NOVEMBER. 
325 
Osmundinb®: — o, Osmunda regalis. Marat- 
xrNE^ :—p, Marattia elegans ; r, Angiopteris 
longifolia. Kaolfcssine® :—s, Kaulfussia 
assamica. 
In all the rest, the spore-cases are not valvate, so that when they open 
for the liberation of the spores they burst partially or irregularly, 
and do not open at the top in two equal divisions as occurs in the 
group Osmundineae. 
Of the remaining divisions of Polypodiaceae, the Ceratopteridineae, 
consisting of one or two, perhaps 
a single aquatic species, has its 
spore-cases sometimes furnished 
with a very rudimentary ring, 
reduced as in Osmundineae to a 
few parallel striae, or sometimes 
furnished with a very broad and 
more lengthened ring. In this 
little group, the spores themselves 
furnish an excellent supple¬ 
mentary characteristic, being 
bluntly triangular, marked with 
three series of concentric lines. 
Next to this, comes a group of tribes in which the ring is complete 
and transverse, either truly or obliquely horizontal; the spore-cases 
sessile, or nearly so, and bursting 
vertically, i.e., from the base to 
the apex. In the Gleichenineae 
and Trichomanineae, the ring 
surrounds the spore-case like a 
zone or belt, and the spore-cases 
themselves are vertically com¬ 
pressed; whilst in the Schi- 
zaeineae the ring is situated quite 
at the apex of the oval spore- 
case, which is, in consequence, 
said to be radiate-striate at the apex. The Gleichenineae and Tricho¬ 
manineae are distinguished from each other by the former having rigid 
opaque (usually dichotomously-branched) fronds, with globose pyriform 
spore-cases, forming oligocarp- 
ous* sori at the back of the 
frond ; whilst the latter has pel¬ 
lucid membranaceous fronds, 
and extrorse - marginal']' sori, 
formed of numerous lenticular 
spore-cases, clustered on an ex- 
serted receptacle,]; which is, in 
fact, a prolongation of the vein 
beyond the ordinary margin of 
the frond. 
Another small tribe consists only of a single species, in which the 
ring is broad, suboblique, and nearly complete, the spore-cases sessile, 
* Composed of few spore-cases: here 2-4 to 10-12. 
f Marginal and projected as well as opening outwards. 
J The part to which the spore-cases are fixed. 
Ceratopteridineaj: — l, Ceratopteris thalic- 
troides. ScHrz®iNE® :— m, Anemia col- 
lina; n, Cygodium flexuosum. 
Gleiohknine® :— g, Gleichenia dicirpa; h 
Gleichenia flabellata. Trichomanine® :— 
e, Trichomanes lucens; k, Hymenophyllum 
tunbridgense. 
