92 



dark brown or ferruginous scales ; stipites tufted; slender, 2-5 in. 1., freely 



clothed with long spreading ferruginous hairs ; fronds pendent, lanceo- 

 late-oblong, the apex cuspidate or acuminate, the base cuneate, 4-8 

 in, 1, 1 - 1:^ in. b , very thin, pellucid, pale green, thinly clothed on 

 both sides with long spreading hairs, which form a fringe to the rather 

 uneven margins ; veins visible, open, 2J li. apart, simple and forked ; 

 fertile fronds the same shape, but greatly reduced, the stipites not 

 much if any longer — PI. Fil. t. 137. Hook and Grev. Icon. t. 95. 

 A. Plumieri, Fee. 



Common in damp forests from 2,000 - 5,000 ft. altitude on the sides 

 of rocks; the commonest and best known mountain species of this 

 group. The substance is very thin and pellucid, in which the veins 

 are conspicuously visible. Unlike the three preceding, the fertile 

 fronds, though much smaller are the same shape as the barren, with a 

 more copious gold-tinted fringe to the margins, and a band beneath 

 free of sporangia, which contributes a very characteristic feature. 



25. A. crinitum, Linn. — Rootstock short, densely clothed with soft 

 undulated yellowish scales ; stipites tufted 6 - 10 in. 1 , strong, erect, 

 dark coloured, most abundantly furnished with spreading long blackish 

 hairs; fronds elliptical or elliptical-oblong, | - IJ- ft. 1. 6 - to 9 or 12 

 in. w., broadly rounded at both ends or the top shortly pointed, fleshy, 

 drying chartaceous, densely pellucid-dotted, very dark green, both sur- 

 faces similarly criniferous, the margins freely fringed with long black- 

 ish hair, the midrib clothed more abundantly ; veins copiously areolated, 

 areolae elongated, directed to the margins ; fertile fronds much reduced, 

 the same shape, on longer stipites — PI. Fil. t. 125. Hook and Q-rev. 

 Icon. t. 1. Fil. Ex. t. 6. Hymenodium, Fde. 



Common in places on rocks and banks in very moist forests between 

 1,000-4,000 ft. alt. A singular, but well known species that has long 

 been among the curiosities of European nurseries. The fronds are as 

 large as dinner table mats, and are the large entire fronds in the 

 American fern flora. The scales of the stipites are \ in. 1., spreading 

 and exceedingly copious. Those scattered on the surfaces drop away 

 in the course of time, leaving them bare. 



26. A. peltatum, Swartz. — Rootstock very slender, flliform, free- 

 creepiug, clothed with bright brown lanceolate scales that are some- 

 what spreading ; stipites filiform, scattered, paleaceous to the top, or, 

 at length, naked, erect, 1-3^ in. 1., fronds flabellate-palmatipartite, ^-2 

 in. diameter, repeatedly dichotomously divided to the axis into numer- 

 ous spreading linear segments ^ - J li- w., the ends of which are bifid 

 or retuse and the final tips bluntish, firm, dark green, the under sur- 

 face slightly scaly ; veins forked, simple in the final divisions ; fertile 

 fronds palmate on longer more filiform stipites, reniform, entire or 

 slightly bilobed nearly orbicular, with a thin scariose margin ; veins 

 repeatedly dichotomous. PI. Fil. t. 50, A. Rhipidopteris, Schott. 



Infrequent on mossy logs, rocks and banks, in forests on shady moss- 

 grown places from 2,000 - 6,000 ft. alt. The thin wiry scaly rootstock 

 runs freely, throwing up fronds from ^ - 1 inch apart, the fertile being 

 few in number to the sterile. The primary divisions of the sterile 

 fronds are not stronger than the other divisions. 



27. A, sorhifolium, Linn. — Rootstock thick as a quill, long-creeping, 



