CYSTOPTERIS. 
183 
outline, from the great development of the lowest pair of 
pinnae ; and they are remarkable for the comparative length 
of the slender stipes, which is about twice as long as the 
leafy portion. The fronds are tripinnate in the lower part, 
and bipinnate upwards, the pinnae spreading, and standing 
opposite in pairs, the lowest pair considerably larger than 
the next above, and unequally developed, the inferior side 
being very much larger than the superior; this dispro¬ 
portion is not maintained to the. same extent in the upper 
portions of the frond. The lower pinnae, on the inferior 
side, are first divided into ovate or lanceolate pinnules, and 
these are again cut into a second series of pinnules, of an 
ovate or oblong form, these ultimate pinnules being coarsely 
and irregularly notched or toothed ; on the upper side, the 
pinnules correspond with the secondary pinnules of the 
lower side. The inferior pinnules of the next pair of pinnae 
also correspond in size, outline, and subdivision with the 
scondary pinnules of the lower pinnae ; and above this the 
parts become gradually smaller and less divided up to the 
apex of the frond. 
The whole texture of the fronds is delicate and herba¬ 
ceous, as in the more common species, and hence the veins 
show very distinctly. In the ultimate pinnules the central 
