found on the moffy trunks of trees, 

 on the higheft mountains of Jamaica. Root flightly creeping. 

 Stalks crowded, flendcr, angular, roughifh, rufty and fcaly, 

 three or four inches high. E,zc\\ frond is a fpan long, ereft, 

 rather rigid ; the barren ones linear-lanceolate, pointed, 

 fomewhat membranous, fmooth, befprinkled at the back 

 with minute, prominent, brownifli, glandular dots ; their 

 ribs fcaly ; fertile ones on longer ftalks, more linear, either 

 fmooth or flightly hairy, covered entirely at the back with 

 pale rufty powdery capfules. The clamminefs of the ftalks, 

 and the hairinefs of the fertile fronds, diftinguifti this fpecies 

 from its allies^ Sivartz. 



A. Umbellatum. Narrow -bordered Acroftichum. (Lin- 

 gua cervina anguftifolia, coftis et pediculis villofis ; Plr.m. 

 Fil. 113. t. 129.) — Fronds linear-lanceolate, wavy, pointed, 

 fmooth on both fides ; their ribs and ftalks hairy : fertile 

 ones nearly linear, with a fmooth naked border. — Gathered 

 by Plumier, on mofty rocks about the fource of a little 

 rivulet, called Le Morne Rouge, near fort St. Pierre, in 

 Martinico. The root is long, creeping, cylindrical, refem- 

 bhng a worm, covered with little black fibres. Fronds 

 numerous, ereft, above a foot high, each of their fine tranf- 

 verfe veins ending in a little dot, before they reach the margin ; 

 at leaft fuch is their appearance in Plumier's figure. This 

 charafter, the greater height of the fronds, and the fertile 

 ones having a fmooth naked border, over which the capfules 

 do not extend, caufed Dr. Swartz to omit citing Plumier's 

 figure under the laft-mentioned fpecies. We have no doubt 

 of thefe plants being very diftinft from each other. Plumier 

 is one of the few authors whofe fidelity is always to be relied 

 on, and he is therefore the fole authority for feveral of Lir.- 

 na:us's fpecies of ferns, defcribed from his plates and de- 

 fcriptions. 



A. •villofum. Shaggy Bordered Acroftichum. Willd. 

 n. 10. Swartz Syn. Fil. 10. Ind. Occ. 1592. (Lingua 

 cervina viUofa minor; Plum. Fil. no. t. 127. f. D.) — 

 Fronds lanceolate, wavy, pointed, fnaggy on both fides : 

 fertile ones fomewhat elliptical, with a naked border ; fringed 

 at the edge. Stalks hairy, elongated. — Gathered by Plu- 



