THE FERNS OF NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 79 



A specimen collected by Mr. Bliss afc Simla is 16 in. br. with pinnas 1^ in. 

 wide, If in. nearest rhachis , veinlets 12— 14 of aside, up to 17 in lowest 

 segments, forked in lowest, and occasionally so in next above. In this species 

 the sori are considerably nearer the costa than the edge. 



3. P. PhegopteriS, L. ; Syn. Fil. 308 ; C. E. 541. Phegopteris vul- 

 garis, Mett., Bedd. H. B. 290. 



Tkans-Ind. States : JDjY.— Hirga 9500', Surg.-Lt. S. A. Harriss, 1895. 



Kashmir :— Tajwas Nala, 11-12,000', Levinge 1872-75 ; Dr. Aitchison 86-10,000' ; 

 Sarpat 10,000', MacLeod ; Gulmarg 8-9000', Duthie. 



Punjab : C/wwtJa— Pangi 8000', McDonell 1882 ; Upper Chenab Vy. 8000' (in 

 Kashmir ? ), Baden Powell 1879 ; "Chamba" J. Marten ; Pa'ngi— Sancb. Vy. 8500', 

 Harsukh (Sahar. Herb. collrO 1899 ; Lahaul, Dr. G..Watt. 



N.-W. P. : T. Garhioal—B&nga, Pani 10,000', and Kidarkanta 10-11,000', Duthie 

 1879 ; Kumaun— between Milain and Rilkot 10,000', MacLeod 1893. 



DlSTBlB. — Amer t : Greenland to Alaska, Labrador, Newfoundland, and Canada ; 

 U. S. : New England to Virginia and westward ; Europe : Iceland, Scandinavia and 

 British Isles to Spain, N. Italy and Greece, and intervening regions; Caucasus. Asia : 

 N. Ind. (Him.), Sikkim— Sundukphu 11,500' Levinge. Siberia, Mandschuria, Kams- 

 cttatka, and Japan. 



4. P. distans, Don ; Syn. Fil. 308 ; C. E. 544. Phegopteris distans, 

 Don (under Polypodium), Bedd. H. B. 292. 



Kashmir : ? 



Punjab \-Chaanba 1 Simla Region ? 



N.-W. P. : D. D. Dist.— Jaunsar, Chakrata 7000', Gamble No. 22,825, 1891 ; 

 Kumaun, near suspension bridge on old road to Almora, Hope 1861. 



Distbib Asia : N. Ind. (Him.). Nepal , Wallich; Sikkim, C. B. Clarke : typical ; 



Assam— Khasia, Simons. Malay Peninsula. Java. China. 



As both Clarke and Beddome say, P. distans has tufted stipes, and -as in all 

 Gamble's specimens from Sikkim and Chittagong — 1G sheets — which are com- 

 plete, the caudex is erect with tufted stipes, and as this is the character of some 

 thirty specimens in the Calcutta Herbarium, I have separated the numerous 

 specimens from N.-W. India, hitherto called P. distans, but which have a 

 widely creeping and branching rhizome, and I give them as a new species — 

 P. late-repens, nest below. I am doubtful about the Kashmir specimens which 

 I have not seen except Trotter's, which we agreed are late-repens, and also about 

 MoDoneirs from Chainba. Gamble's, and some of Blanford's, specimens from 

 the Simla Eegion have erect caudices, and so have Gamble's from Jaunsar in the 

 Dehra Dun District. The Kumaun specimens have the caudex rather decum- 

 bent and stipes subtufted, but are otherwise the same. 



Generally speaking, P. distans seems to be a smaller, stiffer, narrower, and 

 less cut fern than the next, but occasionally the fronds are broad for their length. 

 This is so with a specimen from Sikkim, coll. King, No. 4132, 1877, which 

 Sir George kindly sent me in 1890, as a type of Don's plant. That frond is 



