ASPLENIUM ADIANTUM-NIGEUM. 



227 



ones often pinnate or pinnatifid, with the lobes notched ; the 

 apices of the ultimate divisions are serrated. The lateral veins 

 in the pinnules or lobes, as the case may be, are irregularly- 

 alternate, and are generally forked after leaving the midveia ; 

 and one or both branches of this divided vein bears on the side 

 a line of capsules : these are at first covered by a white, linear, 

 narrow, scale-like involucre, also attached to the side of the 

 veins : the clusters of capsules, together with their involucres, 

 are situated rather nearer the midvein than the margin ; and 

 the involucres open towards the midvein. As the capsules ad- 

 vance towards maturity, the involucre is lifted up and pushed 

 away from its original situation, and finally entirely disappears ; 

 the clusters then become confluent, and their form is lost. 





PinuEB of Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum, {luitund size). 



