CHAPTER XIX. 



TRICHO MANES, Smith. 

 ( Trich-om'-an-es. ) 

 Bristle Ferns. 



HE name Trichomanes is the old Greek one used by Theophrastus, 

 and derived from thrix, trichos, a hair, and memos, soft, 

 in allusion either to the delicate nature of the fronds, or more 

 probably to the peculiar soft, hairy nature of the rhizomes 

 with which the majority of the species are provided. In 

 Hooker and Baker's " Synopsis Filicum," Trichomanes forms an important 

 part of the tribe Hymenophyllece as Genus 17. It was formerly divided into 

 Cephalomanes, Crepidomanes, Didymoglossum, Feea, Hemiphlebium, Hymeno- 

 stachys, Involucraria, Lacostea, Lecanium, Microgonium, Phlebiophyllum, &c. 

 Most of the foregoing names were given by the late Dr. Van den Bosch, who 

 made a special study of the tribe ; his " Hymenophyllacea? Javanicse " contains 

 engravings of many of the species, which, in point of beauty and delicacy of 

 execution, have rarely been equalled. The tribe Hymenophyllece was, by 

 Van den Bosch, divided into 24 genera, and comprised no less than 450 

 so-called species ; but the various characters which he held as distinctive 

 were of so superficial a nature that none of his species have been maintained, 

 and the tribe, as at present constituted, comprises only three genera : 

 Hymenophyllum, Loxsoma, and Trichomanes. 



This genus is composed of about 100 species of Ferns, inhabiting 

 tropical and temperate regions ; in fact, the geographical range of the 



