510 MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 
Var. 5. biaristata, (sp.) Blume, Enum. Pl. Jav. Fil 164. Secondary pinnæ large, 
oblong, falcate, sparingly serrate or spinulose; sori often ina line round the margin; 
texture greenish or blackish green, never red.—Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 29. 
Khasia, common.—The Khasi examples closely agree with those from Burma and 
Malaya. The large forms of this I cannot distinguish from 4. vestitum, Presl; Schk. 
Krypt. Gew. t. 43, cf. Benth. l. c. 
Var. 6. setosa, Wall. Cat. 371. Lower surface of the frond with long fibrillee. — 4. dis- 
cretum, Don, Prodr. Fl. Nep. 4. A. polyblepharon, Kunze, in Bot. Zeit. vi. 572. 
Kumaon to Sikkim, alt. 5000-8000 feet, frequent.—This seems to me more worthy 
specific rank than many other species of Polystichum retained by Mr. Baker. "The series 
is not merely defined by being fibrillose on the surface of the frond beneath; the whole 
set is remarkably uniform in cutting; the frond is large, long-lanceolate; the primary 
pinnz numerous, close together, nearly parallel to each other; the secondary pinnæ 
numerous, close, very distinct, all remarkably like each other. Nor are there any 
connecting forms between the var. and any other form of A. aculeatum. 
8. A. PnEscoTTIANUM, Wall. Cat. 363. Stipe soft, thick, flaccid, with many pale-straw- 
coloured scales and fibrille ; frond narrow-lanceolate, tapering at base, sometimes 
nearly to the foot of the stipe; pinne oblong-lanceolate, not very unequal at the 
base, deeply pinnatifid, sometimes pinnate, more or less fibrillose on the surface 
beneath ; margin hair-pointed, sometimes serrate, sometimes little-toothed beyond 
the hairs.—Mett. Farngatt. Pheg. & Asp. 48; Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 22, t. 223; Hk. & 
Baker, Syn. Fil. 253. — 4. Thomsoni, Hook. partly, q.v. Polystichum Prescottianum, 
Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. t. 34. 
Himalaya, alt. 10,000-13,000 feet; from Kashmir to Bhotan, common. 
Var. Bakeriana, (sp. W. S. Atkinson, MS. Frond large, broad-lanceolate, truncate at 
the base, 9-10 in. wide in the typical example; secondary pinne 1 in., pinnatifid. 
(Pl. LXVI.) 
Throughout the Himalaya, alt. 10,000-18,000 feet.—The type example of W. S. At- 
kinson seems very distinct from 4. Prescottianum, but is connected by intermediates, 
and I can find no good break. 
Var. castanea. Stipe round, naked ; scales on the rhachis chestnut or blackish chestnut ; 
pinnee little pinnatifid. 
Sikkim, alt. 15,000 feet; Sir J. D. Hooker, W. S. Atkinson.—!This variety runs near 
some ofthe examples of 4. Lachenense, but is very fibrillose on the surface beneath. 
9. A. AMABILE, Blume, Enum. Pl. Jav. Fil. 165. Rhizome creeping ` stipe long, naked 
or nearly so; frond oblong-lanceolate, truncate at the base, glabrous or nearly so ; 
secondary pinn shortly petioled, ovate-oblong, very unequal at the base, serrate, 
scarcely pinnatifid ; sori mostly in a row near the margin.—Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. t. 225; 
Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 254. A. rhomboideum, Wall. Cat. 364; Mett. Farngatt. Pheg. - 
& Asp. 66. Lastrea amabilis, Moore; Bedd. Ferns South. Ends $1000 si 
