TRICHOMANES ALATUM. WINGED-STALKED
TRICHOMANES.
TRICHOMANES ülatum, frondibus 2—4-pinnatifidis glabris, pinnulis unifions, laciniis linearibus
margine integerrimis, invólucro turbinato-oblongis, apice simplici indiviso, stipite
alato. Brown* in Hort. Kew.. ed. 2.
TRICHOMANES brevisetum. Brown in Hort. Kew. ed. 2. vol. 5. p. 529.
TRICHOMANES pyxidiferum. Huds. Angl. p. 461. With. Bot. Arr. éd. 4. vol. 3. p . 765. Bolt.
Pil. p . 56. i. 30.
HYMENOPHYLLUM alaliirn. Engl. Bot. 1 .1417. Willd. Sp. PI. vol. 5. p . 526.
HYMENOPHYLLUM Tunbridgense ß . Srhitk Fl. Brit. p . 1142.
FILIX humilisrepens. Rnii Syn. p. 127. f. 3» ƒ . 3—4.
Class a nd Ord er. CRYPTOGAMIA FILICES, Linn:
[Natural Ord e r . FILICES, Juss. Decand. Braam. Div. I. GYRATÆ.]
G e n . Cha r. Soi'i marginales. Capsules sessiles, receptaculo communi cylindraceo insertæ, intra Imolucnm
monophyllum, suburceölatum, ore hiantë, textura frondis.
Surculi repentes, tomentosi. Frondes pellucidee, areolatee, raro indivises, sapius uni- vel tri-pinnatifidee, laciniis ani-
nervibus, involucro terminali, receptaculo capsularum plerumque exsertO-, elongato.—Brown Prodr.
Ca ü dex'I' repèns, penn« passerinas crassitie, teres, ra-
dicibus fomentosis, fuscis, hic illic dense ob-
situs. ’
St ipe s bi-quadri-pollicaris> erectus, flexuosus, margine
membfanaceo alatus.
F rons quadri-pollicaris vel etiam spitbamasa, circum-
scriptione ovato-lanceolata, triplicato-pinnatifida.
Pinnas primari« biunciales, superiores sensim
breviores, «que ac secundari« ovato-lanceolat«;
laciniis linearibus, indivisis, emarginatis, vel bi-
fidis, marginibus integerrimis, nervo utrinque
prominente tenui, fusco, 'medium percurrente.
Rachis margine lato foliaceo alata. Frondis substantia
membranacea, glabra, pulcherrime reticulata,
aréolis rotundatis. Color fusco-viridis.—■
Frondes juniores pinnis pinnulisque latioribus
distinguuntur.
I nvolucra in axfllis pinnularum, solitaria, monophylla,
oblongo-turbinata, carnoso-membranacea, ore
integerrimo, hinc leniter emarginato, lateribus
alatis.
R eceptacijlum centrale, filiforme, exsertum.
Capsule rotundat«, sessiles, disco affix«, compress«,
fuse«, circa medium receptaculi conglomerat«,
• disco reticulato, annulo elastieo magno.'
Semin a rotundata.
CAUDEXf creeping, the thickness of a sparrow^ quill,
round, clothed here and there with thick, brown;
downy roots.
St ip e from two to four inches long, erect, flexuose,
winged with a membranaceous margin.
Frond from four inches to a span high, of an ovato-lan-
ceolate figure, triplicato-pinnatifid. The primary
pinn« three inches long, the upper ones gradually.
shorter; and those as well as the secondary ones
are ovato-lanceolate, with the lacini® linear, undivided,
emarginate, or bifid, and the margins entire
; furnished with a slender brown nerve or
midrib, prominent on both sides, and running
through the middle. Rachis winged with a broad
foliaceous margin. The substance of the fr$nd
’’ is membranaceous, smooth, beautifully reticulated,
with roundish areol«. The colour is
brownish green.—The younger fronds are distinguished
by the pinn« and pinnul« being wider.
I nvolucres in the axils of the pinnul«, solitary, of
one leaf, oblongo-turbinate, between camose and
membranaceous, not serrated, but slightly notched
on one side; the sides winged.
Receptacle in the' centre of the Involucrej filiform,
exserted.
Capsules rounded, sessile, fixed by the disk, compressed,
brown, collected together near the middle
of the receptacle, their diskjeticulated, the elastic
ring large.
Seeds round.
Fig. 1 & 2. Plants sterile and fertile, nat. size. Fig. 3. Pinna with fructification. Fig. 4. Pinnule with its involucrum.
Fig. 5. Involucrum vertically dissected, to show the receptacle of the capsules. Fig. 6. Capsule.__
All but Jig. 1 & 2. are more or less magnified. ‘
The first notice we have of this Fern, which may vie with many of the tropical ones in beauty o f form and structure,
is by Dillenius, in Ray s Synopsis Plantarum, as the “ Filix repens, foliis pellucidis et splendentibus, caule
alato, of Dr. Richardson,” who found it at Bel bank, nearly half a" mile from Bingley, at the head of a remarkable
spring. Theie also the figure of Plumier, “ Filicula py.vidifera” (Fil. Amer. t. 50.), is doubtingly referred to.
Hudson, considering it to be really the same as the plant of Plumier, adopted the Linn«an appellation of Tricho-
manes pyxidiferum. Smith in the Flora Britannica rightly enough determined upon its being different from the
T. pyxidiferum of Plumier and Linmeus, but followed Bolton and Withering in considering it as a variety of
Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense (Trichomanis, Linn.) : but this learned botanist only needed to see perfect specimens
to satisfy himself of its being really distinct; and having obtained these, he published it in English Botany
Under the name of Hymenophyllum alatum. It is still, however, a matter of surprise that, it should have been
made a Hymenophyllum; the character of which genus, according to the institutor of it himself, is made to consist
in the “ Involucrum two-valved, flattish, longer than the column,” which will by no means a^ree with our plant-
for the column or receptacle of the capsule is considerably exserted, and the involucrum is monophyllous, only cleft
a very little on one side quite at the extremity; thus sufficiently according with Trichomanes. It is well known
indeed, how nearly these two genera border on each other, and that they agree perfectly in nature and habit. •'
We have followed Mr. Brown in making this fern a Trichomanes, though without adopting his specific name, as
the old ope appears to us lull as applicable.
This charming species has never been found in England, except in the one spot above described by Richardson.
In Ireland it is more common, having been discovered at Powerscourt Waterfall, and in several spots in the romantic
parts of the county of Kerry. We have received fine specimens from Sir Thomas Gage, and others in fructification
from the late Miss Hutchins, and from our friends the Rev.W.T. Bree and Mr. MackayJ the latter o f whom
met with it in that state September 1804, on shady banks and rocks exposed to the spray of the waterfall above
lurk Cottage, Killarncy, growing with the beautiful, and even more rare, Jungermannia Hutckinsiee.
* Although we have given the above character from Brown, it is but right to state th a t’
•and " columella subindusa," as not applicable at least to our specimens.
have omitted the words “ involucris apteris
t We have followed Willdenow in calling that part of a fern a caudex which gives rise
frond, and the rachis is the continuation of the stipes, running up the frond.
o the stipes. The stipes always supports the
fjj