82 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV. 



I have not seen the specimens from the west of Nepal on •which Clarke founds, 

 nor any others from N.-W. India. 



10. P. proliferum, Presl. ; Syn. Ml. 315. P. proliferum (Roxb.) Wall. 

 Cut. 312, C. R. 548. Goniopteris prolifera Roxb., Bedd. B. B. 2U6. Menisc 

 ium proliferum {Su\) Hook 2nd Cent. 



Kashmir : 3000'; Trotter in List. 



Punjab : Chamba — McDonell in List ; near Dalbousie 3000', Trotter, Kangra 

 Valley But. 2-3000', Trotter. 



N.-W. P. : I). D. Dist. — Very common in the Dun, on banks of streams and 

 canals, up to perhaps 3000' ; T. Garh. 1500', Hope, 3000' Mackinnons ; Saharanpur 

 Digt.—Roovkee, Lt. Sedgwick, R.E. ; Era-maun — The Bhabar 1000', S. and W. ; Gonai, 

 Davidson, above Katgodam — below 2000', Hope ; Gorakhpur Did. — Sirna Tal, on 

 banks of Rohni R : had been submerged lift, by a flood, A. Campbell ; Moradabad, 

 T. T. 1344 ; North Oudh Forests, R. Thompson. 



Distrib. — Asia : N. Ind. — eastward in the plains, and westward along the foot 

 of the bills up to 3000'; Chutia Nagpur, Rev. A. Campbell ; Central Provs., Hoshanfe- 

 abad Dist., Duthie ; The Concan, Law. S. Ind. ; Ceylon — Trincomalee, Wight-; 

 Burma — Mergui. Malaya S. China. Philippines. N. Caledonia. N. Australia. S. 

 Australia — Queensland. New Guinea. Afr : Angola. Zambesi Land. Shire— near 

 Blantyre; E. Trop. Africa. Mauritius. S. Africa. 



As I find none of the published descriptions of this species sufficient, 1 

 venture the following, which is founded on long observation of growing 

 plants : — 



Rhizome stout, slowly creeping and branching. Fronds springing some- 

 times in tufts, procumbent, or climbing among bushes and in hedge- 

 rows : sometimes of definite length, broad, spreading, and sterile, but 

 one or more fronds of a tuft having a leading prolonged rhachis 

 which throws off branches from buds at the axils of the pinnae 

 3-6 inches apart, up to 6 branches per bud, and, if trailing on the 

 ground, becomes an epigeous rhizome, throwing out roots £S well 

 as branches from the axils, but ultimately diminishes in width and 

 becomes flagelliform : the side branches fertile, and often prolonged, 

 sending out one or more branches from each bud as does the main 

 rhachis : the main flagelliform rhachis often fertile to the apex. 

 (Quoad iHtra — vide auctores). 

 Some of my observations were made on plants naturalised in my garden 

 in Dehra (N.-W. P.), transplants from a closely adjoining natural 

 station. Given moisture and other favourable circumstances, this 

 species is capable of great development : I believe lateral shoots 

 sometimes become leaders. Beddome is certainly wrong in saying 

 ' that the elongated and flagelliform fronds are " non-seeding," aa 

 specimens in my collection show. 



