266 
FERNS : BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
150. MARATTIA, Sm. 
Genus 150. — Fertile pinnule, under 
side. No. S. 
Vernation fasciculate, erect, 
snbarboreous; each frond rising 
from between two fleshy sti- 
pulaeform appendages (which 
sometimes assume the cha- 
racter of abnormal fronds) ; 
base of the stipes clavate, 
pseudo-articulated with the 
axis. Fronds bi-tripinnate, 
6-18 feet long ; pinnules 
articulated with the rachis. 
Veins simple or forked, free. 
Synangia sessile, superficial, 
oblong, distant, sub-terminal, 
longitudinally bivalved, each 
valve consisting of 3-12 late- 
rally-connate sporangia, which 
open by a slit on their interior 
side. Receptacles sometimes 
furnished with an indusioid 
fimbriate membrane. 
1. M. alata, Sm. Ic. ined. 
t. 46; Sclik. FU. 
t. 152 ; Booh. Gen. 
Fit. t. 26. Disco- 
stegia alata, Presl. 
Marattia Lauchi- 
ana, Hort. — West 
Indies. 
2. M. cicutaefolia, Kaulf. ; Mart. Ic. Crypt. Bras. t. 69, 71, 72. 
Gymnotheca cicutaefolia, Presl. — Brazil. 
3. M. elegans, Endl. — Norfolk Island, New Zealand. 
4. M. fraxinea, Sm. Ic. ined. t. 48; Schh. Fil. t. 152. — 
Mauritius, West Africa. 
5. M. laxa, Kunze ; Schh. Supp. 1, t. 95 ; Lowe’s Ferns, 8 
t. 77. Gymnotheca lasa, Presl. Marattia macro- 
phylla, Hort. — Mexico. 
