Asplenium.'] 
FIL1CES. 
491 
about half a foot broad ; pinnules lanceolate, sessile or the lower ones 
shortly stalked, cut down to a narrow wing into close ligulate subentire 
or finely toothed tertiary segments i in. broad. Veins copiously pin- 
nate in the tertiary segments, with 7-8 pairs of distinct parallel sim- 
ple or forked veinlets, Sori reaching from the midrib to within a short 
distance of the edge, rarely double. Involucre narrow, membranous, 
persistent. Diplazium arborescens, Sw. ; Bojer , Hort. Maur. 398. 
Mauritius, in the thick forests of Savanne and Grandport. Also Bourbon. 
21. A. sechellarum, Baker ; Hook, and Baker , Syn. Fil. 491. 
Rootstock arborescent, reaching a height of 5-6 feet ; basal scales 
large, brown, lanceolate. Stipe and rachises muricated. Frond ample, 
deltoid, tripinnatfid, glabrous, moderately firm in texture. Lower 
pinnae oblong-lanceolate. 1-^-2 feet long ; pinnules lanceolate, sessile, 
|-1 in. broad, cut down to a narrow wing into ligulate obtuse subentire 
or inciso-crenate tertiary segments in. broad. Veins copiously 
pinnate in the tertiary segments, with 8-12 pairs of distinct erecto- 
patent usually simple veinlets. Sori reaching from the midrib three 
quarters of the way to the edge. Involucre narrow, membranous,, 
persistent. 
Seychelles, common in the damp shady forests of Mahe, Bouton ! Horne ! Also 
Madagascar. 
22. A. Nidus, Linn. ; Hook, and Baker , Syn. Fil. 190. Rootstock 
erect. Fronds forming a dense ring round a vacant centre, on very 
short stout stipes, simple, lanceolate, subcoriaceous, glabrous, green on 
both sides, 1-4 feet long, 4-8 in. broad, narrowed gradually to both ends. 
Veins close, distinct, parallel, erecto-patent, connected by a transverse 
vein just within the edge. Sori 1-3 in. long, beginning near the mid- 
rib. Involucre firm, narrow, persistent. 
Mauritius, Seychelles, and Rodriguez, common in the forest on old trunks. 
Tropical regions of the Uld World. Langue de Bceuf. 
23. A. proliferum, Lam. ; Kuhn, Fil. Afr. 112. Rootstock erect, 
subarborescent. Stipes 1-2 feet long, naked, sometimes prickly. Frond 
oblong-lanceolate, 3-4 feet long, glabrous, simply pinnate. Pinnae 
sessile, lanceolate, 6-12 in. long, 1-2 feet broad, acute, broadly 
shallowly lobed down the edges, often bulbiferous in their axils. Veins 
in abundant spreading pinnate groups in the pinnae, with 6-8 pairs of 
erecto-patent parallel distinct veinlets, which unite at their tips. Sori 
produced along the whole length of the veinlets, many double. Invo- 
lucre narrow, persistent. Diplazium proliferum, Kaulf.; Bojer , Hort. 
Maur, 397. Asplenium decussatum, Sw. ; Hook, and Baker, Syn. 
Fil. 243. 
Mauritius and Rodriguez, frequent in the denser forests. Spread through the 
tropics of the Old World. 
