rii 1
T r ic h o m a n e s pijx id ifa -um ; frondibus oblongo-ovatis pinnatis, rachi alata, pinnis bipinnatifidis
membranaceis pellucidis subnitidis, laciniis linearibus glabris integerrimis apicibus cmargi-
natis, involucris solitariis in lacinia brevi axillari immcrsis cylindraccis, ore patentissimo con cavo
integro, receptáculo lon g issim o filiformi, stipite superne marginato.
Trichomanes pyxidiferum, L hm . S p . P i. p . 15()1 r S w a r lz , F l. In d . Occ. v .3 . p . 1739.
F il. p . 143. TFilld. S p . p i . V. 5 . p . 5 0 8 . S p ren g . S y s t. V eg e t. v. 4 . p . 129.
Trichomanes pedicellatum. D e s v . (fide Sprengel).
F ilicu la pyxidifcra. P lu v i. F il. p . 74. t. bO. f . E.
IL u i. T u India Occidentali. Hispaniola. P lum ie r. Insula Jamaicæ. S w a r tz . Insula Sancti
V in cen tis. P e v . L . Guilding.
Caudex filiformis, flexuosas, repens, radiculosus.
S tip ite s erecti, graciles, inferne subteretes, superne marginati, unciam ad duas uncias longi.
F ro u s digitalis, circumscriptione oblongo-ovata, pinnata, membranacea, glaberrima, diapbana, subiiitida, pulcher-
c reticulata, rachi alata sujierne præcipue, inferne potius marginata. Pinncc laxoe, remotiusculæ, erecto-
patentes, profunde bipinnatifidoe; laciniis linearibus, costatis, apicibus emarginatis.
In volucra solitaria, in lacinia brevi axillari immersa, subcylindracea, ore dilatato, magno, patentissimo, inte-
Reccptacidum longissime exsertum, involucro octies longius, fragile, flexuosum, filiforme.
Capsuhe globoso-compressæ, peltatæ, annulo latissimo cinctæ.
Semin a intense fusca, ovali-globosa, subangulata.
Fig . 1. Po rtio frondis cimi involucro, f. 2 . Involucrum. f. 3. Laciniæ pars. f. 4 . Capsuloe. f. 5 . Semina:—
magn. auct.
Sir Jiimcs Smith has well observed, under the artiele “ Trichomanes pyxidiferum" in Rees's
Cyclopædia, that our only certain authority for this species is Plumier, in the work above quoted,
the description of Swartz not answering exactly to his account.—If wc arc correct iu our ideas of
T.py.vidifei-um, Swartz’s description is by no means inaccurate, except where he says that the columella
or receptacle is shorter than the involucre ; but then it ought to be considered that this
columella, though longer than in any other species of the genus that we arc acquainted with, is
very fragile, and the description might have been taken from imperfect specimens : and in all that
concerns the rest of the plant it is very satisfactory. With regard to our considering this species
to be the Filicula pyxidiferum of Plumier, the general outline of the frond is sufficiently characteristic
: the wing of the rachis, and more especially of the stipes, is, however, certainly too broad.
A remarkable character is described by Plumier in the fructification of this plant; for the fronds,
he says, are “ garnies la pluspart, dans Ic fond dc lour découpure, d’une petite boëtc, ou calice,
rempli dc plusieurs vésicules, et scelé par un couvercle garni d’un petit poil dans le milieu.” Now
that the involucres should be closed by a convex lid, through which the columella is continued, we
consider to be a circumstance impossible in the genus : but we can very well believe that, to an eye
unassisted by the microscope, the large expanded and entire (not two-lipped) mouth of the involucre
may have the appearance of a lid. And this dilatation of the mouth of the involucre is more
remarkable than in any other species of the gcnns we are acquainted with. We shall be happy if
other botanists concur with us in this opinion, and thus determine with tolerable satisfaction the
identity of a species, which no one seems to have understood since the time of Plumier.
Our figures and description arc made from numerous specimens communicated by Mr. L. Guilding
from the Island of St. Vincent, where, upon trunks of trees, at an elevation of from fourteen
hundred to two thousand feet above the level of the sea, the plant is very abundant, as it also probably
is in other of the West Indian Islands.
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