94 



firmly chartaceous, glabrous, bright green above, paler and lurid green 

 beneath ; pinnae close, spreading horizontally, the reduced lower ones 

 only a little apart, and defiexed, sessile and broadest at the base, 

 tapering thence to the finely serrate-acuminate point 4-7 in. I. Jrd 1 

 iu. or over w. lower ones 2-3 in. 1. pinnatifid almost to the costae ; seg- 

 ments straight, oblong or linear-oblong, rounded, close, with the base 

 not dilated and the sinus sharp, 1J— li. w. 4-6 li. 1., even or slightly 

 crenate ; rachis strong, subangular, stramineous, densely clothed with 

 ferruginous fibrillose scales as are also the costae at the base . veins 

 once or twice forked, curved ; sori 1-serial on the anterior venules, 

 nearly medial between ribs and margins ; involucres ample, convex, 

 naked. — Polypodium, Linn. Aspidium, Sw. 



Infrequent on the highest ridges and peaks of the Blue Mountains 

 at about 7,000 ft. alt., a very interesting discovery made a few years 

 ago by Dr. Morris, while in charge of the Botanical Department. 

 Though common on the mainland from Greenland to Peru, and often 

 of late years sought for in Jamaica, it had not before been found in the 

 West Indies. The form is identically the tropical American one, 

 which is distinguished by the very dense bright shaggy coating of the 

 rachis, very numerous close tapering horizontal pinnae, and close equal 

 ended entire or finely crenate segments. Though the fronds are 

 gradually reduced below, the lower pinnae are 2-3 in. long, with some 

 variation of form in different countries, the species is widely spread in 

 Europe, Asia, Africa and America. 



21. AT. hirtum, Hook. — Rootstock short, upright or oblique, very 

 densely clothed with long linear undulate dark brown scales ; stipites 

 caespitose, erect or somewhat spreading, 3-9 in. 1. clothed at the base 

 like the rootstock, copiously fibrillose and glandulose upwards ; fronds 

 deltoid or oblong-deltoid, 4 to 8 in. 1. 3-5 in. br. tri-quadripin- 

 natifid,* 



thin ; ash-green, glandulose, slightly ciliate or naked ; rachis costae and 

 costulae more or less freely clothed like the stipites ; pinnae spreading 

 lowest subdeltoid and deeper on the inferior side, petiolate, central 

 oblong, stipitate or sessile, rather blunt-pointed, ^-1 in. w. 1^-3 in. 1., 

 those above to the acuminate apex gradually reduced, ultimate segments 

 oblong, blunt, the outer ones at least, adnate and decurrent at the base, 

 serrate with appressed bluntish teeth, lobed or deeply pinnatifid, the 

 lobes a line or less w. and 1-2 li. d. ; veins pinnate in the larger 

 lobes ; sori terminal on the short branches, medial ; involucres brownish 

 disappearing with age. Aspidium Swartz. Polypodium crystallinum, 

 Kze. 



Common in forests on and among calcareous rocks from 2,000- 

 5,000 ft. altitude; generally distributed through the colony, variable in 

 size ; mostly found small, with spreading deltoid or elongate-deltoid 

 fronds 3-5 in. 1. well distinguished by its small size, copious vestiture, 

 glandulose surface and pale colour. The largest state which is erect in 

 habit, is plentiful in the forest above Moody's Gap, on the ridge 

 between the parishes of St. Andrew and Portland. 



* The measurements given of the pinme, pinnulse, &c, in this division do not 

 apply to the lowest pairs of pinnae, which are deeper and more compound on the 

 underside than are the rest above. 



