147 199 



seem to be rather confined within the species and it is to a certain degree of 

 value as specific character. The branches can be short or long, simple or again 

 forked fD. EygersiiJ, erect fD. asterothrixj , horizontal or recurved (D. glochidiata). 

 Besides stellate or forked hairs simple, unicellular, longer hairs occur in most 

 species; some few species are practically glabrous fD. vivipani, D. paucipinnataj, 

 others densely pubescent throughout ^D. curta, Ü. GhiesbreghtiiJ . The longer hairs 

 are in most species confined to rachis, costæ and margins; generally the rachis 

 bears as well stellate as simple hairs. Scales are, as a rule, few and mostly con- 

 fined to rhizome and lower part of the stipe; rarely small, stellate-pubescent scales 

 are also found on rachis and costæ beneath fD. monosora, I), lugubris). Glands as 

 well as aërophores are always absent. 



The pubescence is the main character of the subgenus, but the species show 

 besides other characteristic common features, which can not be described so clearly 

 as to be understood easily by others. Most species are dark-green or greyish- 

 green, membranous oi chartaceous, rarely thinly herbaceous or rigidly coria- 

 ceous, not much divided, the lamina entire, pinnatifid, pinnate or bipinnatifid. 

 Bipinnate or decompound species I have not seen. Several species, perhajjs the 

 majority, are proliferous by buds on the rachis or the rachis is prolongated and 

 rooting at the apex. The species of the section Eugoniopteris have impari-pinnate 

 lamina. These two characters, proliferous leaves and impari-pinnate lamina, so 

 common within Goniopteris, are unknown or, at best, very rare in all other subgenera. 



With regard to venation the species vary not a little, still a certain uni- 

 formity can be pointed out. The venation is in correlation to the degree of cut- 

 ting. In deeply cut pinnæ the veins, which nearly always are simple, are all free 

 with those of the basal pair running to the sinus (f. inst. I), scahra), but more 

 often they are connivent to sinus i.e. the lower 1 — 4 pairs of veins are upcurved 

 and run side by side to the sinus, below which they are very often separated by 

 a cartilagineous membrane. It is often difficult to state whether the veins are 

 connivent or truly anastomosing, i. e. two veins being united into a single ex- 

 current branch (nerimtio GoniopteridisJ. In several species both kinds of venation 

 can be found in the same leaf Seen from the underside the veins often appear 

 to be united, while they, seen from above, are found to be connivent but running 

 very closely side by side. In several species the lower veins (1 — 3 pairs) arc con- 

 stantly united, while other species (f inst. D. nephrodioides) are very variable in 

 venation, some forms having free, others of the same species anastomosing veins. 

 Within the second action, Eugoniopteris, we find an unbroken row from free-veined 

 forms to D. Ghiesbreghtii and U. meniscioides, the venation of which is perfectly 

 meniscioid. 



The species are partly indusiate, partly exindusiate. Large indusia are rare 

 /Ü. paucipinnata, Ü. venusiaj, in most species the indusia are small and more or 

 less setose by simple or forked hairs, often very small and only seen in the young 

 sori. In some species the receptacle bears long hairs between the sporangia; these 



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