MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 557 
P. quercifolium the stipe of the fertile frond had been increased by having the 
barren frond fused into it; hence all fronds cordate, sessile; main veins carried 
parallel to each other to the margin; sori large, confluent in a single row between 
the main veins.—Mett. Farngatt. Polypod. 121, tt. 40, 41; Hook. Exot. EL 4... 01, 
Sp. Fil. v. 95. P. contiguum, Wall. Cat. 285, only by admixture. P. conjugatum, 
Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 306, not of Lamk. Drynaria coronans, Bedd. Ferns Brit. 
Ind. t. 13. 
Himalaya, alt. 1000-4000 feet ; from Nepaul to Bhotan, rare. Khasia, alt. 1000-3000 
feet, frequent. Chittagong Hills, alt. 500 feet, C. B. Clarke.—Distrib. South China. 
. P. conjugatum, Lamk. Encycl. v. 516, is an African fern, founded on the figure in 
Plukenet's Phytogr. t. 179. fig. 1, which is perhaps P. phymatodes, Linn., but cannot 
possibly be P. coronans, as the figure shows the rhizome and the foot of the stipe. 
Subgenus IX. Phymatodes. Fronds undivided, simple lobed or pinnatifid, glabrous or 
nearly so. Veins copiously anastomosing, the free included veinlets spreading in 
all directions. 
* Fronds simple, or sparingly or irregularly lobed, not regularly pinnatifid. 
| T Main veins not distinct to the edge. 
41. P. nosrratuM, Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 66, 2nd Cent. Ferns, t. 53. Rhizome very slender, 
wide-creeping, with spreading lanceolate-linear scales; stipes distant, 3-2 in.; 
fronds lanceolate acuminate, somewhat dimorphic, the barren being broader; 
texture coriaceous, veins obscure; sori large, in two rows often the whole length of 
the frond.— Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 353. Pleopeltis rostrata, Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. 
t. 159. 
. Sikkim and Bhotan, alt. 6000 feet, in many places and in large quantity. Khasia, alt. 
4000-5000 feet, frequent. 
49. P. SUPERFICIALE, Blume, Enum. Pl. Jav. Fil. 123, Fl. Jav. Fil. t. 56. fig. 1. Rhi- 
- zome scandent, not very thick; scales ovate and lanceolate, some acute, none hair- 
pointed; stipes long, 1-4 in., sometimes with ovate scales; frond lanceolate-linear, 
coriaceous (but in some examples the veins are distinct); sori in many rows, scat- 
tered, large or small.—Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 71; Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 355. Pleopeltis 
superficialis, Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. t. 75. 
Khasia, alt. 4000-6000 feet, plentiful, extending to the Naga country east, and to 
Bhotan and Mishmee.—Distrib. South China, Malaya. 
The Khasi fern figured by Beddome very accurately, starting from the ground, ascends 
the trunks of small trees and shrubs for several feet; the scales are adpressed to the 
rhizome, and the examples are all very constant to the type. In all this group of ferns, 
though the young fresh frond is coriaceous opaque, the frond in age (and sometimes 
through deficiency of nutriment in unhealthy growth) shows the venation with great 
distinctness.—P. hymenodes, Wall. Cat. 283, is reduced here by Sir W. J. Hooker, Z. c. ; 
but the identical sheet thereof on which he relied is P. normale type (mihi). 
