XU.C.6 Copeland: The Genus Christiopteris 333 
that, as already stated, there are small paraphyses, simple or 
branched, A special bundle system is present under the hymen- 
ium, apparently less developed and distinct than in C. tricuspis, 
but more distinct than in Leptochilus varians. The paleae are 
peltate at the base but drawn out until they have the appearance 
of harsh hairs, reddish-brown in color, with only the marginal 
walls of the marginal cells distinctly thin, and with many short 
marginal hairs, which are not cut off by a wall. The agreement 
in these anatomical details with those of C. tricuspis, as described 
by Bower, is so perfect that Christ’s judgment in uniting the 
species under one genus is completely vindicated. 
The case of the New Caledonia plant is not quite so clear. 
The paleae are decidely distinct, the only real suggestion of 
similarity being that the cells near the margin are thinner walled 
than those at the base and axis of the paleae ; and in this respect, 
they are like the paleae of a considerable number of ferns in 
genera probably belonging to the same phylogenetic group. 
Since it most certainly should not be left in Leptochilus, and 
I do not care to distinguish it as a genus characterized by the 
paleae alone but otherwise like Christiopteris, it may be known 
as CHEISTIOPTEEIS VAKIANS (Acrostichum varians Mett, in 
Ann. Sci. Nat. IV 15 (1861) 56.) 
The genus Christiopteris, as now constituted, includes one 
species in the Himalayas, one in Siam, one in southern China, 
one in the Philippines, and one in New Caledonia, a discontinuous 
distribution extending over practically the whole extent of the 
Malay-Asiatic fern region and indicating, with a high meas- 
ure of probability, a very considerable antiquity. As the ferns 
of the intervening regions become better known, it will almost 
certainly develop that the distribution is by no means as dis- 
continuous as it now appears. In the Philippines, in the course 
of more than a decade of steady work by a number of good 
fern collectors, sterile fronds have been found once each on 
five different mountains, while fertile fronds are still known only 
from one spot on Mount Mariveles and one collection on Mount 
Data. A group which has eluded collectors so successfully in 
the Philippines may be widespread in such little-known regions 
as New Guinea, Celebes, Borneo, and Sumatra, and have been 
overlooked in the past. 
Bower’s previous note ® had already suggested a likely origin 
of Christiopteris, Photinoptens, Cheiropleuria, and various 
groups recognized as Polypodium or its relatives, all as probable 
descendants of the ancient group, the characteristics of which 
“Studies in the Phylogeny of the Filicales, V, Ann. Bot. 19 (1915) 476. 
