Pterin.'] 
FILICES. 
481 
5. P. flabellata, Thunb. ; Hook, and Baker, Syn. Pil. 161. Boot- 
stock suberect. Stipes 1-2 ft. long, tufted, naked, glossy, straw- 
coloured, chestnut-brown at the base. Frond deltoid, bright green, 
membranous, glabrous, 1-2 ft. long and broad, regularly deeply bipin- 
natifid, except that the lowest pair of pinnae are copiously compound 
on both sides, and the next one or two pairs usually but not always 
forked at the base. Central pinnae lanceolate, 2-2^ in. broad, cut 
down to a narrow wing into linear ascending segments J— ^ in. broad, 
the barren ones distinctly serrated. Veins fine, erecto-patent, deeply 
forked. Sori not reaching to the tip of the segments. Involucre 
narrow, membranous. P. pseudo-lonchitis, Bojer, Hort. Maur. 401. 
P. arguta, var. flabellata, Mett.; Kuhn , Fit. Afric. 76. 
Mauritius, in the woods of Savanne and Grandport. Rodriguez, Bouton ! 
Balfour ! Also Tropical Africa and Cape Colony, and scarcely more than a variety 
of the Mediterranean P. arguta , Ait. 
6. P. aquilina, Linn. ; var. P. lanuginosa, Bory. Kootstock wide- 
creeping. Stipes stout, scabrous, 1-2 ft. long. Frond ample, decom- 
pound, sub coriaceous, 3-4 ft. long and broad, densely pilose on the 
lower surface with brown or straw-coloured pilose and glandular- 
scabrous rachises. Ultimate segments linear, adnate, in. long. 
Veins free, obscure, forked, immersed, erecto-patent. Involucre firm, 
ciliated, with an obscure membranous second inner valve. 
Mauritius, on dry exposed parts of the Ponce range, etc. One of the most 
widely-spread ferns of both the Old and the New Worlds. 
7. P. dichotoma. Kuhn , Fil. Afric. 79. Bootstock erect. Stipes 
densely tufted, naked, wiry, £ ft. long, brown at the base, green 
above it. Frond fan-like, glabrous, coriaceous, 1-3 in. long, composed 
of several dichotomously-forkea narrow linear segments with revolute 
edges, which are so near one another that their sori seem to coalesce. 
Veins few, distinct, nearly vertical. P. radiata and australis, Bojer, 
Hort. Maur . 399. Actiniopteris radiata, Link ; Hook, and Baker, 
Syn. Fil. 246. 
Mauritius and Seychelles, on dry hills. Also Tropical Asia and Tropical 
Africa. 
8. P. biaurita, Linn. ; Hook, and Baker, Syn. Fil. 164. Bootstock 
suberect. Stipes naked, tufted, not prickly, 1-2 ft. long, generally 
straw-coloured unless towards the base. Frond deltoid, 1-2 ft. long 
and broad, membranous, naked, bright green on both sides, regularly 
deeply bipinnatifid, except that the lowest pair of pinnae is forked at 
the base. Central pinnae lanceolate, 6-12 in. long, l|-3 in. broad, 
cut down to a broad wing into ligulate rather ascending obtuse seg- 
ments in. broad, the barren ones entire or obscurely toothed. 
Veins free, except that there is a series of arches against the midrib of 
2 i 
