159 



G-ENUS XL. Anemia, Swart2L 



Barren and fertile parts difPorm, combined in the same frond or at 

 separate fronds, compound or decompound, the former laminate, the 

 latter rachiform -paniculate ; capsules attached by the base, biserial on 

 the face of short flattened ultimate ribs, which they cover, no mem- 

 brane being present ; veins free or united. 



These are small plants, from a few inches to a foot or more high, 

 which grow on open or shaded banks, rocks or stony places. In the 

 majority the fertile and sterile divisions are combined on the stem of 

 the same frond, in the others they form separate fronds. There are be- 

 tween thirty and forty species, all of which with a solitary exception 

 belong to tropical America. They possess a striking general family 

 resemblance, and to the least observant form a clearly defined group, 

 known in the West Indies, where about one-third of the species belong, 

 as flowering Ferns, in consequence oF the paniculate form of the sori- 

 ferous divisions. 



Barren and fertile fronds separate. 



1. A. aurita. 



Barren and fertile divisions combined in the same frond ; the latter 

 paniculate. 



Veins areolated. 



2. A. Phyllitidis. 



Veins free. 



Fronds simply pinnate 



3. A. oblongifolia. 



4. A. hirta. 



5. A. mandiocana. 

 Fronds simply pinnate, or the pinnae again lobed or incised. 



6. A. Breuteliana. 



7. A. filiformii. 



8. A. hirsuta. 



Fronds bi — or tripinnatifid. 



9. A. adiantifolia. 



1. A aurita, Swartz. — Stipites subtufted from a shortly repent root- 

 stock, stiff and wiry, 3-6 in 1. pubescent ; fronds distinct, barren 4-6 

 in. 1. 2-3 in. w., broadest at the base, and bipinnate ; pinnae close, petio- 

 late, with 1-3 pairs of lateral segments and a larger rounded terminal 

 one ; rachis channelled, dark pubescent ; pinnulae rounded, the outer 

 subrhomboidal and somewhat lobed, J-J in. or more in diameter, sub- 

 coriaceous pellucid, slightly deciduously ciliate, pubescent on the ribs 

 the upper glossy, the margins dentate- crenate ; veins forked, flabellate 

 fertile fronds on much longer more slender stipites, the divisions dis- 

 tant, segments soriferous on the upper side, flat, pinnatifid, about 2 li. 

 w. each way. — Hook. Icon. t. 903. Coptophyllum, Gard. 



On calcareous rocks and dry banks at low elevations and up to 2,000 

 ft. altitude. All the specimens I have seen were gathered in St. Ann, 

 and the western parishes. The rootstock is clothed with stiff black hairs. 

 There are two or three other species belonging to this section found in 

 the West Indies (in Cuba, Haiti and other islands near), that have not 

 yet been gathered in Jamaica when possibly some of them may sxist, 

 endemic. 



