492 MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 
the smaller forms have all the primary pinnz patent. In the typical dentigera, Wall., 
the secondary pinnze are distant; but I cannot separate a form marked 4. foliolosum, 
Wall., in the Herbarium, which has the pinnz approximate. I give no picture of this 
var.; for Hook. Brit. Ferns, t. 35, represents it perfectly except as to the involueres. 
Var. 2. pectinata, (sp.) Wall. Cat. 231, as to type sheet only, and not of Bedd. Ferns 
. South. Ind. t. 155.  Tripinnate, 4-pinnatifid, finely cut, bright green; rhachis 
Slender, but scarcely succulent or grooved when dry; involucres subquadrate or 
short-oblong, little horseshoe-shaped, subpersistent. (Pl. LVIII.) 
Himalaya, from Sikkim to Gurwhal, alt. 2000-5000 feet; in Sikkim always on dry 
burning slopes to the south, where it is frequent. Parasnath, in Chota Nagpore, alt. 
4000-4500 feet, T. Thomson, C. B. Clarke—where it is not completely 3-pinnate, the 
secondary rhachises being very narrowly winged. Mr. Baker considers this the best 
marked among all the varieties of 4. Filiv.fcemina.——The var. tenella, figured by Bedd. 
Ferns South. Ind. t. 154, has been received at Kew from Mahabaleshwur and from 
Scinde, but not from South India; it has been placed as a subvariety of A. pectinatum ; 
but I think it surely does not belong here. It is more difficult to say where it should be 
placed ; perhaps near var. retusa. 
Var. 3. attenuata. 1-pinnate; base of stipe densely clothed with broad-lanceolate scales ; 
rhachis succulent, when dry grooved or triangular; frond small, very narrow, much 
tapering at both ends; pinnz patent, very close together, deeply regularly pin- 
natifid into oblong serrated segments, scarcely 1 in. long; involucre small, sub- 
quadrate, hardly ever horseshoe-shaped, not very fugacious. (Pl. LIX. fig. 1.) 
Kashmir, alt. 10,000—12,000 feet, north of the main valley, C. B. Clarke.—This may 
be allowed specific rank possibly; but it comes near some small forms of var. 1, 
dentigera. 
Var. 4. retusa. 1-2-pinnate; rhachis firm, appearing round when dry; frond red, never 
very large; involucre small, fugacious; sori scattered, round.— Cystopteris retusa, 
Decne. in Jacquem. Voy. Bot. 176, t. 177. 
Himalaya, alt. 10,000—15,000 feet, from Kashmir to Bhotan, abundant; in the Western 
Himalaya descending as low as 10,000 feet.—This is really a well-marked series, dif- 
fering considerably in size, the upper level specimens being often small ; and being largely 
collected in autumn, when the involucre has vanished, it is common in Herbaria, marked 
Lastrea, Cystopteris, Polypodium, Ze, Decaisne figures a high-level starved form; the 
type is Athyrium rubricaule, Edgw. MS. (Pl. LIX. fig. 2). There are other varieties 
which have the secondary pinne more pinnatifid ; but they are never acutely cut in this 
var. (unless var. flabellulata be included). The involucre is less fugacious in the large 
forms : in one Sikkim form the lowest involucre in each secondary pinna is deeply horse- 
shoe-shaped, sometimes diplazioid, while all the other involucres are quite straight. 
Another Sikkim form has the main and secondary rhachises pubescent. Even the large ` 
forms of this species are rarely truly 2-pinnate; i.e. the secondary rhachises are usually E. 
: Men if but DM The Lie are e often one? narrowed ow: but in one euer , 
