220 
ASPIDIACE^. 
of the frond may be described as oblong-lanceolate, and cannot, 
in any acceptation of the term, be characterized as deltoid or tri- 
angular, words which are almost invariably employed in the de- 
scription of what is named Aspidiurn dilatatum. And I may 
remark, that although I have examined some hundreds of mature 
fronds, I have never seen one more nearly triangular than that 
of which I have given the measurements : that triangular fronds 
do frequently occur, I will not dispute ; but these are from seed- 
ling or starved plants, or are without fruit, of diminutive size, or 
from some cause or other have not attained their normal form. 
The stem is very stout at the base, and thickly clothed with long, 
pointed scales, which are of a very dark brown colour along the 
middle, pale brown and nearly transparent at the side» : it is very 
possible that several species possess these scales, indeed, 1 am 
quite disposed to believe this is the case ; but the character is 
amply sufficient to distinguish this species from the preceding 
and following, which are generally confounded with it. One of 
these scales is represented by the middle figure at page 214. 
The frond is pinnate, the pinnae are nearly opposite, and as we 
have seen by the admeasurements, the pairs gradually approx- 
imate from the base towards the apex ; the first and second 
pairs are very broad at the base, in some instances nearly 
triangular : the third is longer and narrower ; the fourth, fifth, 
and sixth still longer and narrower, and also more linear, the 
sides being nearly parallel : all the pinnae are pinnate, except 
those quite at the apex of the frond : the pinnules are distinctly 
separate and almost stalked ; those of the upper pinnae are con- 
nected by an extremely slender wing of the midrib of the pinna, 
but this wing is not to be distinguished on the lower pinnae, 
except near the point : those on the lower pinnae are pinnate, on 
the middle pinnatifid, and on the upper deeply lobed : all the 
divisions are serrated, and each terminates in a short but distinct 
spine. In the first, second and third pairs of pinnae the inferior 
pinnules are much longer than the superior ; the first inferior 
pinnule of the first pair of pinnae is sometimes longer sometimes 
shorter than the second, but the first, second and third are al- 
most invariably much longer and altogether larger than those 
