176 
X. SCOLOl'KSDKIUM. 
their If 
e, and // 
two U 
two feet in length. The texture is very succulent when 
young, becoming thickish and somewhat leathery when 
mature, full green above, somewhat paler beneath. A 
series of bi- 
or tri-fur- 
cate veins 
branch out 
from the 
mid-rib, the :' 
first fork- B 
ing occur- \ 
ring close 
to 
base, 
the 
branches 
becoming again forked at about 
one-third the distance to the edge, 
and then extending in nearly 
parallel lines almost to the edge, 
where they terminate in club- 
shaped apices ; here and there they 
become a third time forked ; and 
the cordate base of the frond is 
always filled by a radiating series 
of more compound furcations. 
The sori grow in parallel conti- 
guous pairs, face to face, each 
covered by a separate indusium, 
but eventually becoming con- 
fluent, and superficially losing all 
trace of their twin origin ; so that, 
when considerably developed, 
they have all the appearance of 
simple linear masses, lying ob- 
liquely across each half of the 
frond. The two lines of spore- 
w 
[Scolopcudrium vulgare.] 
