MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 579 
ovate or lanceolate scales; fronds simple; barren frond not diaphanous, but the 
venation distinct, main veins more or less traceable in zigzag course to the edge; 
areolee with many free included veins.—Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 417. A. rivulare, 
Wall. Cat. 2165. Gymnopteris variabilis, Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. t. 272. G. de- 
currens, Hook. Garden Ferns, t. 6. Leptochilus decurrens, Blume, Enum. Pl. Jav. 
Fil. 206 ; Fée, 2" Mém. Foug. 88, t. 48. fig. 2. Osmunda lanceolata, Roxb. in Cale. 
Journ, Nat. Hist. iv. 479, t. 27. 
Sikkim, Bhotan, Assam, Khasia, Cachar; alt. 250-4000 feet, common.—Distrib. 
South India, Ceylon, Burma, Java. | i 
The distribution is doubtful, this fern being difficult to distinguish, not merely from 
the var. lanceolata, but from A. azillare. 
Var. lanceolata, (sp.) Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 276. Zigzag main veins less distinctly traceable, 
sometimes the venation such that it cannot be made out which veins are the main 
veins.—Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 420. Gymnopteris Féei, Bedd. Ferns South. Ind. 
t. 48. Leptochilus lanceolatus, Fée, 2° Mém. Foug. 87, t. 47. fig. 1. 
Chota Nagpore, alt. 3500 feet, Parasnath; C. B. Clarke.—Distrib. South India, 
Ceylon, Burma. 
7. A. AXILLARE, Cav.; Hook. Sp. Fil v. 276. Rhizome slender, tortuous, elongate, 
ascending trees, naked or nearly so; fronds simple; barren frond diaphanous ; main 
. veins more or less distinct ; areola with many free included veinlets.—Hk. & Baker 
Syn. Fil 420. Gymnopteris axillaris, Presl, Tent. Pterid. 244, t. 11. figs. 4, 5; 
Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. t. 271. Leptochilus axillaris, Kaulf. Enum. Fil. 147, t. 1. 
fim. 10. Lomaria? serpens, Wall. Cat. 32. Polypodium hymenodes, Wall. Cat. 
283. | | 
Plain of Bengal and Assam to the base of the hills, frequent.—Distrib. Pegu. 
Barren fronds usually stipitate; but there is a form collected by Wallich and Griffith 
With small sessile barren fronds reduced in this place. 
8. A. Minus, Mett. Fil. Hort. Lips. 20. Rhizome very slender, shortly creeping in river 
sands, scales many, lanceolate; fronds simple; barren frond thin, opaque; main 
veins not distinctly traceable to the edge—Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 277; Hk. & Baker, 
Syn. Fil. 420. Leptochilus minor, Fée, 2° Mém. Foug. 87, t. 25. fig. 3 (excl. syn. 
G. normalis, J. Smith). Gymnopteris minor, Hook. 2nd Cent. Ferns, t. 78; Bedd. 
Ferns Brit. Ind. t. 116. 5 
Khasia, alt. 2000-4500 feet; Hook. f. & T. Thoms.; C. B. Clarke, frequent. 
Beddome observes (Ferns Brit. Ind. Suppl. p. 26) that this fern is probably a small 
form of Gymnopteris lanceolata (i. e. Acrostichum variabile above); and I can state no 
difference, except that the fronds are much smaller, with a much slenderer rhizome, and 
I find no examples of intermediate size. 
: : 9. A. FLAGELLIFERUM, Wall. Cat. 25. Barren pinnæ 7-11 (or when the terminal pinna 
is proliferous 5-3-1 only), 5 by 2 in., entire or nearly so, à series of costal arches 
