MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 491 
Var. 1. selenopteris, (sp.) Kunze; Mett. Farngatt. Aspl. 196. Frond 3-pinnate, 4-pinna- 
tifid, ultimate lobes incise-serrate. 
_ Khasia, Griffith—This form seems common in the Malay Peninsula and Islands, 
but was originally described from the Nilgherries. | 
Var. 2. dissecta, Moore? Frond 2-pinnate; secondary pinnæ incise-serrate, almost 
spinulose; sori short, subquadrate.— 4/lantodia tenella, Wall. sub Wall. Cat. 206. 
Himalaya, alt. 10,000—13,000 feet, common.—This is perhaps not the original dissectum 
of Moore; but it is usually so marked in the Herbarium, and T cannot distinguish the 
Himalayan from the Japan plant; nor can I draw any line between it and some of the 
forms placed under 4. Filiz-femina. 
[Athyrium gymnogrammoides, var. erythrorachis, Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. Suppl. p. 12, 
of which there are many examples from Ceylon at Kew, has very straight large sori, 
and seems quite distinct from Asplenium nigripes.] 
94. A. FILIX-FŒMINA, Bernh. in Schrad. Neu. Journ. i. pt. ii. 26, t. 2. fig. 7 (forma 
Europea). Frond 1-4 feet, lanceolate, narrowed at both ends, membranous, green, 
2-pinnate ; rhachis soft, appearing triangular or furrowed when dry ; primary pinnze 
narrow linear-oblong, hardly narrowed at the base; secondary pinnz 7-1 in., ob- 
long, patent at right angles to the rhachis of the primary pinne, sessile or decurrent, 
serrate or pinnatifid, margin bluntly or acutely toothed ; involucres in two rows on 
the secondary pinnæ, short-oblong, subpersistent.—Mett. Fil. Hort. Lips. 79, t. 13. 
figs. 15, 16; Hook. Sp. Fil. iii. 217 (excl. syn. tenuifrons, Wall, and strigillosum, 
Moore), Brit. Ferns, t. 35; Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 227 (excl. syn.). Aspidium 
Filiz-formina, Swartz; Schk. Krypt. Gew. tt. 58, 09; Engl. Bot. t. 1459. Aspidinm 
Athyrium, Spreng. ; Schk. Krypt. Gew. t. 78. A. Filix-femina, Roth; Milde, Fil. 
Europ. 49. 
Arctic and Temperate Asia, Europe, North America. The typical form has not 
exactly been obtained in the Himalaya; but the var. 1, dentigera, is very near IL Ia 
the arrangement of the Indian material I have carried all the plants with shining texture, 
appearing striated when dry, to 4. oxyphyllum, and all the plants completely pinnated 
more than twice ( except A. pectinatum) to A. fimbriatum. There are two main types of 
Himalayan 4. Filix-fæmina, viz. :—a, with a succulent rhachis appearing triangular or 
Srooved when dry, green, involucre subpersistent; and 5, with a firm rhachis appearing 
round in the dried specimens, often red, involucre less persistent, often (— The 
set b grow at a higher elevation than «; but from the detailed descriptions it will be 
seen that I have not been able to establish them as a species. 
Var. 1. dentigera. Cutting nearly as in the European type, green, rhachis succulent, 
appearing grooved when dry; involucre subquadrate or horseshoe-shaped, smaller 
and less persistent than in the European type.—Polypodium dentigerum, Wall. Cat. 
_ Himalaya, alt. 6000-11,000 feet, from Kashmir to Bhotan; common from Nepaul 
westwards.—The large forms have the upper primary pinnz ascending very oblique; 
