10 



1. p. Userraia, Mett. — Rootstock Upright, short immersed ; stipitea csespitoae, dilated and trique- 

 trous near the base, but narrowed again at the axis, 3-9 in. 1. ; barren fronds papyraceous, dark clear 

 green, naked, l^-lf ft. I. 4-6 in. w. lanceolate, fully pinnate at the rather reduced base, pinnatifid to 

 the narrow wing of the rachis above, the apex acuminate and lobate-serrate ; pinnae very numerous, 

 contiguous or rather apart, horizontal, 2^-3 in. 1. ^ in. w. with a rounded open sinus between, dentate- 

 serrate, the teeth deeper, sharper and bidentate at the finely acuminate point ; veins oblique, forked 

 from the middle or base, or some simple, pellucid ; fertile fronds on longer stipites, the pinnaj linear, 

 the lower free at the base, those above adnate but notched on the inferior side, 2-2^ in. 1. 1^ li. w. — 

 Lomaridinm, Presl, Lomaria semicordata, Baker. 



Frequent at about 7,000 ft. alt. on the forest-clad slopes of the higher peaks of the Blue Mountain 

 range. The fronds rather resemble some of the conditions of Acrofitichum Horhifolium and Pteris 

 longi folia. Discovered in 1874 in Jamaica and not known elsewhere in the West Indies but widely 

 spread on the continent from Mexico to Peru. 



Genus XVI. Lonchitis, Linn.* 



Sori confined to the sinuses and hollows of the lobes, or more or less continuous around the mar- 

 gin ; receptacles linear, transverse with the apices of the veins ; involucres membranous ; veins areola- 

 ted or free. 



This genus differs only from Pteris by the sori originating in and being continuous around, the 

 sinuses and hollows of the lobes, instead of being interrupted there, as in that genus. But while af- 

 fecting those situations most it often forms a sinous band around the lobes, more or less continuous 

 from the base to the apex of the pinnae. 



L. aurita, Linn. — Rootstock erect; stipites ca33pitose, strong erect, 1 - 2 ft. 1. freely clothed with 

 a pale spreading soft pubescense ; fronds 1| - 2 ft. 1 or more, f - IJ ft w,, simply pinnate with a pin- 

 natifid apex, or bipinnatifid at the base, herbaceo — chartaceous, copiously pellucid dotted, light green 

 pilose as are the rachis and costae ; pinnae spreading, sessile or shortly petiolate, a span or more 1., 

 simply lobed, or pinnatifid, the basal pair branched ; pinnulae sessile lobes rounded or acute, veins 

 prominent beneath, copiously and angularly areolated ; sori lunate, in the sinuses only or extending to 

 the hollows of the sides of the lobes, involucres pale, membranous.— Plum. Fil. t. 17. 



Hare ; gathered in 1880 by Nock on the flat above Morce's Grap, below John Crow Peak, in the 

 forest, between 5,000 - 6,000 ft. alt. In the specimens in question the pinnae are simply lobed, as 

 shown in Plumier's figure, upon which the species was founded, Plumier gathered his plant in 

 Martinique, and it is remarkable that 200 years should have elapsed before its rediscovery in the 

 West Indies, and that it should have again dissappeared with the single plant then found, though care- 

 ful search in the same locality has been made for it. Whether regarded as conspecific with L. jjuhes- 

 eens, Wild, which as a rule is larger and more compound, or not the Linnean name has priority. 

 The difierent character of the vestiture, position of the sori and reticulated venation distinguish it at 

 sight from Pteris laciiiiata the only other species having resemblance to it. 



Genus XVII. Pteris, Linn. 



Sori marginal, linear, continuous, rarely oblong, inserted on a special linear receptacle ; involucres 

 the same shape as the sori, attached by the outer edge, inflexed, free along the inner, a rudimentary 

 interior valve in rare cases present also, veins free, or united ; fronds varying from subentire to de- 

 compound. 



This genus, which is confined with one or two exceptions to the tropical and warm temperate 

 regions, is represented in Jamaica at all altitudes, from the lowest tojthe very highest, about half the 

 species being strictly forest denizens, the rest growing in more or less exposed situations, some being 

 communal, particularly the bracken (P. aquilina) which covers an enormous area of the country. 



a. Fronds pinnato-palmate. 



1. P. pedata, Linn. 



aa. Fronds uniformly once pinnate. 

 b. Veins free. 



2. P. longifolia, Linn. 

 bh. Veins united. 



3. P. grandifolia, Linn. 



aaa. Fronds once pinnate above, lower pinnae forked. 



4. P. cretica, Linn. 



(See also small states of P mntilata.) 

 aaaa. Fronds mainly bipinnatifid, but usually having the basal pair of pinnae branched on the un- 

 derside at the base. 



b. Lowest vein of each segment springing from the costa. 



5. P. mntilata, Linn. 



6. P. Swartziana, Agardh. 



bb. Lowest vein springing like the rest in each segment from the midrib. 



7. P. longipinnula, Wallich. 



8. P. quadriaurita, Retz. 



* Oriychiiim, Kaulf. which comes in beside this genus, has not been found in tho British West Indian Islands, but 

 as it is represented, in Cuoa it may also be in Jamaica. The fronds are a span or two long, multifidly divided, with 

 small linear, bifid or trifid shaip segments, free veins, short sori on a transverse filiform receptacle which combines the 

 ends of tho veins, the edges of tho opposite involucres meeting, giving the leaf segments a podlike appearance. 



0. stridnm, Kunze, so far only known from Cuba, has a small erect or obliciue rootstock, fronds tufted, 1-2 spans 

 long including the stipites which are J J the whole length ; blade elongato-deltoid, finely cut (resembling in outline and 

 cutting the more finely cut forms of AqAeniimi fray vans and the sori shorter than the leaf segments, the points of which 

 extend beyond. 



