520 MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 
Khasia, alt. 4000-6000 feet, common.—This is the fern described by Milde, Fil. Europ. 
122, lines 3-6 from bottom of page. It is, as Milde states, allied to var. patentissima : 
but, on the other hand, very near N. elongatum, Hk. & Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 234 ; Aaspidium 
elongatum, Milde, Fil. Europ. 124. 
Var. 4. patentissima. Stipe shaggy, with linear yellowish pales often }-?in. long; frond 
4-6 feet, narrowly oblong-lanceolate, widest near the middle, suddenly narrowed 
near the base ; pinnee patent, very coriaceous, cut down nearly or quite to the 
midrib ; segments oblong, obtuse, subentire or minutely serrulate, glabrous beneath, 
the margin much incurved when dry.— 4. patentissimum, Wall. Cat. 340. Aspidium 
paleaceum, Don, Prodr. Fl. Nep. 4. 4. Wallichianum and Donianum, Spreng. Syst. 
iv. 104 and Suppl. 320. 
. Bhotan to Simla, alt. 6000-9000 feet, common. Khasia, alt. 5000 feet.—This is an 
exceedingly fine fern, distinguished among other things by its excessively coriaceous 
texture. There is a North-west, much smaller form of var. patentissima with darker 
scales.—The South-Indian plant Lastrea patentissima, Bedd. Ferns South. Ind. t. 111, 
agrees with the Javan plant communicated as Aspidium uliginosum, Blume; it has the 
texture and venation of N. Filiz-Mas and seems to me nearer N. Filiz- Mas type than to 
Wallich’s N. patentissimum. There are also in the Central Himalaya a number of large 
forms between fine N. Filiz-Mas and N. elongatum, several of which are usually marked 
N. patentissimum. 
Var. 5. fibrillosa (Pl. LX X.). Stipe 1-3 in.; frond 8-30 in., very narrow, tapering at 
both ends, but not attenuated with auricles into the stipe; stipe and main rhachis 
densely clothed with lanceolate-linear, chestnut-coloured scales; pinnz patent, cut 
down to the midrib; segments oblong, obtuse, serrulate at the apex, fibrillose on the 
surface beneath, 
. North-west Himalaya, alt. 9000-12000 fect, from Kumaon to West Kashmir; very 
common.—One of the most uniform varieties of N. Filiz-Mas, and the most worthy con- 
sideration for specific rank. It resembles N. affine, Lowe, in outline, but differs in 
indumentum. It has always been known as “ the small North-west patentissima ;” but 
it seems to me, at least, as near N. Clarkei. 
Var. 6. Schimperiana (Pl. LXIX. fig. 2), (sp.) Hochst. ; Mett. Farngatt. Pheg. & Asp. 63. 
Stipe and main rhachis with lanceolate, straw-coloured yellow or reddish-brown scales; 
frond (when well developed) fully 2-pinnate ; sori very large.—Lastrea intermedia, 
Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. t. 118 (small 1-pinnate form). HB qucd e 
Himalaya, alt. 7000-11,000 feet, very common. Khasia, alt. 5000-6500 feet, very 
common.—Distrib. South India, Abyssinia.—This is the high-level, large-fruited species 
well known to Indian botanists, and very often (and very erroneously) marked by them 
N. cochleatum, which see. Its true affinity, as Col. Beddome has written to me, is with 
the Indian var. marginata ; but I find little difficulty in sorting the two. The common 
form in the East Himalaya is 1-pinnate, as figured by Bedd., and not much like marginata: 
the West-Himalayan form (which is identical with Hochstetter’s Abyssinian authe 
