3. C. pedata, A. Br. — Rootstock erect or oblique, the crown clothed with subulate brown scales ; stipites 

 tufted, \-\\ ft. I. strong, erect, polished, naked, fronds deltoid-acuminate, the larger tri-partite, naked, dark 

 green, subcoriaceous, 5-9 in. L and as much w. quadri-pinnate by one or two pair of the lower pinnae being 

 branched, the basal branch on the lower pair being deflexed and much elongated, rachis and costae chan- 

 nelled, polished and coloured like the stipites ; final segments pedicelate, even, or crenulate-edged 2-4 li. 1. 

 1^ li. w. acutely pointed or rounded, the base auricled on the upper side ; veins pinnate, branches sinple, ob- 

 lique, forked in the auricle, not reaching the margin ; sori along both the upper and lower margins, 2-3 or 4 

 to each not reaching the base on the inferior side ; involucres membranous roundish or subreniform. —Hypo- 

 lepis, Hook. Sp. Fil. vol. 2. t. 92. A. 



Eare ; gathered by Purdie in 1844 in the western'part of the island. The habit is peculiar and charac- 

 teristic. The pair of basal pinnae are more or less distinctly alternate, and generally so much developed that 

 the fronds present the form of three erecto-spreading divisions of which the centre is least branched ; while in the 

 largest fronds, by the great extension of the lowest under branch of the lateral pinnae, the form is assumed 

 of five nearly equal primary radiating divisions. It has been gathered in Cuba also by Wright. 



4. C. Beesii, Jenm. — Rootstock fibrous, erect clothed with minute scales ; stipites tufted, wiry slender, 

 polished dark chestnut or blackish channelled in the upper half, 2-6 in. 1 ; fronds inultifid, lanceolate or 

 ovate lanceolate, tripinnate, naked, dull dark green, membrano-chartaceous, 4-8 in. 1. 2-4 in. w. rachis and 

 costae channelled, coloured and polished like the stipes ; pinnae numerous, contiguous, spreading uniform, 

 alternate, lanceolate, the lower rather larger or not, 1^-3 in. 1. J- 1 in. w. nearly sessile, tapering, termi- 

 nating in a subentire serrulate bluntish point ; pinnulae merely lobed at the base, or ^-J in. 1. 2-3 li. w. and 

 fully pinnate at the base, with 2-6 somewhat spathulate segments on each side 1^ li. 1. ^-1 1. w. the ter- 

 minal larger and lobate at the base, all crenulate on the outer margin ; veins pinnate, branches oblique, not 

 entering the margin; sori contiguous 1-1 to the side of a segment; involucres delicate, subreniform, eventu- 

 ally concealed by the bright brown sori. 



Eare, gathered at Oxford, St. Elizabeth's parish by the Eev. T. L. Eees. This has somewhat similar final 

 segments to pedata, but with the habit though more compact of microphylla, from which the character of the 

 sori and involucres and other characters readily distinguish it. This and the two preceding would appear to 

 be local in distribution as they have each only been collected once. 



5. C. micromera, Link. — Stipites tufted, terete, 4-8 in. 1. dark coloured, naked or rusty-ciliate, the base 

 tomentose ; fronds oblong-lanceolate, stiffly erect, subcoriaceous, dark green, 4-8 in. 1. l|-2 in. w. not or hardly 

 narrowed at the base, bi-tripinnate, rachis and costae like stipites, naked or viscose and dark tomentose, other 

 surfaces glabrous ; pinnae generally approximate, spreading stiffly f-l in. 1. 2-4 li. w. sessile terminating in an 

 entire acute lobe ; pinnulae close oblong or ovate-oblong, blunt acute, entire or auricled at the base or lobed 

 or fully pinnate, 1^-2| li. 1. |-1 li. w. the lobes very minute, veins pinnate, obscure ; sori copious, confluent 

 quite surrounding the segments ; involucres firm rather broadly indexed, continuous. Plum. Fil. t. 58. 

 C. microphylla, Swartz, var aspidoides, Fee. 



Plentiful on exposed rocks and stony banks at 5,000 ft. alt. in the same locality with C. tomentosa 

 near the Government Cinchona Plantation. Distinguished from microphylla by its narrower, more compact 

 and stiffer habit, broader firmer and more continuous invoulcres and absence of fragrance. There are two 

 forms in one of which the pinnae are fully pinnate to the point, and in the other the outer part is only pin- 

 natifid, the former having naked rachises, those of the latter being viscid and tomentose. The substance is 

 opaque when dry. 



6. 0. microphylla, Swartz. — Eootstock shortly repent ; stipites tufted, 6-9in. 1. terete, flexuose, wiry, 

 blackish naked, or slightly ciliate; fronds lanceolate, ^-1 ft. 1. 1^-4 in. w. tripinnate, broadest at the base, thin 

 dull grayish-green, rachis and costae wiry, black and polished, the former slightly flexuose, naked or viscose 

 ciliate ; pinnae distant, spreading or erect-spreading, 1-2 in. 1. £-1 in. w. ; pinnulae subdistant or approximate, 

 only lobed or fully pinnate, nearly sessile, those on the inferior side of the lower pinnae, the larger, 2-8 li. 1- 

 1-3 li. w. the terminal segment largest, subovate, acute-bluntish. the lateral 1-2 li. 1. £-1 li. w., ovate or 

 oblong • veins pinnate, oblique, forked in the outer segments ; sori confluent ; involucres narrow,membranous 

 continuous or interrupted by the lobes.-Hook. Sp. Fil. Vol. 2. t. 98. A. Eat. Fer. N. Am. pi. 57., Sloane 1. 13, f. 2\ 



Generally distributed all through the country on open banks and rocks from sea level up to 5,0J0 ft. alt ; 

 variable in width but uniformly of lax habit. Fresh fronds crushed in the hand emit a strong almond smell 

 hence its local name of " Almond Fern." 



7. C. marginata, H. B. K. — Rootstock upright or oblique, fibrous, clothed with dark subulate scales ; 

 stipites tufted, terete, stiff, wiry, dark polished, naked; fronds deltoid, or nearly so, tri-quadripinnate, 3-7 in. 

 1. and about the same w., coriaceous, dark green, glabrous or the underside slightly lanate, rachis and costae 

 channelled, polished and coloured like the stipes ; pinnae spreading, the lower sub-opposite, the lowest pair, which 

 are 14-3 in. 1. 1-24 in. w., being much the largest and most developed on the lower side, those above these 

 gradually reduced passing into mere lobes at the top of the fronda ; terminal segments linear-oblong, 2-3 li. 

 1. 4-1 li. w. final lateial lobes usually less than a line deep, the tips recurved when dry; veins pinnate, obscure 

 sori confluent; permanently covered by the flat, coriaceous, undulate, involucres, which nearly meet from the 

 opposite sides. — Allosorus Presl., and Mart, et Gall. Pellaia, Baker. 



Plentiful on stony disintegrated banks, exposed or more or less shaded, near Old England, below the 

 Government Cinchona Plantation, at 4,000 ft. alt. A widely spread tropical American species, first gathered 

 in Jamaica by Purdie, varying much in size and consequently in the shape of the fronds, small fronds ap- 

 pearing almost tripartite, while larger ones are as nearly uniformly pinnatiform. In the former the under 

 surface is naked and dark, but in the latter it is pruinose from a very slight lanate film that covers it. The 

 texture is so elastico-coriaceous that the lateral lobes curl in drying, claw-like. 



8. C. tomentosa, Link. — Rootstock shortly elongated, finely scaly; stipites tufted, 4-8 in. 1. wiry, 

 flexuose, silky with appressed pale tomentum ; fronds oblong-lanceolate, tri-quadripinnate, 4-8 in. 1. l£-3 in- 

 w. not reduced below, pale light green, soft, rachis and other surfaces more or less freely clothed with wool- 

 coloured tomentum; pinnae spreading, or erecto-spreading nearly sessile, bluntish, generally distant, 

 1-2 in. 1. \-\ in. w. ; pinnulae oblong, contiguous or more apart, 2-4 li. 1. 1-1£ li. w. ; final segments 

 minute', concave, pod-like, \ li. or less deep and broad, ovate or subspathulate, rounded, terminal larger ; 

 sori confluent, at length filling the disk of the segment ; involucres continuous, at first connivent. — Eat. Fer. 

 N. Am. pi. 45! C. Bradburii, Hook. Sp. Fil. vol. 2. t. 109. B. Physapteris, Presl. Myriopteria, Fee. 



