196 
ASPIUIACEiE. 
than those in the middle and upper part of the fi*ond, they are 
also sometimes shorter and somewhat triangular, but this cha- 
racter appears rather the exception than the rule, for in the spe- 
cimens so kindly and liberally supplied me, I find by far the 
greater number have the first pair of pinnae fully as long as 
either of the others : all the pinnae are pinnate ; the pinnules 
are somewhat stalked, and so deeply divided into lobes as to 
appear almost pinnatifid ; the lobes are 
toothed, the teeth being without spines. 
This character I consider of importance as 
offering an excellent diagnostic whereby 
readily to distinguish the present species 
from the whole tribe of crested ferns, with 
which it appears to have been formerly con- 
founded. The mid-vein of the pinnule is 
waved ; the lateral veins are alternate, and 
each is forked almost immediately after 
leaving the mid-vein : the posterior branch 
is again divided, and each ramifies into a 
serrature of the lobe : the anterior branch 
bears a circular cluster of capsules about midway between the 
mid-vein and margin ; these masses, which are ten or twelve in 
each pinnule, are almost approximate, and finally become com- 
pletely confluent ; each of the masses is covered by a reniform 
lead-coloured involucre, which is at- 
tached to the vein by a short stalk 
placed in the lateral notch. The up- 
per figure in the margin shows the 
veins and the points of attachment of the capsules ; the lower 
figure shows the clusters of capsules with their involucres in J 
the natural situation. The involucre is furnished with a fringe 
of stalked glands, as represented at page 191, Over the upper | 
surface of the frond are scattered numerous minute, spherical, | 
and nearly sessile glands ; from these, in all probability, is emit- | 
ted the scent which has caused so many authors to call this || 
plant by the name of fragrans. Mr. Finder called my attention |j 
to these glands ; he informs me they are more conspicuous in the i 
living than the dried plant, and impart to it a glaucous hue. i 
