INTRODUCTION TO CRTPTOGAMIG BOTANY. 525 



round pores.* In Kaulfussia the two rows of sporangia 

 are combined into an orbicular cup. The sori, moreover, are 

 scattered over the frond. Most of the species are tropical 

 They occur in either hemisphere, and in the Old and New 

 Worlds. Marattia salicina occurs in Norfolk Island and 

 New Zealand, as well as in warmer locaUties. Several forms 

 are found amongst fossil remains, as proved by the structure 

 of the rhizoma. The leaves of Angiopteris evecta are said to 

 be used as a perfume in the Sandwich Isles, where the 

 rhizoma is eaten, as that of Marattia is in New Zealand. 

 2. OSMUNDACE^, R. B. 



Sporangia pedicellate, hypogenous, or paniculate, furnished 

 with a broad dorsal imperfect ring, and bursting vertically. 



592. In Marattiacece there was no trace whatever of a 

 ring ; in the present tribe, on the back of each sporangium 

 (Fig. 114, 6) there is a disc lighter than the rest, and composed 

 of hexagonal tissue, which represents the ring, which is still 

 very imperfect. Though the sporangia are less complicated, 

 the frond is as highly developed as in other ferns, and the 

 species may certainly be reckoned as amongst the nobler of 

 the order. Few ferns, indeed, are more beautiful than the 

 the species of Leptopteris, and Osmunda regalis is, perhaps^ 

 the finest of all European forms. In Leptopteris the spo- 

 rangia are placed upon the veins, without, however, forming 

 distinct sori, and the fronds are beautifully translucent. In 

 Todea, the frond is coriaceous, and the sporangia hypogenous ; 

 while in Osmunda the upper part of the frond is converted 

 into a spike covered with the sporangia. Leptopteris is almost 

 peculiar to New Zealand. Osmunda is widely distributed. 

 0. regalis is found in many parts of the world, and the com- 

 mon United States species, 0. cinnamomea, which is, perhaps, 

 not distinct, in several parts of India. In one or two species, 

 as 0. javanica and 0. Vachellii, though the veins are forked, 



* If, however, a transverse section be made through the middle of 

 the sorus in Dancea and Marattia, it is almost exactly the same in each, 

 looking like a double row of parenchymatous cells. The sporangia of 

 Bancea are completely soldered together in the middle, above which 

 they are free. 



