R. Rep., iv., p. i6o, vii., p. 2 2 .— H o o k er & B a k e r , Syn.
Fil., p. 384. — E aton, in Bot. Mex. Boundary, p. 2 3 5 ; Ferns
of the South-West, p. 304. — D a v en po r t , Catalogue, p. 1 1 .
Gymnogramme Oregona, N u t t a h ., MS. in herb.
Var. viscosa:— Frond ovate-pyramidal in outline; primary pinnæ
rather distant ; upper surface viscid, as if varnished ; powder of the
lower surface creamy-white. — Gymnogramme viscosa and G. pyramidata,
N u t t a l i., MS. in the herbaria at Kew and at Philadelphia.
H.ab. — Common on rocky hills nearly throughout California, and
extending northward to Oregon and perhaps still farther. It was collected
on Guadalupe Island by Dr. P a lm e r , and is said in Synopsis
Filicum to occur oa Vancouver Island and in Ecuador. It was first found
near San Francisco by C h am is so , and has since been gathered by nearly
every botanist who has visited or resided in California. Specimens with
the powder on the under surface very pale yellow, or even silver^’-white,
are not uncommon. Of the variety viscosa, I have seen only N u t t a l l ’s
specimens, and some from San Diego collected by Mr. C l e v e l a n d , or
sent by M r . G eo r g e C . W oolson.
D e s c r i p t i o n :—The root-stock is rarely more than one or
two inches long, and is rather slender, but covered with the
broken bases of old stalks, so that it looks stouter than it
really is. The chaff is moderately abundant, and consists of
little lanceolate-acuminate fuscous-brown rather rigid scales,
composed of irregularly oblong cellules, and entire on the
margins. Some of the scales have a strong blackish midnerve,
and in others no midnerve can be seen.
The stalks are clustered on the root-stock, and vary much
in length and thickness. They are most frequently about a
span long and half or three-fourths of a line thick. Their
color is dark-brown, sometimes almost black, and they have
a high polish, like the stems of most Adianta. All that I
have seen are perfectly smooth, but some Oregon specimens,
collected by Douglas, and figured in leones Filicum, have the
stalks sparingly aculeate. The section shows a firm exterior
sheath, and a single central roundish fibro-vascular bundle,
the ducts being arranged in a figure resembling the right and
left wings of a butterfiy.
The fronds are commonly three or four inches long, and
almost as wide. Though they were originally described as
“ triangular,” their form is nearly pentagonal, with a deep
sinus on the lower side, where the fronds rest on the stalk.
The rachis is narrowly wing-margined between the lowest
pinnæ and the next pair, and more broadly winged above.
The lowest pinnæ are very much larger than the next pair,
and have the segments on the lower side much elongated. The
rest of the pinnæ decrease regularly upwards from the second
pair. The second pair are pinnately lobed with oblong obtuse
lobes, and the upper ones are less and less lobed, and so pass
into the short and rounded lobes of the apex. The upper
surface of the frond is usually dark-green and smooth; rarely
it is minutely glandular, and in var. viscosa it is viscid, as if
varnished with some adhesive material. The powder on the
lower surface is most frequently deep golden yellow, but passes
gradually to white. It is readily shaken off from the living