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B O T R Y C H IU M . Sw.
O sM U N D Æ sp. L im i.
Sporangia sessilia, distincta, globosa, coriaceo-carnosa, transversim dehiscentia,
in spicam disticham secundam b itripinnatam disposita. Sporulæ subrotundæ
trilobæ.— Filices extratropicæ. R adix fasciculata. Stipes basi membranacco-
squamosus. Frons solitaria, herbácea, varie p innatim divisa. Venæ pinnatæ vel
radiate, simplices vel furcatæ. Spica composita, pinnata, pedunculata ; pedunculus
e basi frondis ortus.
Botrychium L u naria, Sw. ( T a b . X L V I I . A.)
Fig. 1. Frond and fertile spike : nat. size : f . 2. Pinna ; f . 8. Spike ; f . 4. Section of the rachis
showing the insertion of the Sporangia 5. Sporangium -, f . 6. Sporules more or less magnified.
T A B . X L V I I . B.
H E L M IÑ T H O S T A C H Y S . K a u tf
Sporangia globosa, coriaceo-carnosa, extus a basi ad medium verticaliter dehiscentia,
verticillatim glomerata, ra rius solitaria, verticlllis appendicibus cristatis
pedicellatis in spicam elongatam distiche dispositis. Sporuloe subglobosæ— Filix
Zeylanica,\Austro-Caledonica, In d te Orientalis, et Mexicana. (Presl.) Radix repens,
fibrosa. Frons solitaria, stipitata, digitato-pedata, laciniis elongatis, costatis, venosis.
Venæ pin n a te , bi-trifurcatoe, horizontales, densæ, a d marginem attingentes. Spica
composita pedunculata. Pedunculus e basi frondis ortus.
Helminthostachys Zeylanica.— ( T a b . X L V I I . B.) H . dulcis. K a u lf.—-Wall. Cat.
n. 54. Botrychium. Sw. Osmunda Zeylanica. L . Ophioglossum laciniatum.
Rumph. Amb. V I. t. 6 8 ./ . 3. Botryopteris Mexicana. Presl, Eeliq. Hamh.p. 76.
t. 1 2 . / . 1.
Neither the figures of Kaulfuss, nor of Presl, accord well with the fructification of this
heautiful plant, for very splendid specimens of which from Ceylon, I am indebted to
Colonel and Mrs Walker. The entire figure, however, and the description of Presl’s
Botryopteris Mexicana, leave >ne no reason to doubt of its being not only generically, but
specifically, the same as our plant ; thus affording another remarkable instance of Ferns,
which have been esteemed extremely rare and circumscribed as to their place of growth,
being at length found in widely different localities.*
T « . X L V I I . B. Fig. 1. Portion of a sterile frond ; / 2. Spike ; / 8—7. Sporangia ; / 8. Spor-
ules :—magnified.
* Two instances o f this kind I have had elsewhere occasion to record. The OpUoglossum p a l-
matum, long considered peculiar to Martinique, has been sent to me from Brazil and the Mauritius !
and the Australian Tmesipteris trúncala, has lately been detected in California !