ASPIDIUM, § POLYSTICHUM.

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soft woolly hairs, fronds a foot long firm-coriaceous ob-long-ovate moderately acuminate pale beneath, partiallyclothed above with woolly hairs entirely so beneath tripin-nate, primary pinnae ovato-lanceolate acuminate 2 — 3 ^ incheslong, secondary ones 1 inch long of the same form bear-ing 9-11 pinnules 5 of an inch long confluent at theirbase towards the apex, they and the segments ovate obtuseentire or more or less obtusely toothed mucronate at theapex, sori universal even to the narrow acuminated apex ofthe pinnae 2-4 on each side the costa, involucre rather smallorbicular and peltate quite black with a red-brown margin(Tab. CCXXVII1.)

Ilab, New Zealand (Wairarapa), Northern Island, Rev. W. Colenso ; MiddleIsland, Raoul. —This is assuredly a very distinct species from any with which Iam acquainted. It has something of the habit of small specimens of Aspid. coria -ceum , with very small segments to the fronds, but the clothing, the ramificationand the involucres are quite different. The segments are entire or very sparselyand obtusely toothed, the apex only mucronate. Although we have received thisspecies from M. Raoul’s collection '{Herb. Mus. Paris ), it does not appear in his‘ Choix des Plantes,’ unless he has combined it with Aspid. coriaceum.

28. A. (Polystichum) amabile, Bl.; caudex decidedly creep-ing thick as a swan’s quill paleaceous with ferruginous scales,stipites solitary a span to a foot long slender subflexuosepaleaceous below, fronds 6-12 inches long subdeltoideo-ovateacuminate bipinnate submembranaceous, primary pinnse5-11-12 rather distant terminal one as large as or largerthan the rest all long petiolate, lowest pair often bipartite soas to form a pedate frond, pinnules petiolulate ^-f of an inchlong obliquely rhombeo-ovate subfalcate acute subauriculateat the superior truncated base and coarsely spinuloso-serratedexcept at the inferior base, sori a single series at the sinusesof the serratures close to the superior margin and apex of thepinnules, involucres orbicular. (Tab. CCXXV.) — Bl. En. FI.Jav. p. 165 (in Herb. Nostr.). Aspid. rhomboideum, Wall.Cat. n. 364. Metten . Aspid. p. 66 . Polystichum, Schott(name only), and Presl, Tent . Pterid. p. 84. Epirnel. Bot.P • 54. Lastrea, Moore.

Hab. Nepal , Wallich, n. 364. Java , Blume, Thos. Lobb. Luzon , Cuming.»• 131. N.E. coast of Formosa, C. Wilford.—k very distinct and well-markedspecies, perhaps first detected in Nepal , and named by Wallich, but since foundmore abundantly in the islands of the Indian Ocean . The primary pinnae areah petioled, and these do not gradually contract into an acuminated point, butthere is a terminal petiolated pinna resembling, but larger than, the lateral ones.Mettenius and Moore assign to this species a rotundato-reniform involucre: suchmay be occasionallvproduced; but our perfect ones are clearly orbiculari-peltate.

VOL. IV. E