639 



CEYLON FERNS 



IN THE BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY 

 SOCIETY'S HERBARIUM. 



BY 



E. Blattee, S. J. 



The herbarium of the B. N. H. Society contains about two-thirds 

 of the species of Ferns known to occur in Ceylon. The specimens 

 presented by Major Macpherson have, in many cases, been collected 

 in places which are not mentioned in the botanical literature on 

 the Fern-Flora of India and Ceylon. By compiling this list it is my 

 intention to add a little to the knowledge of the distribution of the 

 Ferns on that botanically interesting Island. I am of opinion that it 

 is not the chief aim of a museum to amass as great an amount of speci- 

 mens as possible and to lock them up in safe cases : all the information 

 they contain ought to be made accessible to those interested in a 

 certain branch. This applies especially to collections made and kept 

 in India, as comparatively very few botanists are ever in a position 

 to pay a visit to the Far East and to examine personally what material 

 may be stored up in an Indian museum. In order to make the 

 catalogue more complete I shall give all the information available to 

 me regarding the distribution of the single species in Ceylon. This 

 is not very much and is almost confined to Beddome's publications on 

 Indian Ferns. An asterisk in the list indicates that the respective 

 species is not represented in our herbarium ; it is, at the same time, 

 an invitation to the members of the B. N. H. Society to fill up the 

 gaps in our collections. 



/. Gleicheniacece, 

 *1. Gleichenia linearis (Burm.) Ceylon up to 6,000 ft. (Bedd v 



II. Polypodiacew. 

 *2. Cyathea sinuata (Hook. & Grev.), Singhe Rajah Forest, 

 o. ,, hookeri (Thw.), Kandy (Macpherson), Singhe 



Rajah Forest. (Bedd.) 

 4. Amphicosmia walkerse (Hook.) Newera Elya (Macph.), 

 centre of the Island at the higher elevations (Bedd.) 

 *5. Alsophila glabra (Hook.) 

 6. „ crinita (Hook.) Newera Elya (Macph.), Central 



provinces (Bedd.) 



