116 ‘ SYNOPSIS OF NATURAL ORDERS. 
First Sub-Class. (Filices). 
Stock short or long, erect or creeping, often scaly ; fronds simple or variously, and 
often much, lobed, or cut, in bud usually circinate. Sporangia oue-celled, usually 
membranous and dorsal, surrounded by a complete or incomplete jointed elastic 
ring, the sporangia clustered in Sovi of defined but varied form, with or without a 
covering (indusiwm) ; spores minute, variable in form bat all of one kind. 
CXXVII. GuEIcHENIACE®,—Climbing Ferns; stem often dichotomously divided ; 
sori dorsal with usually 2—4 sporangia that are surrounded by a broad transverse 
complete ring, and open vertically ; indusium absert. 
CXXVIII. Potypopracr®,—Caudex erect or creeping; fronds herbaceous or 
coriaceous; sori dorsal or marginal, with many sporangia, included or not in a 
covering indusium, usually pedicelled, more or less completely surrounded by a jointed 
vertical elastic ring, and usually bursting transversely. 
CXXIX. Scuiz#ceu.—Climbing Ferns; fronds palmate or pinnate, veins free; 
sori lateral with 2-valved sporangia that are crowned by a complete opercular ring, and 
open down the sides. 
CXXX. Marartiacez.—Fronds very large bipinnate with basal fleshy stipulelike 
auricles, and thick texture, veins free or anastomosing ; scri marginal or dorsal; 
sporangia without any ring, opening by a slit down one side or by a pore at the apex, 
usually joined together in concrete synangia, sometimes only contiguous but discrete. 
Second Sub-Class. (Lycopodinae). 
Leaves small in proportion to the stem, not whorled, cften spirally alternate, 
circinate, with sporangia in their axils; spores sometimes all of one kind producing 
prothalli which are 2-sexual, at others cf two different kinds; macrosporangia and 
microsporangia both developing rudimentary prothalli, which remains attached to the 
spore ; those of the macrospores bearing archegonia, those of the microspores bearing 
antheridia with antherozoids. 
CXXXI. Lycopopiacr®.—Epiphytes; rootstock none or trailing, stems produced, 
erect or creeping, alternately dichotomously forked with a central bundle of vascular 
tissue; leaves small simple l-nerved, usually uniform and multifarious; vernation 
circinate. Sporangia axillary along the stem, or aggregated in terminal spikes in the 
axils of specialized bracts, uniform, compressed or turbinate, 1—3 valved, 1—3 celled 
spores uniform, globose, granulate, without eclaters, usually with 3 radiating lines from 
the apex, 
