ACROSTICHUM. 



mier in wet woods in Hifpaniola ; by Swartz on the hoUow 

 mofly fides of hill? in the fouth of Jamaica. Root tufted, 

 not creeping. Stalks about half as long as ihs fronds, rtiaggy 

 with coarfe ruily hairs, fuch as cover both fides of the leafy 

 part, efpecially at the edges. There is a vacant fpace, as in 

 the laft, between the capfules and the margin of the leaf, well 

 exprefled by Plumier, and mentioned by Swaitz. 



A., hirtum. Great Hairy Acroftichum. WiUd. n. li. 

 Swartz Syn. Fil. 419 and 194. — Fronds elliptic-lanceolate, 

 pointed, fcaly on both fides, like their ftalks ; the margin 

 dotted, and fomewhat crenate : fertile ones much narrower, 

 covered to the edge with capfules and convoluted fcales. — 

 Suppofed by Swartz to be a native of Madeira, but wc have 

 always believed our fine fpecimens to have been gathered by 

 the late Mr. Smeathman, in the Weft Indies. The root is 

 thick and fcaly, apparently fomewhat creeping. Fronds a 

 fpan long, on fcaly Jlalhs often exceeding that length ; 

 thickly befprinkled fometimes on both fides, but efpecially 

 on the under one, which is the paleft, with fmall, ovate or ' 

 heart-ftiaped, pointed, peltate, clofe-prefled fcales, of a 

 pale (hining brown. Many of the tranfverfe ■veins terminate, 

 near the margin, in deprefled dots. The fertile fronds are 

 much fhorter and narrower, fomewhat heart -fhaped at the 

 bafe, covered entirely at the back with fhining rufty cap- 

 fules, intermixed with lanceolate, convoluted, tubular fcales. 

 We have one frond, two-thirds of which are barren and 

 broadly elliptical, but the upper part is fuddenly contrafted 

 into a lanceolate form, covered with capfules and fcales. 

 The main rib is always very fcaly beneath. 



A. undulatutn. Wavy Hairy Acroftichum. Willd. 

 n. 14. (Lingua cervina villofa, major et rufefcens ; Plum. 

 Fil. no. t. 126.) — Fronds ovato-lanceolate, fomewhat 

 wavy, briftly on both fides, like their ftalks ; the margin 

 (lightly crenate and obfcurely dotted : barren ones emar- 

 ginate : fertile ones acute. — Found by Plumier on the 

 trunks of old trees, in Martinico. Nearly related to the 

 laft, but diftintl. The fronds are fmaller and narrower, 

 with much lefs evident marginal dots. The briftly hairs, 

 fcattered over both furfaces, and alfo clothing the Jlalis, in 

 fome degree indeed partake of the nature of fcales, and are 

 channelled, or flightly tubular, at their bafe ; but they 

 totally differ from the flat clofe fcales of the foregoing. 

 The end of each barren frond is more or lefs emarginate, 

 with a little tuft, or bud, of fcales in the fifture. 



A. laiifolium. Broad-thick-leaved Acroftichum. Willd. 

 n. 15. Swartz Syn. Fil. 9. Ind. Occ. 1589. (A. n. I ; 

 Browne Jam. 104. A. longifolium ; WiDd. n. 16. Jacq. 

 Coll. v. 2. 105. Swartz Syn. Fil. 9. Lingua cervina 

 rigida et glabra ; Plum. Fil. 118. t. 135.) — Fronds oblong- 

 lanceolate, bordered, contraflcd at each end, fmooth on 

 both fides, as well as the ftalks : fertile ones of the fame 

 fhape, with a fmooth, narrow, membranous edge. Native 

 of rocks, and old mofly trunks of trees, in Jamaica and 

 Martinico. The root is thick an4 creeping, clothed at the 

 extremity, and about the bottoms of the ftalks, with large, 

 brown, chaffy fcales. Fronds fcattered, from a fpan to 

 twelve or eighteen inches long, ereft, entire, rigid, with a 

 narrow, thin, membranous, entire border, a ftout reddilh 

 rib, and fcarcely any traces of veins, both furfaces being 

 peculiarly even and fmooth. The Jlalis are fmooth and 

 naked, angular, fometimes as long as the fronds, but gene- 

 rally fhorter. The fertile fronds agree with the barren 

 ones in ftiape and fize, as well as in their narrow, mem- 

 branous, naked border, but the whole under fide, except 

 that border, is denfely clothed with innumerable, minute, 

 fnuff-coloured capfules, unaccompanied by any fcales or 

 hairs. Jacquin defcribed his plant independent of Swartz, 



but we cannot find the leaft pretence for diftinguifhing 

 them, even as varieties, the revolute pofition of the feed- 

 bearing frond, in Plumier's plate, being merely owing to 

 its young ftate, as his defcription imphes. The Jlalis, at 

 an early period, may probably be fomewhat fcaly, though 

 afterwards naked, even in the {erxile fronds. 



A. crinitum. Hairy Oval Acroftichum. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 1523. Willd. n. 23. Ait. n. 2. Swartz Syn. Fil. 11. 

 (Lingua cervina villofa, amphs foliis fubrotundis ; Plum. Fil. 

 109.1. 125. PhyUitis crinita, latiflimo folio; Petiv. Fil. 

 n. 145. t. 13. f. 14, copied from Plumier.) — Fronds ellip- 

 tical, obtufe at each end, hairy, denfely fringed. Stalk 

 and mid-rib hairy. — Gathered by Plumier in Martinico. 

 Brought from the Weft Indies to Kew Garden, by Admi- 

 ral Bligh, in 1793. -^ ^'^'■y fi"e and large fpecies, fpeci- 

 mens of which are rare. Each frond is about a foot long, 

 and half as much in breadth, fleft^y ; of a fomewhat yel- 

 lowifti-green on the upper fide, befprinkled with flender 

 briftly hairs, which, as well as the thick fringe, and the 

 copious hairs on the Jlalis, are coal-black. The fruftifica- 

 tion of this plant has not been afcertained, for what Plu- 

 mier noticed, on the very young leaves, were moft pro- 

 bably the tumid or glandiilar bales of the hairs ; nor was 

 he at all confident on this fubjeft. It may well, however, 

 by analogy, be confidered as an AcroJlkhum. The root is 

 tufted and ftiaggy. We place this fern next to fpecies 

 with which it moft nearly accords ; the following one being 

 incorreftly inferted before it by WiUdenow. 



A. citrifolium. Lemon-leaved Acroftichum. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1529. Willd. n. 22. Swartz Syn. Fil. 9. (A. n. 3 ; 

 Linn. Amoen. Acad. v. i. 269. Hemionitis parafitica ; 

 Linn. Sp. PL 1535. H. n. 2 ; Browne Jam. 95', from 

 the author. Lingua cervina fcandens, citrei foliis, minor ; 

 Plum. Fil. loi. t. 116. Lonchitis vanihae foho ; Petiv. 

 Fil. n. 150. t. 15. f. I.) — Fronds alternate, ovate, pointed ; 

 tapering at the bafe, on fiiort ftalks, fmooth, reticulated 

 with veins. Common ftalk creeping, fcaly. — Found on 

 trees near rivulets in Martinico, and in the cooler, Ihady, 

 inland woods of the mountainous parts of Jamaica. The 

 Q.QmmQT\ Jlem, or main root, creeps to a great extent, among 

 mofles, or Jungermannie, up the old trunks of trees, 

 attaching itftlf by numerous fiiaggy radicles. It is clothed 

 with large, acute, reticulated, finely toothed, pellucid 

 fcales. The fronds are fituated alternately, about one or 

 two inches from each other, on ftiort bordered ftalks, 

 fpreading in two directions, and are ovate or elliptical, oi 

 a fine fhining green, rather flefhy, very fmooth, two or 

 three inches long, and one or one and a half broad, ob- 

 fcurely crenate. There is only about half way up any 

 decided mid-rib, but the principal veins, parallel at firft, 

 branch out into regular, very elegant reticulations. Some 

 of the uppermoft and youngeft fronds, according to Plu- 

 mier, are entirely covered at the back, with minute, denfely 

 crowded, bright chefnut, capfules, except a central naked 

 fine, indicating, a mid-rib. We have no fpecimen in frufti- 

 fication, but feveral capfules accidentally fticking to one of 

 the barren fronds, are remarkably fmall, ver)' pale, with 

 dark jointed rings. Linnsus originally adopted this fern, 

 as an Acroftichum, from Plumier. When he received fpeci- 

 mens of the fame from Browne, as a Hemionitis, he did not 

 difcover that he had aheady clafled the plant in his fyftem ; 

 hence it occurs twice, even in his Sp. PI. — Hemionitis obtufa, 

 Willd. Sp. PI. V. 5. 127, agrees very nearly with this 

 AcroHichum, in fize and texture of the /ro/i(/j, and moft 

 precifely in their veiny reticulations ; but its frudification is 

 defcribed as eiTentially different. 



Sed. 2. Frond fimple, divided. Four fpecies. 



A. /«- 



