MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 507 
or lobed so that the lowest secondary pinna is decurrent but nearly free ; sori mostly 
in two rows; involucres small or large, little denticulate——Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 11; 
Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 251. Polypodium auriculatum, Linn. Sp. Pl. 1548.—Burm. 
Thes. Zeyl. t. 44. fig. 2. i 
India, abundant. 
There is no doubt that our 4. auriculatum is the original P. auriculatum, Linn., 
because that is founded on the plate of Burmann. Swartz quotes Linnzus, but also 
quotes Sehkuhr; and Schkuhr's plant is made up of one East-Indian and one West- 
Indian fern. There is therefore no doubt about the name auriculatum; the doubt is 
merely whether Swartz should be given the credit of placing the Linnzan species in its 
right genus. 
Var. 1. normalis, Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 11, t. 218; pinns long lanceolate serrate, hardly 
spinulose or lobed.—Bedd. Ferns South. Ind. t. 120. 
South India and Ceylon.—Not known from Northern India; the single Khasi specimen 
referred hither by Sir W. J. Hooker is the common Khasi form of var. cespitosa. : 
Var. 2. marginata, Wall. Cat. 366. ^ Pinns ovate-oblong, closely spinulose, hardly 
pinnatifid; texture very coriaceous, shining.—Mett. Farngatt. Pheg. & Asp. 39 (sp.) ; 
Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. Suppl. t. 363. 4. auriculatum, Don, Prodr. Fl. Nep. 3. 
From Kunawur to Bhotan, alt. 7000—10,000 feet, common.—This fern is often marked 
A. Lonchitis in Indian collections ; it has a longer stipe, and the frond much less 
attenuated at base, the involucre less denticulate. It sometimes has very large invo- 
lucres, when it is often marked A. ocellatum, Wall. ; but Wallich seems to have under- 
stood by that name principally the large-fruited form of var. lenta. 
Var. 3. cespitosa, Wall. Cat. 307. Pinnæ ovate-oblong, margin scarcely spinulose or 
serrate, sometimes entire; texture scarcely coriaceous, drying a dark dull green.— 
Mett. Farngatt. Pheg. & Asp. 39 (sp.); Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. t. 33; (sp.) Hook. 
Sp. Fil. iv. 18, t. 213. 4. obliquum, Don, Prodr. Fl. Nep. 3. 
Khasia, alt. 3000-4500 feet, very common. Himalaya, alt. 4000-8000 feet, from 
Bhotan to Kunawur.—The Khasi plantis a well-marked type, with the pinnz hardly 
serrate; but the North-west forms figured by Beddome show that this var. cannot 
well be separated from the last. 
Var. 4. lenta, (sp.) Don, Prodr. Fl. Nep. 4. Pinnæ pinnatifid, serrate, usually spinulose, 
the lowest segment of the upper limb often nearly free, but decurrent, the remainder 
of the pinna much less deeply pinnatifid.—Var. subbipinnata, Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 11; 
Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. t. 136. 
Throughout the Himalaya and Khasia, very common, especially in Sikkim, Bhotan, 
Khasia; alt. 1500—8000 feet.—A very uniform series of plants, carrying many names in 
herbaria: A. ocellatum, Wall. Cat. 360; Mett. Farngatt. Pheg. & Asp. 43, is a form of 
this with larger sori than usual. This fern frequently produces a subterminal rooting bud 
on the main rhachis ; then it is called Polystichum radicans. : 
