Synopsis of Canadian Ferns and Filicoid Plants. 113 



1699; at Kew, since 1793. It is very variable as regards tlie outline 

 and subdivision of the barren frond. 



Yar. ^. hipinnata. — Fronds bipinnate ; perhaps not a constant form. 

 Fertile fronds of this variety originated the 0. ohtusilobata, Schkr. 

 Peche River, and near Cantley, Hull, D. M'Gillivray, M.D. 



ASPLENIUM. 



A. Trichomanes, Linn. — Frond small, narrow, linear, pinnate ; pinn® 

 roundish-oblong or oval, oblique, almost sessile, crenate : rachis blackish 

 brown, shining, margined ; sori distant from the midrib. Aspleniiim 

 Trichomanes, Linn., Moore, Gray, &c., Lowe's Ferns, vol. v. pi. 22. 

 Asp. nielanocaulon, "Willd,, Pursh. Fl. Sept. Americ. ii. p. 666. 

 Asp. anceps, Lowe. — Inhabits rocky river banks, &c., but is not 

 common in Canada. On rocky banks, at Marble Rock, on the Ga- 

 nanoque River ; Namainse, dry ground on the top of a mountain, 

 R. Bell, jr. ; rocky woodlands west from BrockviUe, rare, B. Billings, 

 jr. ; Montreal, Jones's Falls and Niagara, P. W. Maclagan, M.D. ; Lake 

 Medad, Hamilton, Judge Logie ; Pittsburg, near Kingston, John Bell, 

 B.A. ; Pied du cap Tourmente, M. L'Abbe Provancher ; near Belle- 

 ville, J. Macoun. 



/S. delicatulum. — Frond narrower, pinnae much smaller, thinner, and 

 "wider apart than in the normal form. This is a sub-variety, passing by 

 intermediate states into the typical plant, which is the common form of 

 northern Europe. The variety is the prevalent form in Canada, but 

 also occurs farther south in the United States, for I have specimens 

 from Catskill (A. 0. Brodie), and is not confined to the American con- 

 tinent, for Professor Caruel, the acute author of " Flora Italiana," sends 

 specimens of a similar form from Florence. There is an Asp. Trich. var. 

 majus in Cuba (according to Mr Eaton's Enumeration of Wright's 

 Cuban ferns). A. anceps is a Madeiran form, not distinguishable, so 

 far as I can see, from common European states of A. Trichomanes. 



A. viride, Hudson. — Frond small, linear, pinnate ; pinnae roundish- 

 oblong or oval, more or less cuneate at base, slightly stalked, crenate or 

 slightly lobed ; rachis bright green : sori approximate to the midrib ; 

 in outline of frond and general aspect resembles the preceding species. 

 A. viride, Hudson, Flora Anglica, 385 ; Sm., Bab., Moore, &c. A. 

 Trichomanes, ^ ramosum, Linn. — This beautiful alpine fern was found 

 in Canada for the first time last summer, having been collected in con- 

 siderable quantity at Gaspe, C.E., by John Bell, B.A., who formed one 

 of a party of the Provincial Geological Survey. It was previously 

 known to occur sparingly in N.W. America, at one spot on the Rocky 

 Mountains, and in Greenland. Mr Bell's discovery of its occurrence in 

 Gasp^ is therefore extremely interesting in a geographical point of view. 

 The Gaspe specimens although young, agree perfectly with the typical 

 European form of A, viride, of which I have a full series of Scotch ex- 

 amples, as well as others collected in Norway by T. Anderson, M.D. 

 In young specimens the pinnae are usually large, thin, and more cuneate 

 and lobed than in the mature plant, in which they are roundish-ovate. 



A. angustifolium, Michx. — Frond large (1 to 3 feet high), annual, lan- 

 ceolate, pinnate ; pinnae long, linear- lanceolate, acute ; fertile fronds 



KEW SERIES. VOL. XIX. NO. I. JANUARY 1864. P 



