234 F I L I C E s. 



has bipinnate fronds of a flaccid consistence and pale-green colour; 

 the pinnae distant and ascending; with linear-oblong, inciso-dentate 

 pinnules; each • segment or tooth bearing a single small sorus near its 

 centre. These three varieties present at first sight a oneness of 

 appearance, and differ only in the greater or less degree of depth in 

 the colour and in the incisions, and in the general outline of the 

 ultimate divisions of the fronds, the consistence of which, as well 

 as the size and number of the sori, are very much influenced by 

 local circumstances, and therefore not to be relied upon as dis- 

 tinctive characters. 



4. Cystopteris Sandwicensis, Sp. Nov. 



G. stipitibus Imvibus liinc suhatis basi paleaceis; frondibus membra- 

 naceis glabris punctatis late oblongis acuminatis bipinnatis; pinnis 

 remotis suboppositis, infimis petiolatis, superioribus sessilibus decur- 

 rentibus; pinnulis oblongis obtusis lobato-dentatis basi obliquw decur- 

 rentibus, summis confluentibus ; venis pallid is tenuibus ; soris parvis ; 

 indusio oblongo cucullato apice derdato. 



Hab. Kaala Mountains, Oahu, Sandwich Islands. 



Stipes 5 to 6 inches long, smooth, and of a pale straw colour ; the 

 base chaffy with a few slender scales. Fronds bipinnate, from 8 inches 

 to a foot in length, broad-oblong, membranaceous, rather flaccid and of 

 a pale green colour, minutely punctate. Pinnce nearly opposite, the 

 lower ones distant, but becoming crowded towards the point. Pin- 

 nules oblong, obtuse, lobate-dentate, oblique at the base, decurrent, the 

 superior ones confluent and forming a lobate-dentate point to the 

 pinnae; veins very slender, and pale. Sort numerous and small in 

 proportion to the size of the frond. Indusium oblong, cucullate, with 

 a toothed apex. 



This is distinguished from O. Douglasii, by its larger and more 

 deeply divided fronds; the ultimate divisions are narrower; the 

 stipe is usually half the length of the frond ; and the sori are smaller. 

 Its nearest affinity is to some of the broad and least divided states of 

 C. fragilis. 



