278 



F I L I G E S. 



4. Dicksonia Torre*ana, Sp. Nov.* (Tab. 38.) 



D. arborescens; stipitibus glabris semkeretibus ; frondibus supradecom- 

 positis flaccidw; pimiis primariis et secundariis ovato-oblongis acumi- 

 natis; pinnidis tdtimis oblongo-lanceolatis acutis pinnatifidis basi 

 obliquis, laciniis oblongo-lanceolatis dentatis; rkachi ultima costisque 

 subtus parce pilosis; soris parvis sinubus dentium impositis; indusio 

 fere membranaceo^ valvis aiqualibus. 



Hab. Feejee Islands ; in mountain forests ; rare. 



Trunk from 8 to 10 feet high, its surface rough, owing to the base 

 of the old stipes remaining attached to it. Fronds few and, with the 

 smooth and semiterete stipe, from 8 to 12 feet long, flaccid, spreading 

 and supra-decompound; the primary and secondary divisions ovate- 

 oblong, unequal at the base, tapering gradually into a slender and 

 finely serrated point; the idtimate divisions approximate and some 

 what imbricated, oblong -lanceolate, acute, and pinnatifid; the seg- 

 ments lance-oblong, toothed. Rhachis and costa of the ultimate divisions 

 pilose witli scattered hairs beneath, while in the young fronds the 

 rhachis, costa, and veins throughout are closely beset with weak and 

 whitish hairs, which almost entirely disappear at maturity. Veins 

 pinnate, the venules forked. Sori small and rather numerous, seated 

 in the sinuses of the teeth, and continuing outwards almost to the tips 

 of the pinnules. Special and accessory indusium about equal in size, of 

 a pale straw colour, rather membranaceous, and breaking down under 

 a very slight pressure. The whole plant is very graceful, and the 

 fronds more compoundly divided than in any other species with which 

 we are acquainted. 



Plate 38. — Fig. 2. Portion of a frond, of the natural size. 2 a. 

 A portion of the same, seen from beneath. 2 b. Smaller portion, 

 with a single sorus. 2 c, A sporangium.-^The dissections more or 

 less magnified. 



* Named in compliment to Professor John Torrey, one of our oldest and most distin- 

 guished American botanists. 



