Bower. — S Indies in the Phytogeny of the Filicales. VL 1 1 
Goniophlebinm sp. (Text-fig. 4, d). This section of Polypodinm corresponds 
in its venation to Leptochilus , and it is seen that glandular hairs are borne 
on the margins of its scales ; but here they are partitioned off by septa, a point 
in advance of Leptochilus tricuspis. 
Sorus and Sporangium. 
The fertile leaf of Leptochilus tricuspis was described by Sir William 
Hooker as ‘ much elongated but contracted, tripartite nearly to the base, 
segments scarcely ■§ an inch wide, linear strap-shaped acuminate, lateral 
ones 9 to 10 inches long erecto-subpatent, intermediate one a foot or more 
long, sori universal except on the costa \ 1 These general features are repre- 
sented on Hooker’s Tab. CCCIV. Part of a very large specimen is repre- 
sented natural size in Plate I, Fig. 3, as seen from below. The dark-coloured 
soral areas occupy the whole of the lower surface except the midrib : that 
on the inner side of each lateral lobe is continuous to the median lobe, 
while those on the outer side extend some distance downwards below the 
point of junction of the three lobes. They appear quite uniformly spread 
over the surfaces, and give no indication of their resulting from a fusion of 
independent sori. It was natural that Sir William Hooker should place the 
Fern in the genus Acrostichum , as then defined, and in the section Gym- 
noptcris , in close juxtaposition with his Acrostichum ( Gymnoptcris) 
bicuspe (= Cheiropleuria bicuspis (BL), Presl). But since his time it has 
become apparent that the main character upon which the genus Acrostichum 
was based, viz. ‘ sori spread over the whole surface of the frond or upper 
pinnae ’, 2 is one which has been arrived at phyletically from a plurality of 
sources. Accordingly it becomes necessary to examine the details of the 
sorus in each case, as well as other characters from the vegetative region, 
with a view to forming an opinion as to the true affinity. 
Unfortunately the material of L. tricuspe sent from India did not 
suffice for the observation of the earliest stages of development of the sorus, 
while its condition, probably as the result of overheating in transit, was not 
suitable for working out fully the sporangial segmentation. Still the 
essential points have been observed. The double vascular system of the 
sub-soral areas of the fertile leaf has already been described. In order to 
estimate this at its proper diagnostic value it may be stated that the 
following Acrostichoid Ferns have been examined, and in them the vascular 
system of the fertile tract has been found to be not double, but simple, viz. 
Acrostichum ( C hr y sodium) aureum , L. ; Leptochilus heteroclitus (Pr.), C. Chr. ; 
L . nicotianaefolius (Sw.), C. Chr. ; L. alienus (Sw.), C. Chr. ; L. cuspidatus 
(Pr.), C. Chr. Also Elaphoglossum tectum (H. B. Willd.), Moore ; E.pctiolatum 
(Sw.),C. Chr. ; E. crinitum (L.), Christ ; and E. latifolimn (Sw.), J. Sm. These 
results are in accord with the observations of Frau Schumann, 3 which relate 
1 Sp. Fil., vol. v, p. 272. 2 Syn. Fil., p. 399. 3 Flora, 1915, p. 236, See. 
