Plate 42. 
TRICHOMANES radicals, Sw. 
Hooting Bristle-Fern. 
Gen. Char. Involucre subcylindrical, entire or nearly so (not two-lipped). 
Capsules sessile, with a broad, entire, oblique ring, surrounding on a co¬ 
lumnar receptacle. Receptacle of the sori usually exserted in the form of a 
bristle. 
Obs. The Tern here to be described, together with the subjects of the two 
following Plates, belong to a group which differs so much in the fructification, as 
well as in the nature and texture of the fronds, from other Ferns, that some bota¬ 
nists exclude them from true Ferns altogether, and constitute a separate family 
under the name of Hymenophyllacece (well named from the delicate texture of the 
frond, from vprjv, a membrane , and $v\\ov, a leaf). Indeed the genus Loxsoma 
(see the figure of the rare L. Cunninghami , Br., figured in a late number, Plate 31, 
of the * Garden Ferns ’) exhibits a fructification corresponding with Trichomanes , 
but with the entire habit and texture in its fronds of the true Ferns. I cannot 
subscribe therefore to such a separation, and prefer considering them as a group, 
under the name of Hymmophyllere. The three species now alluded to are all that 
are known of the group in the temperate regions of Europe, but in the warmer 
parts of the world the species are very numerous, and much admired for their 
delicacy and beauty. 
Trichomanes radicans, Sw.; caudex very long, creeping, tomentose and scaly; 
fronds ovate or oblong, acuminate, rather firm, membranaceous, bi-triqua- 
dripinnatifid, dark-green, primary divisions ovate or lanceolate, cuneate at 
the base, the segments oblong, obtuse, often bifid ; involucres solitary in the 
axils of the superior segments, margined, cylindrical, entire at the mouth; re¬ 
ceptacles of the sori much exserted beyond the involucre; rachis strongly 
winged. 
Trichomanes radicans. Sw. FI. Ind. Occ. p. 1736; Syn. Ml. p. 143. Willd. 
JSp. PI. v. 5 . p. 513. Hook. Sp. Ml. v. 1. p. 125 ( not Hook, and Grev. 
Ic. Ml. 218). Hook, and Am. Brit. FI. ed. 8. p. 593. Moore, Brit 
Ferns, Nat. Print, t. 48. Pr. Hymenoph. p. 16./. 2 B. 
Trichomanes scandens. Hedw. Fit. cum ic. ( excl. most of the synonyms). 
Trichomanes speciosum. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 5 . p. 514. 
Trichomanes pyxidiferum. Huds. Ft Anql. p. 461 (not Linn.). Bolton, Fit 
Brit. p. 561. t 30. 
Trichomanes brevisetum. Br. in Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v. 5 . p. 529. Sm. Fng. Ft 
v. 4. p. 324. 
Trichomanes alatum. Hook, in Ft Lond. N. S. v. 4. t 53 (not Sw.). 
Trichomanes europseum. Sm. in Rees’s Cycl. 
