168 JOURNAL. BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



farinosa, the common Silver-fern of our hillsides ; Aspletiium 

 aureum ? with golden fertile fronds, contrasting beautifully with 

 the dark, almost blackish-green sterile fronds ; and a few others of 

 rare occurrence. We further observe graceful and finely divided 

 fronds in several Davallias, as in the effective D. bullata and the 

 beautiful D. fijiensis plumosa, in a few Aspleniums, as A, Belangeri 

 and A. bulbifernm, &c. Almost endless variety of habit, form of 

 foliage, and shades of green, occur in the numerous kinds of Ane- 

 mia, Aspidium, Nephrodium, Nephrolepis, of which the charming 

 N. Duffii has become a great favourite in Bombay ; while few Ferns 

 are so strikingly effective as N. davallioides fur cans, with its often 

 repeatedly cleft feathered leaves, Poly podium, Pteris and Asplenium 

 (often subdivided into variously-named forms, such as Lastrcea, 

 Cyrtomium, Pleopeltis, Litobrochia, Pellcea, Gymnopteis, Drynaria, 

 &c, all referable to one of the above named forms). Conspicuous 

 by their size are the beautiful Blechmim orientale and B. brasilienses, 

 the only tree-ferns that are successfully cultivated in Bombay ; the 

 yet rare, but attractive Lomariabagiba ; the magnificent indigenous 

 Marattiafraxinea which with its large, spreading and repeatedly 

 divided light green fronds, occasionally reaches quite gigantic 

 dimensions, in which respect it is only rivalled by the striking 

 Australian variety of the Bird's-nest fern, Asplenium Nidus, of 

 which enormous specimens, in which the simple black-ribbed light 

 green fronds occasionally have more or less forked tips, form a 

 centre of attraction in many Ferneries. The very strong-growing 

 tall and spreading Pteris podophylla also deserves to be mentioned 

 for its great dimensions, as well as Asplenium marginatum for its 

 very dark green, broad, and long fronds, and Asplenium esculentum 

 for its unusually elegant habit. Of Club-mosses, Selayinellas and 

 Lycopodiums, closely allied to Ferns, a number of beautiful kinds 

 occur in Bombay, of these Selaginella rubella, with large spreading 

 triangular fronds changing colour from delicate green to dark 

 coppery-brown, the bright green S. caulesnsceamoena S. Vogeli 

 with dwarf flat pale green, often in the centre yellowish-tinged, 

 fronds. 8. Willdenoivii distinguished by its small, neat, dark, dull 

 green, graceful fronds, and the compact erect-growing 8. Martensii, 

 are the most common. Lycopodium denticulatum, with its bright 



