163 



FERNS: SYNOPTICAL LIST— LII. 



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

 maica. By G. S. Jenman, ISuperintendent Botanical Garden 

 Demerara, 



29. Acrostichum cervinum, Swartz. — Eootstock ligneous, short repentj, 

 densely clothed with brown or ferruginous long filamentose silky scales ; 

 stipites contiguous or apait, erect, light brown, J-lf ft. 1., clothed at 

 the base like the rootstock ; fronds pinnate, erecto-spreading or pen- 

 dant, 1^-2^ ft. 1. f -1^ ft. w., composed of a terminal pinna and few or 

 several mequilateral oblong-lanceolate lateral ones, which are 6-9 in. 1. 

 lj-2f in. w. the upper base deeply rounded, the inferior gradually cut 

 away to nothing, the apex tapering and acuminate, subcoriaccous. light 

 green, glabrous ; veins patent, simple and forked, close connected in the 

 thickened margin ;• fertile fronds regularly bipinnate, the pinnae linear 

 acuminate ; segments very numerous, 3-6 li. 1. about 1 li. w. soriferoug 

 on both sides. PI. Fil. t 154 SI. Hist. t. 37. 41. f. 2. Herb. pp. 79-87. 

 Fil. Exot t. 43. Osmunda, L. Folybotrya, Kaulf. Olfersia, Kze. 



Common in moist forests up to 3,000 or 4,000 ft. altitude. Fronds 

 are occasionally found intermediate in character between the normal 

 barren and fertile, with the pinnae pinnatifid, the veins curiously pin- 

 nate and areolated in the narrow pectinate segments, barren through- 

 out, or partly, or completely fertile. 



30. A. nicoti an ce folium, Swartz. — Rootstock ligneous, free- creeping, 

 paleaceous ; stipites apart, erect, 1 - 2 ft. 1. dark scaly at the base, light 

 browD, fronds erect, 1 - If ft. 1. f - 1 ft. w., composed of a large termi- 

 nal pinna and 2-4 pairs of smaller erecto-spreading lateral ones, which 

 are oblong or orate-lanceolate, acuminate, rather rounded or subcuneate 

 at the base and stipitate 6 - 10 in. 1. IJ - 3 in w., even or somewhat 

 repand or sinuate, light or dark green, chartaceous, naked ; veins co- 

 piously areolated, areolae very fine, with stronger transverse arched veins 

 connecting the primary costate series ; fertile fronds on long stipites, 

 the pinnae greatly reduced. —PL Fil. t 115. SI. His. t. 39. Herb. p. 

 84.Hook. garden Ferns, t. 26. Gymnopteris, Bernh. G. acmninatunif 

 Willd. 



a. tar. iaxicolum, Jenm — Eootstock ascending, stipites and rachises 

 fibrillose, texture thinner, fertile pinnae larger and usually rather more 

 in numoer. 



Common in woods and forests among the lower hills ; variable in the 

 number of pinnae and size of the fronds. The type creeps horizontally 

 under ground, while a, which has a darker colour, is more generally 

 scaly, with more decidedly oblong, rather than ovate formed barren late- 

 ral pinnae and somewhat larger fertile ones, grows above ground ascend- 

 ing the sides of rocks or stumps. Both are equally common on the 

 mainland. 



31. A. alienum, Swartz, — Rootstock free-creeping, scaly, stipites 

 erect, scattered, 1 - 1^ ft. 1., deciduously fibrillose below, light brown ;^ 

 fronds 1 - IJ ft. 1. ^ - 1 ft. w., pinnate, with a pinatifid and lobed acu- 

 minate upper part ; pinnae several erecto-spreading, oblong-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, the lower ones stipitate, the upper adnate and decurrent on. 

 the rachis, 6 - 8 in. 1. 1 - 2 in. w. roundly lobed on each side, the lowest 



