тик ALPINE POLYPODY 
branched. 
‘Stipes short, fom about one-sixth to one fourth of the entre length of th ond, 
" scales; terminal and a 
near the baso, clothed sparingly with ovatelanccolto pale-brown sees ter 
Vander Hace stout rownded behind; ehannallei sm front ; не төсін ог ОР 
very narrow leafy wing on both sides, connecting the pinnu 
Vernation circinato 
о ме 
Тлек the baso narrowed in int Ша gane dagree an the polat; Diplnaale, or eubtripinnote, Tn 
fronde, of which tho leafy portion measuree about twenty ісіме in length, the greatest breath is about 
de und a Dalf indios Poin broadly lineae or lanceolate ош «Broad base, tapering 40 а narrow 
int, numerons, crowded above, more disiant below, spreading or somewhat ascending. Fle 
long-ovate, acute, with а narrow attachment 
ovate-oblong, sometimes ovato-lanceolate, or obl 
= the rachis ; they are deeply pinnati 
but. connected by a narrow membranous wing which b 
and in the me ds so much so, and the segments во far distant 
appear again pinnate, Segments oblong obtuse, sharply serrate, especially at the 
interior margin. The subtripinnate fronds have the segments doubly toothed. 
Venation of the pinnules consisting of а slightly Nexuose midvein from which bran 
alternate pinnate veins. Veins of the segments also flocuoso, with simple alternate vendes, one of which 
is directed to the point of each marginal tooth ; the lowest anterior venule, which is directed towards. 
the lowest anterior tooth, is usually soriferous, and when this only is so, the sori form a series on each 
sido the midvein, at a short distance from it, and just above the sinus of the segments on their anterior 
margin ; sometimes, however, some of the other venul also fertile, and the sori are then pla 
near the margin of the segments, In the subtripinnate fronds, which have the segments more or 
doubly toothed, the venules are occasionally forked, the anterior veinlet, or sometimes both, bearing а 
sorus; in these examples the sori, three or four on each side the segment, form tolerably distinct sub- 
marginal lines. ‘The sori are in all eases attached near to, but below, the apex of the vein, whic 
reaches to the margin 
Fructification on the back of the frond, occupying the upper two-thirds of its length, Sori small 
«ийат, usually distinct, but sometimes crowded, and becoming confluent ; usually naked, but som 
times (rarely and in abnormal-looking sori) the spore-cases are somewhat lateral, and a membrane 
which appears to be an abnormal development of the receptacular expansion of the vein, is produced, 
simulating an abortive or spurious indusium, Spore-cases roundish-obovate, brown, numerous. 
roundish or oblong, somewhat muriculate 
Duration, The caudex is perennial. The fronds are annual, growing up in April or May, and 
perishing early in autumn. 
The Fern is at once distinguished among the British Polypodies by its short thick erect tuft 
certainly a general resemblance to Alkyrium File femina, with which it appears to have I = 
generally confounded, but the fructificnt as usually borne, is very diff d | ост 
to that ies is not found to be so close as at first sight appears to be the ca: Pal 
merie distinctions from the mode of development, to separate the pres ra z dc 
Tt d in fact represent the thr BER 
Polypodies which inhabit Great Britain. SC 
The supposed “indusia) ascribed to this plant, we have noticed bot 
and in dried specimens of the variety Деге, but they are only es 
occasional, and even rare, and 
nd appear 
