Can JProsaptia properly be placed under 



Davallia? i.e. is it really distinct 



from Poly podium? 



By 

 Euuzo Hayata. 



Prosaptia is a genus which was established b}- Presl, 1 ', 

 as early as 1836, on the species Prosaptia contigua which was 

 then found only in the Philippines. It is, as has been remarked 

 by several authors, a fern closely resembling Polypodium obli- 

 quatum in its external features, especially in its rhizomes, scales, 

 hairy stipes and fronds which have much the same kind of 

 division and venation. But it has been regarded by several 

 leading pteridologists as widely different from Polypodium in 

 its fructification. It is, therefore, often referred to as represent- 

 ing a class of ferns which, though closely alike externally, 

 should be treated as quite different systematically'^. The genus 

 under consideration is assigned to the Vittariea by the 

 founder, as it has a sorus located at the margin of the frond 

 as is the case with Vittaria. Fee 3 ' in his classical "Exposition 

 des Fougeres " gives his opinion as to the natural position of 

 the genus and says that it might be better placed in the 

 Davallieas, as it has a sorus somewhat resembling that of 

 Davallia, remarking " Le type de ce genre est le Prosaptia 

 pinnatiGda (=Prosaptia contigua) de M. Presl, indigenes des 

 iles Philippines, distribue par M. Cuming sous le n°. 261. Ces 



1) Presl, C. B— Tent amen Pteridographiae, (1836) p. 165. 



2) Diels, L— Pteridoj.hyta, in Ekgler u. Prante, Nat. Pfl.-fam. I.-4, p. L44. 



3) Fee, A.L.A.— Genera Filieum, Exposition des Genres de la Famille des Poly- 

 pod iace"es, p. 324. 



