558 MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 
Var. semilinearis. Scales of the rhizome patent, more acute ; fronds subsessile. 
Bhotan, Griffith. Nepaul, Wallich—A solitary but fine specimen ; the scales and 
the subsessile fronds are more like those of P. lineare ; but the sori are scattered in 
many rows. Wallich’s example is mixed under his P. longifrons, Wall. Cat. 274. 
43. P. NORMALE, Don, Prodr. Fl. Nep.1. Rhizome scandent, not very thick, with ovate or 
lanceolate, sometimes almost hair-pointed adpressed scales, some of which carry erect 
from their backs tufts of linear stiff black-red bristles; frond narrowed much at the 
base, sometimes to the very foot of the stipe, usually broadest near the middle; a 
few scattered ovate close-adpressed scales often present on the stipe or near the 
base of the main rhachis beneath; sori often in several rows, or irregularly in one 
row or (rarely) regular in one row.—Mett. Farngatt. Polypod. 86, t. 1. figs. 41-48 ; 
Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 69; Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 358. P. longifrons, Wall. Cat. 274, 
as to type sheet; Hk. & Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 65. Pleopeltis normalis, Bedd. Ferns Brit. 
Ind. t. 10? 
Himalaya, alt. 4000-8000 feet ; from Nepaul to Bhotan, frequent. Khasia, alt. 3000- 
5000 feet, frequent.— Distrib. ? 
I understand this species exactly as Mettenius did, and define it by the very peculiar 
bristles on the backs of the scales of the rhizome. Beddome’s figure may be the true 
plant, but shows no scales at all. As in other species, the scales along the rhizome are 
usually subobtuse, while those near the extremities and the base of the stipes are acute. 
—The Kew Malaya material formerly placed here is named by Mettenius P. chinense. 
44. P. LINEARE, Thunb. Fl. Jap. 335, Ic. Pl. Jap. t. 19. Rhizome creeping not very 
extensively, clothed with lax ovate or lanceolate, often nearly hair-pointed grey 
scales without bristles on their backs; fronds much longer than their stipes, lanceo- 
late-linear, narrowed at the base, sometimes nearly to the foot of the stipe; sori 
large, in a single row midway between the main rhachis and margin.—Hk. & Baker, 
Syn. Fil. 354. P. loriforme, Wall. Cat. 271; Mett, Farngatt. Polypod. 92, t. 1. 
figs. 49, 50; Hook. Garden Ferns, t. 14, Sp. Fil. v. 57. P leiopteris, Kunze; Mett, 
Fil. Hort. Lips. t. 25. figs. 37-39. D sesquipedale, Wall. Cat. 275; Mett, Farngatt. 
Polypod. 91. P. excavatum, Willd. Sp. Pl. v. 158. P. contiguum, Wall. Cat. 285. 
P. Wightianum, Wall. Cat. 2222. P. acutissimwm, Wall. Cat. 4727. P. Greville- 
anum, Wall. Cat. 5169. P. gladiatwm, Wall. Cat. 279. P. phlebodes, Kunze ; Mett. 
Farngatt. Polypod. 92. P. atro-punctatum, Gaud.; Hk. & Arn. Bot. Beech. Voy. 
108. Pleopeltis nuda, Hook. Exot. Fl. t. 63; Hk. & Bauer, Gen. Fil t. 18. P. 
Wightiana, Bedd. Ferns South. Ind. t. 180. 
Himalaya, alt. 1000—10,000 feet; from Kashmir to Bhotan, very common. hasia; 
alt. 500-6000 feet; very common.—Distrib. South India, Ceylon, Malay Peninsula and 
Islands, China, Japan, Southern and Central Africa, with the islands. R 
One of the most abundant of ferns in the Indian hills: The sori are, when young, 
mixed with scales shaped like tin-tacks, whence J: Smith makes it to be a gen. nov: 
