220 THE FERN PARADISE. 



appearance, from the circumstance of the lowest 

 pair of branches extending horizontally to right 

 and to left being much larger and longer than 

 the higher ones. These lowest branches are again 

 divided, each having above and below its mid-stem 

 a row of leaflets. But the upper row of leaflets, 

 near the main rachis, are much shorter than the 

 lower row, and are deeply cleft or serrated. The 

 two leaflets of the lower rows nearest the main 

 rachis are so much developed, that at and near 

 their base they are again divided into lobes, which 

 in their turn are serrated. Curiously enough, 

 however, the disproportion between the size of the 

 leaflets on the upper and lower sides diminishes 

 towards the point of the branch, and the process 

 of division into lobes is also reduced gradually, 

 so that near the tips of the branch the opposite 

 leaflets are equal in size, and being then much 

 smaller than those at the base of the branch, 

 are not again divided into lobes, but are simply 

 jagged or serrated at their edges. Leaving now 

 the lowest pair of branches on the frond, and 

 coming to those immediately above them, we 



