dual just alluded to was discovered, all the known Aspidia 
 frondibus simplicibus” possessed this remarkable character. 
PLuMiIeER first described and figured the Aspidium nodo- 
sum from plants that he discovered on the trunks of fallen 
trees in the Island of Martinique, and he seems to have 
been much struck with its beauty. ‘ La racine pousse” (says 
- he) “en toute sa longueur des feuilles & pédicules noirs, et 
d’une membrane trés ferme, d’un vert foncé, si unie et si 
polie, que vous prendriez les feuilles pour des pieces de sa-— 
tin, bordées d’un galon blanc, et toutes traversées par des 
lignes paralléles, droites, et tirées 4 angles droits sur la prin- 
cipale nervtire.” ScHKUHR only knew the plant from Piv- 
MIER’s figure; and the author of LamMarcr’s Encyclopedia, 
as well as SwARTZ, appear never to have seen specimens, as 
they have confounded it with their 4. articulatum, a native 
of the Isle of France, which has never yet been delineated, and 
which is distinguished from the present individual by its chaffy 
stipes and scattered fructification. 
For the possession of this plant in my Herbarium, I am 
indebted to the Reverend LaANsbOWN GUILDING, who finds 
the species in the Island of St Vincent’s. 
Fig. 1. Portion of the frond. Fig. 2. Cluster of capsules with its involucre. 
_ Fig. 3. Single capsule. Fig. 4. Seeds.—All more or less magnified. 
