62 



F I L I C E S. 



situations, they are short, rigid, and erect ; while in sheltered, warm, 

 humid localities they are much longer, more flaccid, and pendulous. 



4. VlTTARlA PLANTAGINEA, Bory. 



Vittaria plantaginea, Bory, ex. Willd. Spec. PI. 5, p. 406 ; Hook. & Grev. Ic. Fil. 



t. 187. 



Hab. Tahiti, Society Islands. Feejee Islands : on trees. 



Eootstock creeping, nearly as thick as a goosequill, and closely 

 covered with dark brown, setose, linear-lanceolate, subulate, reti- 

 culated paleae. Fronds numerous, approximate, 10 to 12 inches in 

 length, erect, subcoriaceous, linear or linear-lanceolate, acuminate and 

 about 3 lines broad ; the costa obscure. 



The principal difference between this and the preceding species 

 consists in the thicker and longer rootstock, the darker brown setose- 

 subulate paleae, and the more numerous fronds. 



5. Vittaria elongata, Sw. 



Vittaria elongata, Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 109 & 302; Willd. Spec. PI. 5, p. 406; Blume, 

 Enum. Plant. Jav. p. 200 ; Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beech. Voy. p. 107. 



Hab. Tahiti, Society Islands : on trees. 



Eootstock creeping and paleaceous. Fronds membranaceous, 4 to 

 6 feet long, linear, pendulous, 3 to 4 lines broad, and very much atte- 

 nuated at the base, towards the point less so. Veins obscure; the 

 costa only evident on the lower half of the frond. 



In the Botany of Beechey's Voyage, we find this species enume- 

 rated among plants collected at the Sandwich Islands, where alone 

 the V. rigida of Kaulfuss has hitherto been found ; while in the same 

 work the latter plant is said to occur at the Society Islands. There 

 has evidently been a transposition of the stations of the two species. 



