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characteristic peculiarity: when the mature sporangium falls, the 

 capsule is loosened from its pedicel, which remains fixed to the 

 receptacle; in a mature leaf the receptacles are, therefore, hidden 

 by a cluster of headless pedicels. In species of Dryopteris the 

 pedicels of the sporangia are adherent to the capsules and the 

 whole sporangium loosened from the receptacle. 



The receptacle is generally a little oblong, dorsal and super- 

 ficial on the vein. In the most developed species {S. ichtiosma and 

 others) it appears to be apical on a short anterior branch from 

 the tertiary vein, but this branch is occasionally (in other species 

 normally) lengthened and then the sori are seen to be dorsal. This 

 kind of forking of the veins is a character common in the genus 

 Polypodium but unknown within Dryopteris (see fig. 13, 14). 



The venation in Stigmatopteris is an important generic cha- 

 racter. The ultimate veins are generally free but in several species 

 they show a pronounced inclination to anastomosing. In S. alloe- 

 optera anastomosing veins almost is the rule; here the veins are 

 united very irregularly forming irregular areoles often with included 

 free veinlets (fig. 1 1 a, b). In most other species with lobed pinnae 

 a similar anastomosing of the veins may be found occasionally. 

 The veins never reach the margin as in Dryopteris but end in a 

 clavate apex, which is seen on the upper surface as a raised 

 brownish protuberance ("hydathode"). 



All species examined are absolutely without hairs; even the 

 costse above and the margins are quite glabrous, which in species 

 of Dryopteris nearly always are more or less hairy. On the con- 

 trary scales occur in all species along stem, rachis, costse and 

 costulse beneath. The structure of the scales is rather uniform 

 within the genus. They are very thin, yellowish-brown with 

 fringed or papillose edges; the cell-walls are very thin and often 

 flexuose, the lumina large and clear. The long, hair-formed fringes 

 often (or normally?) end in a capitate gland. 



In all species the lamina is pellucid-punctate by immersed, 

 yellow glands, much as in Hypericum perforatum. In some species 

 these glands are seen as large pellucid dots, in others they are 

 very small but then very numerous. They are only seen when 

 held between the eye and light. 



In all species the pinnae are terminating in a long, acuminate 

 apex, which is sharply serrate to the very point (fig. 1). In other 



