8 



subrhomboidal, £4 i n « 1- 1^-4 or 5 li. w. rounded, blunt or acute, flat or concave, barren crenate dentate ; 

 veins free, fiabellate, repeatedly forked ; sori contiguous, extending along the upper and outer and 

 turned shortly also on to the under margins — Plum. Fil. t. 97. 



Var. a. Habit very lax, — pinnoe 2 in. apart ; segments contiguous, hardly close, texture stiff but 

 less rigid. 



Var. b. Fronds smaller, bright green, compact, segments close, 2-3 li. 1. \\ li. w., the outer minute, 

 terminal linear-elongate, \-\ in. 1. 



Var. c. Habit and size of the type, but segments elongated and acutely or bluntly pointed the in- 

 ferior more uniformly subrhomboidal. 



Very abundant on stony well drained ground in woods and on open banks and cliffs up to 1,000 ft. 

 alt. or more. The branches of the lowest pinnae are occasionally, but rarely, again shortly branched, 

 making the frond quadripinnate. Very variable. In the type the habit is more or less compact, the 

 segments rounded and about two-thirds as broad as long. Var. a. has similar segments, often however 

 more uniformly oblong, the habit very lax. Var. b. is the most distinct, of smaller size, compact habit, 

 very tapering pinnae and bright rather grass green colour. In var. c, which is as large as the type, 

 the inferior segments are more uniformly subrhomboidal, those next above elongated and pointed 

 though generally blunt, the sori extending down half or two-thirds of the outer and inferior margin. 

 Hooker confounded the species with A. cristatum, Linn., and Grisebach in his West Indian Flora fol- 

 lowed him. Swartz's type specimens are in the British Museum. 



18. A. cristatum Linn. Rootstock short- creeping, finely scaly ; stipes £-1 ft. 1. dull blackish, rough 

 surfaced ; fronds tripinnate,J-l^ ft. 1. §-1 ft. w. rigid, hard, coriaceous, dark dull green beneath, glossy 

 above and striated, naked, or the dull coloured rachis and costae slightly rusty ; pinnae 5-8 to a side with 

 a terminal similar one, approximate or subdistant, 5-8 in. 1. \-\ in. w. the lower 1-3 pair branched at 

 the base on one or both sides ; segments numerous, close, dimidiate, 3-5 li. 1. 2 li. w. the lower edge 

 upcurved, the upper usually straight subfalcate, or slightly decurved, the end generally acute, but 

 occasionally blunt, not denticulate ; veins free, forked, close, fine ; sori confined to the upper margin, 

 subcontinuous or in two or more contiguous elongated oblong or short patches. 



Common in similar situations to the last, but at a higher elevation, extending from 1,000 to 2,000 

 or 2,500 alt., plentiful among the hills between Gordon Town and Guava Ridge and in all that region 

 of St. Andrew, and on limestone ground generally through the island. Possessing the texture and 

 general character of striatum but with more decidedly dimidiate segments and scant often elongat ed 

 sori confined to the upper margin. In fructification the fronds pass from a single to several sori to 

 each segment, being generally uniform in the possession of one or the other. 



19. A. pyramidale. Willd. — Stipes erect, dull, dark, naked except at the rough surfaced base ; 

 fronds bitripinnate, lax, 1-1£ ft. 1. 8-10 in w. stiff, naked, dark dull green beneath, glossy above, faintly 

 striated, rachis and costae slender, dull, blackish, the latter slightly rusty; pinnae ereut-spreading, alternate, 

 several to a side, with a similar, usually longer, terminal one, 6-8 in. 1. in. w. tapering to the point, 

 the lower 1-2 pair branched, petiolate, segments very numerous, close dimidiate,, 2-6 li. 1. l£-2 li. w. 

 lower margin upcurved, upper usually falcate or sub-falcate, acuminate or acute, the margins not 

 toothed ; veins free forked, radiating, fine, close ; sori confined to the upper margin, often a solitary elon- 

 gated patch in the hollow of the segment, or variously interrupted. Plum. Fil. t. 54. A. microphyllum, Klf. 



Gathered at Stony Hill, St. Andrew, where it grows in the open and in light woodland with 

 cristatum, of which it seems to be harcHy more than a variety marked by the long narrow pinnoe and 

 small falcate acuminate segments. The slender pinnae, of which the upper ones are often much the 

 longest, hang down of their own weight. The segments are variable, some being short, falcate and 

 acute, with the sori extending nearly to the point of the upper margin, while the majority are elongated 

 and acuminate, the sori being confined to the inner half of the margin. As regards both this and 

 cristatum some fronds might be placed in the polysorus and others in the monosorus groups. 



20 A. crenatum, Willd. — Stipes strong, black, polished, a few scales at first at the base ; fronds 

 1-1^ ft. 1. nearly the same w. triquadripinnate, chartaceous, naked, light rather glossy green, striated, 

 rachis and costae channelled, polished black, very slightly rusty at first ; pinnae forming several alternate 

 pairs, the lower large and compound, the upper reduced and simply pinnate, with a similar terminal one 

 1^-2 in. w. ; segments subdimidiate, shortly pedicillate, contiguous, £-1 in. 1. 2-5 li. w. oblong and ob- 

 tusely pointed, or many subrhomboidal, terminal subdeltoid or elongated ; veins free, fine close, re- 

 peatedly forked, radiating ; sori copious, occupying the shallow lobes or crenatures formed by the 

 uniform incisions of the upper and outer margins. — Plum. Fil. t. 63. A. Wilesianum, Hook. Sp. Fil. 

 vol. 2. t. 83 C. 



Infrequent or local, gathered by Wiles and Lambert and a few years ago by Hart, at Bull Head. 

 There are specimens at Kew from both the former, and very fine ones from Wiles in J. Smith's ferns 

 in the British Museum. The short pedicels of the segments are hair-like. 



