TAB XIV, 
XiPHOPTERIS JamESONI, Hook 
Caudice parvo (ut videtur) repente, stipitibus gracilibus sub» 
semiunciam longis nudis, frondibus 4 pollices longis 
lineam latis erectis subcoriaceis pallide viridibus profunde 
ad rachin fere pinnatifidis aplce in caudam longam in- 
tegerrimam soriferam terminantibusj lobis horizontalibus e 
basi latiore oblongis'obtusis univeniis, venis internis simpli- 
cibus apice clavatisj soris in caudam terminalem linearibus 
venas totas tegentibus confluentibus, capsulis longe pedi™ 
cellatis. 
Hab. Andes of Quito, Prof, W, Jameson, 
That the species of the Genus Xiphopteris are very vari- 
able, is notorious to every student of Ferns; and, I be- 
lieve that the X, myosuroides and X, serrulata are now gene- 
rally looked upon as forms of one species. It may, there- 
fore, be considered a bold step to constitute a species of the 
present singular and particularly neatly formed kind, which, 
at first sight, and independent of its fertile caada, has more 
the appearance of some neckeroid moss, or some delicately 
pinnated Jungermannia, than a Fern. Instead of being only 
strongly toothed ” as is characteristic of Xiphopteris gene- 
rally, it is so deeply pinnatified, nearly to the rachis, that it 
might almost be called pinnate : and in an advanced state of 
the plant, these segments or pinnaB, faU olF partially or en- 
tirely, leaving the rachis like a long, stout, naked bristle. 
Mr. Moore, whose views always deserve attention, observes, 
that to him the sori of the genus appear to be produced in a 
line contiguous to the mid-rib, and seem little different from 
Pleurogramme, To me, they appear to be decidedly on the 
lateral thickened veins, extending from the costa to the apex, 
just within the margin : so difficult is it for all to see with the 
same eyes, and so much is there yet to learn, in the structure 
of the fructification f)f Ferns. 
Fig, 1. Upper portion of a fertile frond, f, 2. Segments, 
superior side, f 3. Portion of a frond, inferior side, f, 4. 
Portion of a segment of a frond with one sorus, and the 
receptacle of a sorus. f 5. Capsule magnified. 
Cent. 2. t, 14, 
