560 45. PTERIS. § 1. EDPTERIS. C*. BIPINiNATIFIDAE. 



3. Pinnae not pinnatiftd quite to the base, the lowest segments 

 distinctly decurrent. 



X. Veins 2-furcate (23) Pt. longipinnula. 



x.x. Veins 4-furcate. (24) Pt. torricelliana. 



3,3, Pinnae pinnatisect quite to the base, the lowest segments not 

 or hardly decurrent. 

 4:. At best the lowest pinnae forked at the base. 



S. Stipes amd rachises green, stramineaus or pale-brown. 



e. Ultimate segments entire or slightly serrate, herbaceous, 

 papyraceous or coriaceous. 

 7. Upper surface not bluish. 



S. Ultimate segments joined at the base. 



(2Sa) Pt. quadriaurita. 



S.8. Ultimate segments generally free at the 



base. (256) Pt. parviloba. 



7.7. Upper surface bluish. (25cj Pt. caesia. 



e.e. Ultimate segments appresso-serrate, membranaceous. 



(26) Pt. amoena. 

 S.S. StiiiOi u i i i irf rachises black or dark-brown. 



•f-. Fronds rather small; ultimate segments erecto-patent, 

 not conspicuously dilated at the base. 



(27) Pt. furcans. 

 •i-.-j". Fronds rather large; ultimate segments horizontally 



spreading, conspicuously dilated at the base. 



(28) Pt. decussata. 



4L.S:. Several lower pinnae forked at the base. (29) Pt. Walkeri. 



S.9. Fully developed fronds more than i25 c.M. long. (30) Pt. excelsa. 



* (13) Pt. ensiforiiiis, Bnrm^ Rac, Plor. Btz., 1, 154; Pt.crenata, 

 Sw., Hk., Spec. Fil., H, tab. CXXVII, A; Bedd., Ferns S.I., tab. XXXV; — 

 var. Victoriae, Bk., Gard. Gron., IIP, 576; Pt. Victoriae, hort.; — var. per- 

 mixta, Christ, Phibpp. Journ., II, 173. 



Rhizome creeping, sparingly clothed with deltoid-lanceolate, slightly ad- 

 pressed scales. Stipes 5 — 30 c.M. long, those of the barren fronds the shortest, 

 slender, naked, erect, stramineous. Fronds 10 — 50 c.M. long, the barren ones 

 the shortest, + 5 — 15 c.M. broad, with a long terminal pinna and 2 — 7 

 pairs of lateral ones. Pinnae of the barren fronds slightly compound, the 



