3 



segments f in. 1. £ in w. close, subfalcate, all but the inferior adnate, bluntish or acute, the margin 

 crenate- serrate and subreflexed, ribs beneath fibrillous ; veins evident, once forked from near the base, 

 close; sori situated below the forking, small forming a continuous row close against the mid-rib reach- 

 ing half or two-thirds up the segment ; involucres cup-shaped, dark brown ; receptacles eetiferous. 



Very generally abundant in forests of the slopes of the highest ridges and peaks of the main 

 mountain ranges in the eastern parishes, A particularly fine plant, of a quite remote alliance as re- 

 gards habit, and one of the two or three tallest Jamaica tree ferns, attaining a height of 40 ft. or more 

 the shuttle cock-like dark head very often pushed through, and held clear above, the crown of the 

 forest. The trunk is really about 6 or 8 in. in diameter, but occasionally becomes very stout (as much 

 as one's extended arms can embrace) in the lower half or third by the abundant emission of aerial root- 

 lets, which form a matted coating, clothed in turn, ten or fifteen feet from the ground upwards, with 

 Trichomanet trichoideum, the glistening sheen of which seen through the dripping moisture is one of 

 the most beautiful features of the forest of this high range. 



3. C. jamaicen&is, Jenm. -Stem tall reaching 12-14 feet high, smooth and naked below, scaly at 

 the top ; fronds ample, several ft. 1. l|-2ft. w. acuminate, tapering below, the reduced pinnae extend- 

 ing to the base of the stipites, tripinnatifid, firm, naked but with a few minute scales on the costulce 

 and ribs beneath, the costae pubescent above, puberulous beneath, rachis and costae a light wood-brown ; 

 pinna? spreading, sessile, acuminate, §-1 ft. 1. 2-2| in. w. approximate ; pinnulae sessile, 1-1£ in. 1. 

 \- hardly \ in. w. deeply pinnatifid, serate-entire at the apex ; lobes varying from deltoid to oblong, 

 about 1 li.'w. 1-2 li. 1. from the midrib to the blunt or subacute point ; veins simple or the basal once- 

 forked, 3-5 to a side ; sori close to the castulae, situated at the base of the veins, one or two to each 

 lobe ; involucres thin, dark brown, small and shallow with the receptacles exserted above the entire 

 rim. 



Wilson n. 686 in the Brit. Mus. Herb., John Smith's collection, gathered at Mansfield near Bath. 

 It comes nearest the Cuban C. balan ocarpa, Eaton, which has not so far been found in Jamaica, from 

 which it differs by the pinnatifid pinnae less vestiture of leaf surfaces, and shallow saucer-like (rather 

 than bowl-like) involucres, as in C. arborea. According to Wilson's note, the fronds are very long, 

 with no clear petiole, or hardly any, the pinnae dwindling to the base ; and judging by the rachis, 

 which is smooth and glabrous, they are probably nearly or quite unarmed. It may possibly present 

 in the most developed state broader pinnulae than Wilson's specimen shows. 



4. C. arborea. Smith. — Stem reaching 30 ft. high, stout, the surface even and tesselated, clothed 

 above with a dense coating of linear inch-long chaff- like scales ; stipites articulate leaving a clear even- 

 faced scar ft. 1. scabrous with small warts but destitute of prickles ; densely clothed with lanceolate 

 pale chaff- coloured scales ; fronds 6-8 ft. 1. 3-4 ft. 1. w. tripinnate, chartaceons, pale green, naked or 

 with a few scattered minute deciduous whitish scales on the ribs beneath, costaB and costulae slightly 

 ciliate above, rachis stramineous or occasionally brown ; pinnce spreading, rather suddenly acuminated, 

 1^-2 ft. 1. 7-10 in. w. approximate in the outer pa t and sessile or subsessile, the lower more distant, 

 the petioles gradually lengthening to 1-2 in. in the lowest reduced ones ; pinnulae close, all but 

 the inferior sessile, 4 to 6 in. 1. f-1 in. w. fully pinnate at the base, above this pinnatifid almost to the 

 costse. the point finely attenuated and serrate ; segments about £ in. 1. 1-1^ li. w obtuse or acute, sub- 

 falcate, serrate throughout but more deeply along the sides, connected at the base, otherwise open be- 

 tween ; veins once forked, pellucid ; sori close to the rib, situated at the forking, ascending about two- 

 thirds of both pinnules and segments : involucres brown, membranous, shallow and saucerlike, with, 

 the scaly setiferous, usually cleft, receptacle protruding . — Filix arborescent. Plum. Fil. t. 1 and 2 

 Polypodium arboreum, Linn. C. Serra, Willd. Hook Sp.Fil.vol. 1 t. ix. 



Abounding in great profusion among the lower hills, and ascending to about 2,500 ft. alt ; gre- 

 garious, often covering acres on fully exposed slopes, everywhere shunning shade. A most beautiful 

 plant, forming a conspicuous and delightful feature of the hill and wayside vegetation. The name 

 was' adopted from Plumier, whose figures, cited above, though somewhat artificial and exaggerated, 

 no one acquainted with the plant in its wild state could for a moment mistake. But while these figures 

 have been uniformly quoted by authors, the name has been long misapplied to other species. It is how- 

 ever so entirely appropriate in its original application — the plants forming unmixed groves, while the 

 stems constitute the only wood used, or easily procurable, in certain districts as posts in the houses of 

 the peasantry, no other species being applied to any such purpose — that it would be a pity not to re- 

 store it. u From these Trees growing on the mountains of Hispaniola, the Spaniards argued the fer- 

 tility of that soil : making ferns grow to such a vast bigness, which in Europe were so inconsidera- 

 ble."— Shane. 



5. C. elegans, Heward. — Stem several feet high, 3-4 in. thick, often prickly, the scars rough with 

 protruding fibres ; stipites 1-2 ft. 1. dark brown, puberulous or scurfy, prickles scant and variable in 

 size, scales scant, subulate, dark brown, confined to the inner side of the base ; fronds ample, tripinnate, 

 chartaceous or coriaceous, dark green, rachis and costae puberulous beneath, costulae and ribs slightly 

 scaly there, and with the costae rusty- tomentose above, all bright or dull brown, other parts naked; 

 pinnae approximate, l|-2^ ft. 1. 5-9 in. w. lower shortly petiolate ; pinnulce approximate, sessile, ser- 

 rate-acuminate, 3-4£ in. 1. £-1 in. w. fully pinnate at the base, above this almost as deeply pinnatifid; 

 segments close, subfalcate, bluntish or acute, crenate- serrate, in. 1. 1-2 li. w. veins once or twice 

 forked ; sori attached close to the forking, against the midrib, ascending from the base two-thirds up- 

 wards ; involucres deep, chestnut, thin. — Sloane's Hist. p. 95. t. 56. Herb. pp. 13b. 134 Polypodium 

 speciosum Linn. C. Grevilliana, Mart., C. arborea var pallida, Hook. 



Common in forests among the lower hills, and ascending to 4,000 ft. alt. where it appears on 

 banks and waysides exposed to the sun, and is sometimes in such open situations slightly contracted in 

 the segments. This and arborea are the two lowland tree-ferns, and as the latter avoides shade, »e 



