189 



the base and thence narrowed outwards or uniform along the inner half 

 or two-thirds, the acuminate point subentire ; cut down halfway or 

 rather more to the costae into close flat broad lobes 3-6 li. d. and 2\->\ 

 li b., 1-2 basal lobes reduced or not in the lower pinnae ; margins en- 

 tire or subcrenulate ; veins simple, <S-1^ to a side, lowest pair uniting 

 below, with an excurrent branch, or at the sinus to which the next pair 

 are contiguous ; sori medial, or nearer the edge, the hitter in the 

 broader pinnae ; involucre as large, dark or cinnamon brown, naked. 

 N. Fendleri, Hook., Aspidium, Howard in Mag. Nat. His. Sept. 1808, 

 p. 464. 



Common in the forests of the central Parishes at 2,00'Oit. altitude, 

 gathered near Mt. Olivet, Manchester and on Mt. Diablo, St. Ann, varia- 

 ble in the breadth of the pinnae and position of the sori. The fronds present 

 two states. — A broad and a narrow pinnaed ; in the former the pinnae are 

 1 in. w. and in the latter 1J. Scattered on the underside, sparsely 

 or more plentifully, are minute microscopic pale blistered points. In 

 the large state the fructification is confined to the lobes, while in the 

 smaller in which it is generally medial it descends to the lower veins 

 at or below the sinus. N. Fendleri, Hook, was based on Nicaraguan 

 specimens. 



48. N. unitum, R Br. — Rootstock wide-creeping, in water, as 

 thick as a quill, cylindric, dark-coloured, eventually naked ; stipites 

 erect, distant, 1-3 ft. L, naked, dark-brown, channelled ; fronds oblong- 

 lanceolate, 1^-3 ft. L, 5-10 in. w., not narrowed at the base; dark- 

 green, naked or ciliate, with a few small brown scales beneath, cori i- 

 ceous and stiff pinnae erecto-spreading or horizontal, numerous, 1-2 or 

 more in , apart below, 4-6 in., L 4-5 li. w., rounded at the base, and 

 the lower ones substipitate and a little narrowed there, acuminate or 

 bluntish and crenate-enti.re at the apex, below this cut £ or Jrd to the 

 costae into confluent broad deltoid or rounded lobes ; rachis stiff dark- 

 brown, puberulous or naked ; veins fine and close, pellucid, deeply 

 curved, 6-9 to a side, the lowest pair sending a branch to the sinus 

 where the next pair meet ; sori copious, medial ; involucres naked, at 

 length dark-brown. Polypodium, L. 



Plentiful in Salt Pond, near Guava ridge, St. Andrew, between 3,000 

 4,000 ft., alt., often common in unused trenches, wet savannahs and 

 the sides of open sun exposed rivers. This is a purely aquatic species 

 with slender wide diffused branched rhizomes, which spread widely 

 but densely through the other herbage of shallow weed covered water. 

 It is well marked by these characters, its coriaceous texture, generally 

 dark colour (N. gongylodes, Schk., is a pale thinner form found on 

 the continent) and narrow pinnae with broad shallow deltoid or round 

 scallop-like lobes. The upper pinnae are merely serrulate and the apex 

 of the frond is either pinnatifid or terminates in a distinct lobed pinnae. 

 The under surface is often slightly pubescent. 



49. N. serrulatum, Jenm. — Rootstock more or less stout, erect, a 

 few inches to often a foot or more high ; stipites tufted, numerous, 

 erect, a span to 1^ ft. 1., grayish-puberulous, scaly only at the base ; 

 fronds 1-2^ ft. 1. J-l ft. w , usually somewhat narrowed (sometimes 

 much) at the base, chartaceous, pellucid, glabrous, or the costae slightly 

 puberulous or ciliate beneath, varying from light to dark green ; pin- 

 nee spreading, sub-distant or distant, contiguous above, numerous in 



