a. Lowest pair of opposite veins united, forming a costal arch ; those above free. — Cnemidaria, Pr. 



1. H. Imrayana, Hook. 



2. H. horrida. R. Br. 



aa. Veins all free. — Euhemitelia. 



3. H. Wilson it, Hock. 



4. H. Sherringii, Jenm. 



1. H. Imrayana, Hook. Jenm. — Stems short, stout, erect ; stipites erect, scaly at the base and 

 prickly ; fronds bipinnatifid, the apex simply pinnatifid with entire lobes, chartaceous, bright green, 

 naked, or the ribs slightly tomentose beneath , pinnae spreading, approximate, or the lower distant, in 

 opposite pairs, becoming alternate above, 6- 10 in. 1. 1J-2 in. or over b., sessile, the acuminate apex entire, 

 within this cut down f to the costae into flat acuminate sub-acute or rounded lobes 1-1^ in. 1. from the 

 acute or rounded sinus, in. w. margins even, or crenute-dentate at the point ; veins fine, close, once 

 forked or in fascicles of 2-3 running parallel to the margin, the opposite basal pair uniting, forming a 

 longitudinal costal arch from rib to rib with branches running to the sinus ; sori forming a direct or 

 slightly sinuous line just within the margin : involucres shallow, thin, simple or often at length bilo- 

 bed.-- H. grandifolia, Hook. Sp. Fil. Vol. I. t. 14, B. . . Grisebach, Fl. B. W. I. I. p. 706. Plum. FiL 

 t. 26 (double lines of sori wrongly shown.) 



Gathered by Miss Taylor, Wilson, a'id of late years, by Sherring near Balh. I include under this 

 all the West Indian specimens which I have seen, except those of Trinidad, hitherto ascribed by au- 

 thors to grandifolia, a species which, as I regard it, is confined to Trinidad and the mainland, and which 

 is quite distinct. For the latter (//. grandifolia, Spreng,) as here understood, Hooker's figure in vol. I, 

 Sp. Fil. t. 14 a. under the name of H. obtusa, Kaulf. is absolutely correct. The latter is a relatively 

 slender plant, with pinnae of a uniform width from the bass outwards to where they narrow to the point, 

 cut only half way to the costae into close (the sinus not open) broadly rounded lobes, of thin texture 

 the line of sori decidedly intramarginal or nearly medial. 



In Imrayana as here intended, the pinnae are u different shape to those of grandifolia, texture 

 thicker, sori nearer the margin and sinuses open. On the same frond, in different pinnae, it often occurs 

 that the segments vary r'rom acuminate, acute, to round pointed, Hooker's figure B. quoted above, repre- 

 senting exactly, under the name of grandifolia, the last state, Hooker finally united his Imrayana, as a 

 small variety, with horrida. I have Dominica specimens, and agree with this conclusion, but the name 

 may be maintained for the Jamaican and other West Indian plants hitherto ascribed, but which do not 

 properly belong to grandifolia, as Sprengel's plant of that name is here understood. 



2. H. horrida, R. Br. — Stem short, 6-10 in. thick; stipites erect, strong armed with short strong 

 spinas and scaly at the base ; fronde ample, erect bipinnatifid 4-7 ft. 1. 2|-3| ft. w. subcoriaceous, gla- 

 brous, or the ribs beneath glabrescent-tomentose dark green and glossy above, beneath pale; pinnae 

 spreading or erect-spreading, 1-2 ft. 1. 4-8 in. w. sessile and opposite, or nearly so, the acuminate point 

 entire, deeply pinnatifid ; pinnule close, with an acute or slightly open sinus between, 2-3^ in. 1. in. 

 w. the connected bases slightly dilated, tapering to the slightly serrated acuminate points, the margins 

 within this entire ; veins fine, close, in fascicles of 4-5 usually 4, which run parallel into the margin, 

 the opposite basal pair united forming a costal arch below the sinus to which a vein runs from the an- 

 gle ; sori forming a rather crowded simple or pseudo-double straight or sinuous row shortly within the 

 margin ; involucres thin, bilobed, often nearly surrounding the sori, but open on the outer side. — Book, 

 Sp. Fil. vol. 1. t 15. and Fil. Exot, t. 69; Plum., Fil. t. 8. 



Var. II. Ilookeri, Fee. — Very robust, the larger pinnae fully pinnate at the base, the inferior pin- 

 nulae sinuate or shallowly lobed within, the lowest pair pinnatifid on the lower side ; lines of sori deeply 

 sinuous ; veins more open and more branched. 



Frequent in damp forests, especially near banks of streams, from the lower hills up to 4,000 ft alt. 

 The short thick trunk is clothed with the persistent decaying fibres of past petioles. Occasionally it is 

 found in open situations, when generally it does not attain more than half its maximum size, and the 

 sori run in straight lines. 



3. A. Wikoni, Hook. — Stem several feet high, scaly above; stipites 2-3 ft. 1. clothed with scales 

 at the base; fronds ample, bipinnatifid, 4-5 ft. 1. 2£-3 ft. w., chartaceous, pellucid, naked or the ribs 

 beneath slightly tomentose, and with the costue sprinkled with few or several deciduous whitish scales; 

 pinnae \\ ft. 1. or over, 5-8 in. w. shortly stipitate or sessile, alternate, bipinnatifid, the apex pinnati- 

 fid , pinnulac alternate, the inner free, sessile, the outer adnate, spreading, deeply pinnatifid, or only 

 lobed or subentire, as are the outer ones, acuminate and serrate-entire at the apex, 3-4 in. 1. \ \ in. w. ; 

 segments straight or subfalcate, close with a narrow sinus, entire or the rounded point crenate, 1^-2 li. 

 w.; veins all free, the lowest excurrent above the sinus, regularly pinnate, or fascicled in the less cut 

 pinnulae, the branches simple or once forked; sori medial ; receptacles scaly; involucres conspicuous, 

 bilobed , thin, brown. 



Infrequent or local in most situations from 1,000 3000 ft. alt. in the eastern parishes, gathered by 

 Wilson at Mansfield near Bath, and since by Syme, Sherring, and Hart near Mount Moses, at Claverty 

 Cottage and other places. The specimens present two states : in one the pinnuke are sub-entire or lobed 

 only in the outer part, the inner half being narrowed, and the base fully adnate ; in the other they are 

 uniformly and deeply pinnatifid throughout and the base is free but quite sessile. Wilson describes the 

 trunk as slender and several feet high ; Syme says eight feet. 



