142 



though very distinct being generally confounded in descriptions. 

 Plumier's figure resembles closely some of the forms of N. scolopendri- 

 oides, Hook, on which perhaps it is based. 



35. JV. Wrightii, Hook. — Rootstock thick as a quill, much elongated 

 densely clothed with dark brown scales ; stip'tes apart but contiguous, 

 erect, 4-8 in. 1., strong grayish puberulous ; fronds linear-oblong 8-12 

 in. 1. f-lj in. b. generally a little narrowed at the base, chartaceous ; 

 under surface puberulous on the ribs, upper glabrous, dull green ; fully 

 pinnate in the lower halt" or third, the pinnae close or apart, the upper 

 part pinnatifid, apex pointed, subentire ; pinnae horizontal, rounded 8-4 

 li; w. in. 1. the lower ones free at the base and somewhat auricled 

 on each side, the rest adnate and entire ; rachis stiff densely puberulous 

 pubescent, gray close, at a wide angle ; veins free or the lowest meeting 

 at the sinus in the upper pinnatifid portion ; sori medial or rather 

 nearer the margin ; involucres evident. — Sp. Fil. t. 239. 



Infrequent on open mountain banks Nearly allied to scolopendri- 

 oides, but of a more regular or equal width upwards, and marked parti- 

 cularly by the lower part being uniformly fully pinnate and the upper 

 deeply pinnatifid, so that the veins do not form costal areolae, and by the 

 different rootstock. The p^nt cited above is a good figure of it. — Cuba. 



36 iV. scolopendrioides. Hook. — Stipites densely tufted froma small 

 erect or decumbent, scaly fibrous rootstock, 1-6 in. 1 , puberulous, scaly at 

 the base and after deciduously fibrillose upwards ; fronds 6-12 in 1. 1-2 in, 

 w. lanceolate or oblong or linear-lanceolate, acuminate or obtuse at the 

 apex, the base reduced and usually fully pinnate, above this lobed or deeply 

 pinnatifid, subcoriaceous dark green above, paler beneath ; upper surface 

 glabrous, rachis costae and veins beneath densely greyish stell ito -puberu- 

 lous ; segments variable, close, or apart with a narrow or broad rounded 

 sinus between 2-4 1. b. J-f in. 1 , blunt and rounded or subacute; the 

 reduced lower ones distant, deltoid or oblong and roundel auricled 'on both 

 sides at the base, quite free, subcordate sessile ; mar gins entire even or 

 crenate ; veins pinnate and simple in the outer part of the segments, 

 once or more forked within, the branches more or less anastomosing, 

 forming costal areolae, the lowest pair from opposite ribs uniting and 

 sending a limb to the sinus, where the next pair meet ; sori copious uni-or 

 pluri-serial on each side the midrib ; involucres small, ciliate — Hook, 

 Fil. Exot. t. 18., Aspidium, Mett., Poly podium, L. Hook, Sp. t. 239. 



a. var. extension. — Stipites 6-10 in. 1. slender; fronds 15-20 in. 1. 2- 

 2J in. w. cut as in the type ; the margins even ; sori 1-2-serial. 



b. var. littorale. — Fronds much broader, 10-15 in. 1. 2-3 in. w ; seg- 

 ments acute or acuminate, longest 1 J- If in. 1. J ^rd. in. w. even, crenate 

 or lobulate ; veins pinnate in the crenatures or lobules, the lowest op- 

 posite ones connected ; sori in one to several series. 



Plentiful on the rocky cliffs of the sea coast along the northern and 

 eastern parts of the island. A highly variable plant, presenting three 

 or more states which look distinct, but run one into the other. The 

 barren fronds are on short stems, are often only slightly lobed, and are 

 prostrate ; while the fertile are more erect, much longer, on long stems, 

 with distant reduced free basal pinnae, which pass upwards tnto larger 

 and more contiguous confluent ones with a costal wing and narrow or 

 open rounded sinuses, the top of the frond becoming gradually merely 

 lobed. The barren fronds are viviparous near the apex. Forms of this 



