269 



indications of these characters. The pinnae are oblong lanceolate, the 

 upper base being parallel with the rachis and somewhat auricled, the 

 underside cut away. The upper part of the rachis is flat and margined, 

 the short straight tail being also margined, terminating in a scaly bud 

 or young plant. 



sub. sp lati l innum. — Stipites 4-8 in. 1. deciduously scaly brown ; 

 fronds pinnate, pinnatifid in the upper part, not tailed, terminating in 

 a retuse, viviparous apex, erect spreading, 8-12 in. 1. l^-2f m. b. the 

 base truncate ; pinnae in. 1 ^-f in w., margins plain or with shal- 



low appressed teeth, the ucute point mucronate ; complete row of sori 

 medial, \—l incomplete outer rows; rachis fibrillose or naked when dry. 

 A. trianguhim, Sw. var. latininnum, Jenm. Jour. Bot. vol. 8 p. 260. 



Arntully Gap, 2,000 ft. altitude. This in its dark colour and dark 

 vestiture diverges somewhat from the group, but the affinity is all the 

 same quite unmistakable. It is further marked by its flat rhomboidal 

 pinnae and lobed or only pinnatifid proliferous upper part In the 

 smaller states the upper part is subentire, suggesting very strongly the 

 connection of rh'zophyllum and Plaschnickianum with the group. A 

 small plant in the British Museum, marked by me var. Wilesianum, 

 probably, >^ peaking from memory and my notes, belongs here. 



9. A. aculeatum, Swartz. — Stipites caespitose from an upright densely 

 paleaceous rootstock, 6 — 1 5 in. 1. thickly clothed with ovate or lanceo- 

 late brown scales at the base, fibrillose upwards ; fronds lanceolate, or 

 ovate-lanceolate, narrowed often more or less abruptly upwards, and 

 acuminate, L — 2 ft. 1. 3 — 8 in. w. firm chartaceous or subcoriaceous, 

 rachis and costae reddish-fibrillose, the latter margined, upper surface 

 glabrous, glossy, green, under rather fibrillose, or naked, and paler, 

 broadest in the lower part ; pinnae distant or sub- distant below, close 

 above, spreading, oblong or lanceolate, blunt or acuminate, the lowest 

 not, or little reduced, \\ — 4 in. 1. \ ~\\ in. w., pinnate ; pinnulae close, 

 ovate-rhomboidal, the base on the upperside truncute and subauricled; 

 cut away on the under, 3 — 8 li. 1 I — 3 1. w., upper and outer margins 

 crenate-dentate, the teeth and point aiistate ; veins repea f edly forked 

 or pinnate ; sori medial, uniserial on each side, or duplicated in the 

 auricle ; involucre orbicular, deciduous, PI Fil. t. 37. Eat. Fer. N. Am. 

 p. 02, 



Common in shady and moist situations above 4.000 ft. altitude, very 

 variable. I have included two forms which seem to pass gradually one 

 into the other. The smallest state of all is 1-1^ in. w. and bipinnate 

 only at the base. The larger is A. PJiegopteridium, Baker. This and 

 the next have an evident connection with the tria> gulatum group, but 

 the habit is more lax the texture thinner, and teeth not rigid. In the 

 minor form the pinnae are cuneate at the base and ovate-oblong, or in 

 some instances, subspathulateand the texture is herbaceous. The larger 

 state varies a good deal in the size of the pinnules. That with the 

 broadest and flattest is Polypodium platyphyllum, Hook. ( Aspidium, 

 Will;]., PhegogteriSy Mett.) Syn. Fil. p. 310. which is generally found 

 without involucres. From one-third to half the upper part of the frond 

 is simply pinnate in even the larger states, and tapering. Spread 

 in varying forms throughout the tropical and temperate regions of the 

 globe and entering the arctic zone. 



