MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 545 
Var. 3. minor. Frond small; pinnz 1-2 in. lonis cut scarcely halfway down to the 
midrib (Pl. LXXIX. fig. 1.) 
Sikkim, alt. 500-2000 feet, C. B. Clarke.—In the first stage of fruiting Reg is an 
excessively thin scale over the sorus mp this form. 
** Frond 2- (or 3-) pinnate. 
7. P. SUBTRIPINNATUM, C. B. Clarke. Frond 5 feet by 4, slightly pubescent on the 
rhachises beneath, otherwise glabrous; tertiary pinnee (not quite free) 2 by 4 in., 
broadly oblong obtuse, crenate or obtusely subpinnatifid; sori very large, hemi- 
spherical. (Pl LXXX. fig. 1.) S 
Sikkim, alt. 6500 feet; Neebay on the Upper Ratong, C. B. Clarke. Once collected’ 
Thin, green in texture; the sori, not far advanced, show no traces of involucre. Most 
resembling Nephrodium Boryanum, var. microstegioides in cutting; but the large hemi- 
spherical sori visible from the upperside of the frond indicate Polypodium rather than 
Lastrea. 
8. P. DRYOPTERIS, Linn. Sp.. Pl. 1555. Rhizome creeping; stipe with lanceolate- 
subulate scales near the base; frond 3-8 in., deltoid, 3-pinnate, thin, green, nearly 
glabrous, often glandulose.—Engl. Bot. t. 616; Schk. Krypt. Gew. t. 25; Hook. 
Brit. Ferns, t. 4, Sp. Fil. iv. 250; Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. t. 74; Hk. & Baker, 
Syn. Fil. 309. P. Robertianum, Hoffm. ; Hook. Brit. Ferns, t. 5, Sp. Fil. iv. 250. 
P. caleareum, Engl. Bot. t. 1525. Phegopteris Dryopteris and Robertiana, Milde, 
Fil. Europ. 98, 99. 
Kashmir, alt. 7000-11,000 feet, frequent, extending thence eastwards to Kumaon.— 
Distrib. Arctic and Alpine Europe, Asia, and America. 
Some of the Indian examples are very large and very glandulose. Milde still main- 
tains P. Dryopteris and P. Robertianum to be distinct species; but I cannot make his 
diagnosis divide the Kew bundles. If P. Robertianum be distinct, it grows in the West 
Himalaya. 
9. P. ogxATUM, Wall. Cat. 327. Stipe and lower part of main rhachis with lanceolate- 
linear persistent scales, often muricate or scabrous from their persistent bases, but 
not pilose nor viscous; frond 3-pinnate, sub-4-pinnate; ultimate pinnæ pilose, with 
needle-like patent hairs.—Bedd. Ferns South. Ind. t. 171. P. pallidum, Brack .; 
Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 266. Nephrodiwm tenericaule, Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. t. 269, not the 
description. 
From Kumaon to Bhotan, in tropical valleys, alt. 0-2000 feet, common. Chittagong 
Hills, alt. 500 feet, C. B. Clarke.—Distrib. South India, Ceylon, Malaya, North Aus- 
tralia, Polynesia. 
` This common Indian fern is at once recognized by the very firm scales on the stipe 
and main rhachis, the persistent bases of which often make the stipe very rough; 
AE2 
