20fi 



FERNS: SYNOPTICAL LIST— LIV. 



Synoptical List, tcith descriptions, of the Ferns and Fern- Allies of Ja- 

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

 Demerara. 



2. Banwa stenopht/lla^'Kze. — Stipites 10-18 in. 1, erect, slightly scaly 

 throughout, joints usually 3 ; fronds pinnate, 10 - 15 in. 1., 5 - 8 in. w., 

 somewhat narrowed both at top and bottom; naked or a few minute 

 scales at the base of the ribs beneath ; dark-green above, very light 

 beneath, pinnae spreading, consisting of a terminal and nine to a dozen 

 lateral ones, which are 3 - 4 in. 1., frd in. w., shortly stipitate, and 

 cuneate rounded unequal and deeper on the upper side, at the base, the 

 apex acute acuminate or cuspidate ; margins sharply serrated in the 

 outer part, but plain their greater length ; rachis slender, light coloured 

 beneath, slightly scaly, margined at the top ; veins close and fine, 

 spreading almost horizontally, forked at varying points from the base 

 outwards : fertile fronds reduced, the pinnae - 2| in 1„ 3-4 li. w., 

 stipites longer and jointed. 



Plentiful in moist stony forests at 5,000 ft., altitude. More nearly 

 allied to alata than any other Jamaica species, but from which the 

 terminal pinna, which is rather larger than the rest, rachis not winged 

 except at the top and jointed stem of the fertile frond clearly distin- 

 guish it. The pinnae too are longer and more acuminate. Sometimes 

 the fertile are as long as the sterile. 



3. D. elliptica, Smith. — Rootstock erect ; stipites caespitose, erect, a 

 span to a foot 1. slightly furf uraoeous or, at length, naked, with 2-4 

 nodes ; fronds erect or spreading, f - 1 f t. 1 , and nearly as much w., 

 composed of 3 - 5 pair of lateral spreading pinnae and a similar termi- 

 nal one which are cuneate or rounded and shortly stipitate at the base, 

 the apex acute, acuminate or cuspidate, 5 - 7 in. 1. 1 - If in. w , or 

 rather over, dark or light green, with a few minute scales on th(^ ribs 

 beneath ; chartaceous, margins plain within, the outer part freely or 

 faintly crenulate ; veins nearly horizontal ; mostly forked from the base ; 

 fertile fronds similar, but reduced; on longer stipites, with 2-4 i odes 

 Hook & Grev. Icon. t. 51. 



a var. major. — Root stock ei^ct, fronds larger, with 5 - 7 pinnae to a 

 side ; 3 - 4 nodes to the stipes ; veins more open. 



b var. repens. — Rootstock prostrate or repent ; nodes 1 - 2 ; pinnae 

 4 - 6 to a side. 



In moist forests, often very plentiful especially in Manchester, St. 

 Elizabeth and Clarendon. The larger states of this approach nodosa 

 closely in size and number of pinnae, but are readily distinguishable by 

 the nodes in the petioles. Their number vaiies in the different varie- 

 ties, but they are never entirely absent. Having examined in the 

 forests a very large number of plants, though the extremes are distinct 

 enough, this character of the absence or presence of nodes seems to me 

 the only certain character to rely upon for determinining the two 

 iipecies. 



