210 



Genl'b XXXI, Antrophtcm, Kaulf. 



Sori in zigzag, reticulated, or straight lines, situated on the veins, 

 oblique to or parallel with the margins and costa, superficial or sunk in 

 shallow grooves ; veins reticulated ; fronds entire. A small strictly tropi- 

 cal genus, numbering about a score of species, which are widely diffused. 

 About a fourth of the number are American. These have narrow linear 

 or lanceolate leaves, of a dull cloudy colour, which grow a few together 

 or in dense patches on trees and rocks. They are found only in very 

 humid regions, and under prolonged drought shrivel up. The rootstocks 

 are fleshy but slender, and the roots are densely tomentose and fonn a 

 sponge-like mass very retentive of water. 



Sori immersed in parallel longitudinal furrows. — 1. A. lineatum. 



Sori superficial in angular areolae or zigzag lines i — 



Fronds under 1 inch wide. — 2. A. lanceolatum 



Fronds over 1 inch wide. — 3. A. subsessile. 



1. A. lineatum, Kaulf — Rootstock repent short or elongated, clothed 

 with acuminate clear reticulated scales ; stipites few or several, more or 

 less clustered, an inch or two long, or less, passing insensibly into the 

 frond ; fronds ^-1 ft. 1. \-\ in. w. firm, densely pellucid-dotted, dull 

 cloudy green, linear-ligulate, tapering at both ends, long acuminate, 

 margins even ; costa concealed on the upper side, but evident beneath ; 

 veins forming narrow much-elongated areolae running parallel with the 

 costa and margins ; sori sunk in two or three equidistant parallel longi- 

 tudinal grooves between the costa and margins, continuous, or only the 

 outer ones interrupted. Vittaria lanceolata, Sw. Polytmiium, Desv. 



Plentiful in very damp forests in the middle and upper mountain 

 regions, reaching 6,000 ft alt ; an abnormal species With Aitrophyum 

 it agrees entirely in texture aspect and habit, but in all other characters 

 is more allied to Vittaria, to which Swartz ascribed it, and from which 

 in fact it only differs technically in the lines of sori and areolae being 

 multiserial. 



2. A. lanceolatum, Kaulf. — Rootstock short -creeping, densely tomen- 

 tose, clothed with small linear-acuminate dark brown, reticulated scales ; 

 fronds firm, densely pellucid-dotted, a dull cloudy green, contiguous, 

 linear-lanceolate, long-tapering both way6, below quite to the base, of 

 the stipites, ^-1^ ft. I. J-fths in. w. the margins even or rather irregular, 

 the costa strong and raised beneath at the base in the larger fronds, 

 slender or vein-like at the apex ; veins reticulated, areolae chiefly 

 oblong, the inner lice narrow much elongated, and parallel with the 

 costa as is also the next series, the outer ones oblique, falling short of 

 the edge ; sori linear, parallel with or oblique to the costa. 



On trees, forming spreading patches, below 2,000 ft. altitude. In 

 the narrower fronds the areolae are only 2 serial, and run parallel 

 with the midrib and margins ; when broader the outer meshes are 

 oblique. 



3. A. subsessile, Kze, — Rootstock repent, short or elongated, clothed 

 with brown reticulated even-edged scales ; stipites hardly distinct, or 

 reaching 1£ in. 1. ; fronds firm, pellucid-dotted dull green above, pale 

 beneath, erect or subpendent, 6ubtufted, few or several, ^-1 ft. 1. 1-3 

 in. w., oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate, the apex acute obtuse or 

 rounded, tapering in the lower half to the winged base; the margins 

 thin, even or irregular ; costa raised in the lower part and flat on both 



