466 MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 
gardeners’ varieties.  Proliferous forms, as noticed by Sir W. J. Hooker, are not rare; 
they are not parasites. 
Var. —€— Larger in all its parts; ultimate segments of the lower pinne attaining 
1 by $in., very close together; sori continuous round the margin; lower pinnæ. 
bipartite, or each with two descending pinnæ on the lower margin. 
Sikkim to Khasia, frequent.—This appears to me to form a complete transition group 
connecting P. quadriaurita with P. longipinnula. I have sorted the large forms with 
the lower pinnæ undivided as P. longipinnula; but I see no difference really. In my 
large examples from Parasnath the ultimate segments from the lower pinnæ attain 14 
in. ; but the stipe is scabrid pubescent, the texture coriaceous reddish, the rhachis 
setigerous, the lower pinnæ bipartite, the ultimate segments close together; and I 
should call it P. aspericaulis, Wall., large.—Mettenius has named a Darjeeling specimen 
of this P. Blumeana, Agardh ; other examples are named P. repandula, Link, as the 
form extends to Malaya and China. The true P. Blumeana is widely different. 
Var. khasiana. Completely bipinnate; lowest pinna with 5 pinnæ on. each side the 
rhachis, those on the upper margin 5-6 in., little smaller than those on the lower. 
(Ph LEL) 
Khasia ; alt. 3000 feet, Da Silva, in Wall. Cat. 106 partly, C. B. Clarke—A striking 
variety when seen alone, but graduates into the type. 
Var.. Blumeana, (ep) Agardh, Recens. Gen. Pter. 22. Large; lowest pinnæ usually 
bipartite, lateral pinnæ sometimes with 50-60 segments ; segments 1 by $ in., equally 
wide throughout or broader at the apex, not falcate, obtuse, rounded, entire or 
crenulate at the barren apex. (Pl. LV.) 
Chittagong, Hk. f. & T.; C. B. Clarke.—Distrib. Tenasserim, Singapore, Java.— — 
This is a well-marked form, and well circumscribed in area, and is, I think, better 
entitled to specific rank than P. longipinnula and several others. The ultimate seg- ` 
ments are narrow, not approximate, spreading at right angles from the midrib, hardly ` 
falcate at the summit. The stipe is sometimes glabrous, sometimes scabrous pubescent ; 
the rhachis is glabrous or setigerous above. The pinnæ are cut nearly to the rhachis, | 
so that the lowest veins reach the margin above the sinus.—Both P. longipinnula 
and P. quadriaurita, var. major, have been distributed from Java wrongly marked 
P. Blumeana. The only specimens I can find of P. quadriaurita that show a tendency 
to approach P. Blumeana are some collected in the Concan by Mr. Law. | 
9. P. GREVILLEANA, Wall. Cat. 2680. Dimorphic; barren stipe shorter, winged towards 
its apex; barren frond pedately 5-fid, scarcely pinnate, margin spinulose-serrate ; 
fertile frond with 5 pinn:e, the lower pair bipartite; veins exceedingly obscure. Së 
Agardh, Recens. Gen. Pter. 23. (Pl. LIV.) 
` Sylhet, Wallich. Cachar ; Shapoor, R. L. Keenan. 
Mr. Keenan’s excellent example has two barren and two fertile pinnæ attached to the 
rhizome. The ultimate segments in the barren fronds are SÉ DEER E 
