CYSTOPTERIS. 183 



outline, from the great development of the lowest pair of 

 pinna3 ; and they are remarkable for the comparative length 

 of the slender stipes, which is about twice as long as the 

 leafy portion. The fronds are tripinnate in the lower part, 

 and bipinnate upwards, the pinnse spreading, and standing 

 opposite in pairs, the lowest pair considerably larger than 

 the next above, and unequally developed, the, inferior side 

 being very much larger than the superior ; this dispro- 

 portion is not maintained to the same extent in the upper 

 portions of the frond. The lower pinnae, on the inferior 

 side, are first divided into ovate or lanceolate pinnules, and 

 these are again cut into a second series of pinnules, of an 

 ovate or oblong form, these ultimate pinnules being coarsely 

 and irregularly notched or toothed ; on the upper side, the 

 pinnules correspond with the secondary pinnules of the 

 lower side. The inferior pinnules of the next pair of pinnse 

 also correspond in size, outline, and subdivision with the 

 scondary pinnules of the lower pinnae ; and above this the 

 parts become gradually smaller and less divided up to the 

 apex of the frond. 



The whole texture of the fronds is delicate and herba- 

 ceous, as in the more common species, and hence the veins 

 show very distinctly. In the ultimate pinnules the central 



