THE FERN PARADISE. 
2 . 
THE ALPINE BLADDER PERN. 
Cystopteris regia. 
Plate 4, Fig. 2. 
||HIS is an exceedingly rare species of tlie 
British. F eras. Similar in some respects 
to the Brittle Bladder Fern, it differs 
from the latter chiefly in length, being ordinarily 
smaller, seldom growing to a height of more than 
ten inches ; but sometimes becoming a little 
taller. It has a short brittle stem, somewhat 
scaly at the part nearest the ground. In this 
species the branches of the frond, although similar 
to those of Fragilis , are placed more directly 
opposite each other. The stipes is slightly 
shorter than in Fragilis : the frond-branches 
are also slightly shorter, corresponding with the 
smaller size of the plant, and instead of being 
ordinarily lance-shaped, the general form of the 
branches may be called either bluntish lance-sliaped, 
or egg-shaped. In the same way the leaflets on 
the branches are also somewhat egg-shaped ; but 
