THE SOFT PRICKLY SHIELD FERN. 187 
ones, whieh are continued over the rachis; the larger and broader 
ones gradually diminishing from the base upwards. Rachis promi- 
nent, rounded behind, slightly channelled in front, shaggy with the 
numerous hair-like scales already mentioned. 
Fronds from two to four or five feet high, and from seven to ten 
inches across at the broadest part, herbaceous or subrigid, full green 
above, paler beneath, usually lax, spreading and more or less arched 
or drooping, numerous, arranged in a circlet around the crown, 
lanceolate, bipinnate or tripinnate. Pinne numerous, nearly linear, 
rather broadest at the base, tapering towards and acuminate at the 
apex, alternate, sometimes distant, the basal ones usually diminish- 
ing somewhat in length, but in some varieties longest. Pinnules 
somewhat crescent-shaped, 4. e., ovate-falcate, with a strong anterior 
auricle or projecting lobe, flat, acute or bluntish, distinctly often 
deeply serrated on the margins, the serratures tipped with soft 
slender bristles, which are usually most strongly developed at the 
apex of the pinnule and of the auricle; the base is not toothed, but 
is somewhat rounded on the posterior side, truncate but with a 
convexity on the side parallel with the rachis, so that the base 
becomes an obtuse angle with slightly curving sides, at the apex 
of which is placed a short but distinct slender stalk diverging from 
the rachis at an angle of about 45°, and by this the pinnules are 
attached to the rachis of the pinne. The basal anterior pinnule 
is usually somewhat, often much larger than the rest, and is in 
some plants deeply pinnatifid or even pinnated, and occasionally 
other pinnules situated near the base of the pinne are deeply divided. 
The under surface of the pinnules is furnished with fine scattered 
hair-like scales. 
Venation of the pinnules consisting of a flexuous costa or midvein 
with alternate veins or branches ; these veins are furcately branched, 
producing two, three, or more venules in each fascicle. The 
anterior venule of the fascicle bears a sorus, at or very near to 
its apex. The auricle has a stronger vein, which is pinnately 
branched, producing several simple or forked venules, of which 
some three or four generally bear sori. 
Fructification on the back of the frond, generally occupying the 
whole of the upper part to the extent of two-thirds, but sometimes 

