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TAB. CXXXVIIT.
D A V A L L I A P A R V U L A .
ÍTLICES.— G y r a t æ . B r . P o l y p o d ia c e æ . K a u lf. E i l i c e .s veræ. Willd ., Spren g.
G e n . C h a r . D A V A L L I A , Sm. S o ri su b ro tu n d i (vcl in lin c o la ve rtic a li) m a rg in i p le rum q u e
a p p ro x im a ti. Involucrum su p c rfic ia rium , ex apice v en a ; unicse o r tum , la te rib u s \’e l la ta basi
a d n a tum , e x tc riu s e t v c rtic a lite r lib c rum . B r .
D a v a l l i a p a r vu la ; frondibus deltoideis tripinnatis glabris, pinnis linearibus apice furcatis acutis,
soris iu axiilis segmentorum ultimorum, involucris subrotundis basi solummodo adnatis.
Davallia parvula. JVallich M S S .
H a b . Apud Singapure. JVallich.
Caudex longe repens, flexuosus, subfiliformis, lu e iUic radiculosus, ubique squamis subulatis, membranaceis, badiis,
imbi'icatis tectus.
S tip itc s filiformes, unciales, erecti, glabri, loeves, tereti-compressi.
F ro n d a subunciam longoe, circumscriptione deltoideæ, tripinnatæ, glabræ, subnitidoe. P in n oe breviusculæ, angustoe,
lineares, supra planæ v c l (siccitate) canaliculatoe, subtus convexæ, apice furcatæ, acutæ; segmentis ultimis
fructiferls incurvis: omnibus enerviis.
So i'i in axillis piunaiann, ad basin segmentorum superiorum.
Involucrum subrotundiim, basi contractum et adnatum, membranaceum, pallide fuscum, margine superne latiore,
libero.
Capsuloe subrotundoe, annnio lato, articulato, v ix completo cinctæ, lon ge pedicellatæ.
Semin a ovalia, subangulata, paululum pellucida, pallide fl.-iva.
F ig . I . Po rtio frondis soriferæ, subtus visa. f. 2. Segmentum iiltimum cum soro. f. 8 . Capsulæ. f. 4. Semina :__
magn. auct.
T h is is u n q u e s tio n a b ly th e sm a lle s t sp e c ie s o f th e g e n u s w ith w h ich we a re a cq u a in te d , and it is
o ne o f th e m o s t b e au tifu l.
For this plant wc have again to express our acknowledgements to Dr. W allich, Dir e ctor o f the
Honourable East India Company’s B o tan ic Garden at Calcutta, whose arrival in this country,
after twenty years’ devotion to th e arduous duties o f b is ])rofession in India, with a collection
never before equalled for number and value, amounting to no less than twenty-five ton s w’eigbt,
is, indeed, in every p o in t o f view, a subject o f congratulation to the admirers o f botanical
science. Up on the merits o f this n o le ss ex c e llen t man, than acute, .profoimd, industrious, and
princcly-niindcd botanist, we have already had oc casion to dilate. N o t on ly has h e explored,— and
some times at th e risk o f his health and even life,— the extensive region o f the H in d o o d om in io n s;
but th e territory o f Nepal, the Birman empire, hitherto untrodden b y th e fo o t o f any botanist, the
islands o f Singapurc and the Mauritius, have all been laid under contribution by th e personal
exertions o f this indefatigable naturalist, everywhere accompanied as he was by co llectors, and by
th e amplest facilities for preserving th e immense treasures which were thus luuassed. W h en
Dr. Wallich’s engagements did not allow him to extend his researches, the m o st in te llig en t co lle
ctors were sent. In Ferns, as may be supposed, many o f th e se countries arc particularly r ic h ;
and th e number o f species, e specially o f now and curious ones, is exce ed in gly great. Dr. Wallich
disclaims any merit in all t h i s ; and begs that th e h on ou r due to the amassing o f all this vast co lle
ction, and o f thus rendering su ch effectual sei'vicc to the cause o f B otan y , may be given to the
Honourable the Directors o f the E a st India C om p a n y ; at whose expense, with a liberality that can
never be to o much exto lled , has been projected and brought to its present state o f uacfnlness the
truly princely establishment o f the Calcutta B o tan ic Garden.
U se fu l plants, especially forcst-trces, shrubs, fruit-trees, and ornamental plants, have by it been
gratuitously supplied to every climate suited to their growth, and to gardens in almost every part o f
the world. T h e F lo ra In d ica , the Tentamen Florce. N cp a len sis llluslrato'., and various Mem oirs on
the new and usefu l vegetable productions, a splendid work from th e pen o f Dr. W'allich, with
numerous coloured figures, under the title o f P la n ia A s ia lia z R a rio re s, n ow in the press, are some
o f the publications re sulting from th ese co lle ction s : and to crown all, after a comple te se t o f the
plants themselve s shall have been deposited in th e Museum o f the India H o u se , th e w h o le o f the
rest,— probably ex c e ed in g 9 ,0 0 0 species,— will be divided amongst the m o st eminent Bo tan ists in
this and other countries.
T h is is in d e ed a line o f c o n d u c t w o r th y o f so g r e a t a g o v e rnm e n t, a n d a k n ow le d g e o f w h ich
c a n n o t he to o widely c ircu la ted , w itli th e h o p e th a t it may b e a p a t te r n to o th e rs to follow so
h o n o u ra b le an example .
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