93 



FERNS : SYNOPTICAL LIST— XXXV. 



Synoptical List, with descriptions, of the Ferns and Fern- Allies of Ja- 

 maica, By G. S. Jen man, Superintendent Botanical Gardens, 

 Demerara. 



19. Nephr odium stipulare, Moore. — Rootstock erect, stout or stoutish, 

 often several inches high, scaly ; stipites caespitose, erect, 1-2 ft. 1., 

 ^pale-coloured, deciHuously palaceous at the base, strong, subangular, 

 inot channelled; fronds erect, 1^-4 ft. L £-l£ ft. w., papyraceous, more 

 or less pubescent throughout ; light-green, rachis strong, subangular, 

 not channelled, naked or pubescent ; pinna) very numerous, sessile, 

 Ispreading, contiguous, the lower 1-3 pairs usually somewhat reduced 

 and deflexed, central ones 5-9 in. 1. |rds-l in. w,, tapering from the 

 base to the acuminate and serrate-entire point ; cut down |ths-|ths to 

 the costae into close subfalcate, oblong, flat, blunt, entire segments 1J- 

 2 li. b., the costal pair enlarged, often much, (the inferior of the two 

 usually the larger) entire or more or less incised or pinnatifid ; veins 

 simple, 8-10 to a side, lowest pair free or running together to the 

 sinus ; sori medial, pale or dark-coloured eventually ; involucres as 

 large, pale, ciliate. — N. patens, J. Smith. Aspidium, Willd. Plum. Fil. 

 t. 23. 



a. var. macrourum. — Stipites 2 ft. 1. fronds 2\ ft. 1. f — 1 ft. w. ; 

 segments narrower a line or less w., more falcate, the inferior pair more 

 or less pinnatifid ; surface less ciliate ; texture firmer ; rachis and stipe 

 darker ; lowest veins quite free. — PI. Fil. t. 23. Aspidium, Willd. N. 

 macrourum, Hook. 



b. var. pseudo-patens, Jenm. — Stipites slender, 9-12 in. 1. ; fronds 

 ovate-deltoid, widest below the middle, 9-12 or 15 in. 1. 6-9 in. w. ; 

 pinnae linear, serrato-acuminate, 4-6 1. w. ; segments falcate, acute, f- 

 1 1. w. lowest veins quite free. 



Common in open and half -open place?, often growing among bushes 

 in ruinate places, from the lower hills up to 5,000 ft. altitude. The 

 plant described as the type is much larger than patens, from which it is 

 distinguished definitely by the stout erect rootstock, but there are less 

 robust forms, a foot or two high, possessing the same kind of upright 

 caudex that must be associated with it. The latter come near molle, 

 but have not the simple vein running to the sinus which is characteristic 

 of that species. The venation is variable, and some of the forms might 

 be placed in the next division. Var. b, is a large plant, not very com- 

 mon, well marked by its narrow segments with, when dry, reflexed edges. 

 Yar. b. grows on wet rocks by the sides of rivers. It is marked by the 

 much smaller spreading fronds, their ovate-deltoid shape, and the 

 narrow pinnae, resembling those of serra. 



The enlarged basal pinnulae vary in the different forms ; in the most 

 developed state they are 1 in. 1. J in. w. and deeply pinnatifid. In 

 most cases however they are much smaller and entire. 



20. iV. Filix-mas, Eich. — Rootstock stout, erect, densely paleaceous 

 on the crown . stipites densely caespitose, strong, erect, 4-6 or 8 in. 1. 

 densely clothed like the rootstock ; fronds erect-, lanceolate or ovate- 

 lanceolate, narrowed downwards l£-2£ ft, L 8-12 in. w. bipinnatifid ; 



