ATHYRIUM I'l LIX-F(EM1NA. 



31 



of the two fronds linear; one half of the pinnte very short, 

 few wanting, and several very long. Pinnules various in size 

 and form, mostly depauperate, often only the teeth of the lobes 

 or a portion of the lobes present. A pretty variety. 







Fig. 313. 





.If 



Balfourii, Loive. (Fig. 313.) — Raised from spores by Mr. 

 James, of Vauvert. Another interesting multifid variety, very 

 distinct in character, and named after Professor Balfour, the 

 well-known Edinburgh Botanical Professor. Length of frond 

 sixteen or eighteen inches; width almost equal, except near the 

 apex, varying from five and a half to six inches. Pinnse 

 ascending, from four to four inches and a half in length, and 

 an inch wide, broadest at the base, narrowing rapidly to a 

 quarter of an inch just below the multifid apex. Tassels from 

 one inch to one inch and a half in width, forming large con- 

 spicuous crests, the apex of the frond itself larger, and more 

 multifid. Pinnules stout in substance, long, and narrow; lobes 

 deeply cut near the base of the pinnules at the basal portion 

 of the pinna;, and very shallowly cut near their a2)ices; in tlie 

 upper half of the pinnre the joinnules shallowly dentate, the 

 upper portion entire, and only dentate at their apices. A 

 graceful form. The illustration is from Mr. James' frond. 



Minimum, il/oore. — Found at Ilfracombe about the year 185G, 

 and was in the nursery of the late Mr. Young, of Taunton. A 

 very dwarf variety, the fronds being only six inches in length, 

 and not one inch and a half broad. Bipinnate, the basal 



