212 



lateral veirtlets ; sori oblong ov linear-oblong superficial on the back or 

 6ides of the midrib, confined to the upper part of the frond, where the 

 edges are often folded or recurved, the margin below this part flat. 

 M. furcata, Desv. Hook. Pleurogramme graminoides, Fee. Grammitis, 

 Swartz. Cochlidium, Klf. 



On trees ; apparently rare, as modern collectors have not gathered it. 

 It was collected first by Swartz, " on trees in the highest mountains," 

 Grisebach says, and subsequently by Wiles, both of whose specimens 

 are in the old collections of the British Museum Herbarium. J. Smith's 

 ferns, there also, include specimens marked from " Wiles ex herb. Lam- 

 bert, 1843." A very slender species, marked by the absence of lateral 

 veinlets, and many of the fronds being furcated. 



2. M. minor, Jenm. — Rootstock filiform, erect minutely scaly ; fronds 

 tufted f -1^ in. 1., about 1 li. w., in the broader upper part, the apex 

 blunt, tapering gradually in the lower half or more to the base of the 

 hardly distinct dark coloured very slender stipites, firm or coriaceous, 

 pellucid, naked, bright green ; midrib filiform, distinct flexuose, covered 

 by the parenchyma, raised on the upper side ; dark-coloured beneath to- 

 ward the base ; veins simple very oblique, open, not reaching the mar- 

 gins ; sori linear or interrupted, confined to the upper half or third of 

 the frond but not reaching the top, biserial in the grooA r e-like depres- 

 sions along, and close to, the midrib, which the lines at length quite 

 cover, becoming confluent laterally and superficial. 



Infrequent but communal on rocky banks scattered in beds of moss ; 

 gathered in the forest adjoining Murray's Flat near Mount Moses, St. 

 Andrew at between 2,000 and 3,000 ft. altitude, It is clearly very 

 rare, but might easily be overlooked under the conditions in which I 

 found it. There are from six to a dozen leaves to each plant, which 

 spread and curve upwards acquiring thereby a falcate form, giving each 

 other plenty of room. They are broadest in the upper half or toward 

 the top, and thence rather long-tapering to the base, the narrow wings 

 reaching to the bottom of the slender purple stems. The venation is 

 quite distinct and evident, though immersed. 



3. M. seminuda, Baker. — Rootstock erect, slender, cylindrical, fibrous, 

 the apex clothed with narrow light brown scales ; stipites tufted, slender, 

 dark coloured, 2 - 3 li. 1. ; fronds linear, subcoriaceous, light or brown- 

 ish-green beneath, darker above, glabrous, 3 - 5 in. 1. 2 li. w., the apex 

 obtuse, the base attenuated, casually furcate, the margins thin and more 

 or less even, midrib evident above, covered by the parenchyma ; veins • 

 close, oblique, simple or forked, terminating within the margin with 

 clavate apioes ; sori linear, in a groove, occupying about § rds of the 

 frond, not reaching the apex or base, originating close to the midrib on 

 each side, the two rows at length confluent and covering it, 

 the margins of the groove sharp and sometimes replicate. — M. gramini- 

 folia, Hook., Blechnum seminudum, Willd. Pleurogramme, linearis, 

 Presl. On trees growing singly in upright tufts or few plants near 

 together. It differs f rom immersa by the much less rigid, rather broader 

 and flatter, fronds, which are not so much thickened down the centre 

 the sori consequently being less deeply immersed. The colour, too, is a 

 lighter green, and brown beneath. It is many times larger than minor, 

 the fronds differently shaped, and with closer, less oblique, veins. 



, 4. M. immersa, Fee. — Rootstock elongated, erect, freely clothed with 



