ASPIDIUM. 



Efl". Ch. Fruftiiication in roiuidifli, fcattered, not mar- 

 ginal, dots. Involucrum umbilicated, feparating almoft all 

 round. 



Sect. I. Frond Jimple. Two fpecies in Swartz ; three 

 in Willdenow. 



A. nodofum. Knotty Shield-fern. Willd. n. i. (A. 

 articulatum ; " Schkuhr Crypt. 28. t. 27, copied from 

 Plumier." Lingua cervina lucida, pediculis articulatis ; 

 Plum. Fil. 118. t. 136. Petiv. Fil. t. 10. f. 3.) — Fronds 

 fimple, oblong, wavy, bordered ; acute at each end. Dots 

 in interrupted hnes. Stalks joiated, fmooth. Root creep- 

 ing, chafFy and hairy — Found by Plumier on trees in the 

 forefts of Martinico, no other botaniil having, as far as we 

 know, ever met with this fpecies. Willdenow feparates it 

 from the following, which he had examined, chiefly on ac- 

 count of the fori being difpofed in chain-like rows, and the 

 frond hanng a thickened margin. Petiver's figure is copied 

 from Plumier, as ufual with the Ferns of that author. 



A. articulatum. Jomted Shield-fern. Swartz n. I. 

 Willd. n. 2. (Polypodium articulatum; Lamarck Dift. 

 V. 5. 514.) — Fronds fimple, oblong-lanceolate, finely cre- 

 nate and wavy, pointed. Dots fcattered, folitary. Stalks 

 jointed, fcaly. Root creeping, chaffv and hairv'. — Native 

 of the Mauritius, on trunks of trees. We have one of 

 Commerfon's fpecimens. The fronds are a foot long, not 

 thickened at the edges, but serx unequally and minutely 

 wa\'T.', as if crenate ; the Jlali of each not one inch in length, 

 inftead of two, or more, as in the foregoing. Sori in a 

 fimple, flightly undulating row, on each fide the mid-rib, 

 not half way between it and the margin, rather fmall. In- 

 volucrum perfedlly peltate, but more or lefs notched at one 

 fide, dark brown ; pale and undulated at the circumference. 

 Capfules light brown, minute. 



Seft. 2. Frond ternate. One fpecies in Swartz; four in 

 Willdenow. 



A. trifoliatum. Thi-ee-leaved Variable Shield-fern. Sw. 

 n. 3. Willd. n. 5. Ait. n. i. " Schkuhr Crypt, t. 28." 

 ( Polypodium trifoliatum ; Linn. Sp. PI. 1547. Jacq. Coll. 

 V. 3. 185. Ic. Rar. t. 638. Petiv. Fil. n. 18. t. 7. f. 3. 

 Hemionitis maxima trifolia ; Plum. Amer. 22. t. 32. Fil. 

 127. t.148. Hemionitidi affinis filix major, trifida, auri- 

 culata, pinnis latiffimis finuatis ; Sloane Jam. v. i. 85. 



t-42-) 



/?. Polypodium Pica ; Linn. fil. Suppl. 446. 



Frond fmooth-edged ; ekher fimple, heart -Ihaped at the 

 bafe, and three-lobed ; or ternate, partly pinnatifid : the 

 middle lobe or leaflet largeft : lateral ones auricled at the 

 bafe. — Native of groves and fhady places in the Wefl: Indies. 

 A rather large, very variable fpecies, of a fine grafs-green, 

 thin and pliant ; either fimple, in three deep taper-pointed 

 lobes, laterally lobed or auricled, in which ftate it is, as 

 Swartz rightly judged, Polypodium Pica of the younger 

 Linnaeus ; or perfeftly and fimply ternate, like Plumier's 

 figure, copied by Petiver, and Pluk. Phyt. t. 291. f . 3 ; 

 or the leaflets are three-lobed, finuated, occafionally pin- 

 natifid, as in the plates of Jacquin and Sloane. The fori 

 are numerous and fcattered. Involucrum perfeftly peltate, 

 feparating equally all round, without any finus, or notch. 

 The margins of all the fegments or leaflets are fometimes 

 only undulated, but more frequently toothed, in a blunt 

 irregular manner. 



A. cicutarium. Hemlock Shield-fern. Swartz n. 46. 

 Willd. n. 7. Purfli n. i. (Polypodium cicutarium; 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 1549, excluding both the fynonyms of 

 Plukenet, and inferting the following. Filix jamaicenfis, 



five Polypodium Cicutaris latifolise foetidiflimje foliis quo- 

 dammodo conveniens, &c. ; Pluk. Almag. 153. t. 280. 

 f- 4. ) — Frond ternate : leaflets pinnatifid, pointed, \s-ith 

 rounded, obtufe, entire fegments ; the lowermoil fegments 

 greatly elongated and fubdivided — Native of mountains in 

 Jamaica and Virginia. The Linnzean fpecimens came from 

 Dr. Patrick Browne, and anfwer well to Plukenet's t. 289. 

 f. 4, whatever his t. 296. f. 2, cited by authors, may be. 

 The frondj are a fpan high, thin, delicate and fmooth, with 

 fine interbranching angular veins. We have feen no frufti- 

 fication. Neither Willdenow nor Purfti appear to have 

 examined any fpecimens. 



Se(ft. 3. Frond pinnate. Forty-four fpecies in Swartz ; 

 feventy-four in Willdenow. 



A. falcalum. Sickle-leaved Japanefe Shield-fern. Swartz 

 n. 7. Willd. n. 13. (Polypodium falcatura ; Thunb. 

 Jap. 336. t. 36, not 35. Linn. Suppl. 446. Fihx cheu- 

 fanica, latiori lonchitidis ferrato folio, averfa parte ferru- 

 gineis punftuhs refertifiimo ; Pluk. Amalth. 93. t. 405. 

 f. I.) — Frond pinnate: leaflets ovate, coriaceous, bluntly 

 ferrated, pointed, curved upwards ; oblique and unequal at 

 the bafe ; fi;rongly veined beneath ; the odd one fomewhat 

 three-lobed. Stalk fcaly. — Gathered in Japan by Thun- 

 berg, from whom we have a fpecimeu. Twelve or fifteen 

 inches high, rigid ; rather glaucous beneath. Involucrum 

 perfecllv peltate and orbicular, with a central bofs. The 

 upper fide of each leaf is quite fmooth and even ; the under 

 verj' curioufly reticulated, with Itout, prominent, chain-like 

 veins, meeting, but not fl;riclly interbranching with, each 

 other. 



A 



iigris 



punaulatum. Dotted-bordered Shield-fern. Swartz 

 Willd. n. 17. (Lingua cervina dentata, pundlulis 



notata ; Plum. Fil. 98. t. 112.) — Frond pinnate: 

 leaflets uniform, linear-lanceolate, pointed, ferrated ; with 

 a marginal row of minute impreflions on the upper fide ; 

 downy beneath. — Gathen-<1 by Plumier in Martinico. We 

 have it from Jamaica. Willdenow moreover mentions 

 Guinea, as the native country of this fpecies. Each frond 

 is five or fix feet high. Common flalk round at the back, 

 furrowed in front, light brown, not fmooth, but clothed 

 with fine, foft, narrou-, rufty fcales. Leaflets very nume- 

 rous, alternate, four or five inches long and nearly one 

 broad, flightly ftalkcd, bright green, rather thin and pliant, 

 unequally, and fometimes doubly, ferrated ; finely downy 

 at the back ; broadly wedge -fliaped, and occafionally 

 ilightly auricled at the bafe ; their upper fide fmooth, each 

 vein terminating near the margin in a blueifli, withered, mi- 

 nute fpot, the feat, as it appears, of the Jcwers ; for a 

 fimilar mark is found over evei^ mafs of capfules ; but thefe 

 being fituated in a fimple row, at fome diftance from the 

 margin, the fpots which mark their infertion are much fur- 

 ther from the edge than the abortive fpots. Plumier repre- 

 fents a row of fuch fpots on the under fide, at every ferrature. 

 He is fo fupremely accurate, that we have fometimes doubted 

 our plant being the fame as his, of which there is othennfe 

 no appearance. Ever^- thing which may lead to the dif- 

 covery of the fioiuers of ferns is fo interefliing, that we are 

 here tempted to be more particular than ufual. The mafles 

 of capfules are large, prominent, of a bright tawny-brown, 

 each with an almoft perfedly circular and umbilicated involu- 

 crum. It feems to us a curious queftion, how the fpots 

 above-mentioned which are attended by fertile ra//«/«, in 

 large convex fori, come to be arrefted at a confiderable dif- 

 tance from the edge of the leaf, while, without any difference 

 in their fize or appearance, the abortive ones are advanced 

 almoft to the bafe, or even the dilk of each ferrature. 



A. X.0/1- 



