THE FERNS OF NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 535 



from the Himalayas, and though I suppose you will call them L. hirtipfs, they 

 seem to pass on and ran into Lastrea mspidata.'^ I need not here consider 

 whether N. cuspidatum and N. MrUpp.s are distinct species ; but I may say that 

 I think-iV. Gamblei is the farther removed from N. cuspidatum. I have seen 

 one or more specimens named N. hirtipes in Colonel Beddome's collection, 

 which I should name JSF. Gamblei. 



6. N. repens, n. sp. — Rhiz. widely creeping and branching, and throw- 

 ing up fronds h iu. to 1 in. or more apart (sometimes forming dense beds) 

 ^ in. thick ; stiff and ligneous when dried ; st. naked or with a few deciduous 

 scales at base only, upwards becoming downy or villose, as are the rhachises, 

 3 — 6 in. long below the am'icles of the frond, rarely longer ; fr. ovate with an 

 acuminate apex, but suddenly reduced below and contmued by almost linear- 

 auricles down the stipe, which dwindle in size until scarcely visible, auricles 

 sometimes bipartite with segments pointing up — and downwards, simply pinnate, 

 2 — 4 ft. long including auricled base, by 6 — 12 in, br. ; pinn. numerous, 

 close, not generally more distant towards base (but the am-icles increasingly so), 

 acuminate, width from ^ to 1 in., rarely more, generally under f in., cut down 

 nearly to the sec. rh. into very numerous narrow parallel-sided round-pointed 

 segments wliich are closely set — though always separated by a narrow sinus, 

 slightly curved upwards at apices ; texture herbaceous or sometimes subcoriaceous, 

 the costa thickly and the veins sparsely clothed on both surfaces with short hairs 

 or down ; ven. of segments simply pinnate, attached to or abutting upon, but not 

 branching from, the rhachis of the pinna ; i.'en. 6 — 18 pairs of veins, runniog out 

 to the edge, the lowest pair just above the sinus ; sori small, one on each vein 

 except near apices of pinnse and segments, where they are wanting, medial or 

 sometimes ratfner nearer the margin ; i?ivol. glabrous, persistent, sometimes 

 shrivehing. (Plate VIII.) 



Punjab : Chaviba—Ghao (or Sao) 6000', C. B. Clarke 23605, 7-10-74 (?) ; Eavi 

 Valley 5000', Blanf.; Chamba 6-7000', J. Marten 1897; Mandi State SOW, iTotter ; 

 Eullu 6-7000', Trotter ; Simla Reg.—^imld. 5000', Collett ; the Glen 6000', Gamble; 

 Usan Valley 4300', Blanf.: " Common in ravines below 6000'," Blanf. in List (under 

 iV. ^roZ«a;M??t) ; Bliss 1 890, several stations. N.-W.iP.: D. D. Dist. — Jaunsar : Eupin 

 Valley 4500', C. G. Eogers ; Tons Valley 3000', Gamble ; "Dhoon" (in the Dehra Dun) 

 Vicary ; Suarna Nala 4506', P. W. Mackinnon and Hope 1881 ; Sahasradhara 2000./ 

 Hope ; Mnssooree — in Herb. Dalzel, King-, Herschel, Mackinnons, Hope ; T. Garh. — 

 Phedi 4-5000', Duthie ; Ku7)iaun—Ka,nm 6300', S. and W. ; Naini Tal, Hope 1861 

 Chippleghat and Koonoor, Davidson 1871 ; near Askot 4-5000', (Duthie 1884 ; Nalena 

 Valley 47-5000', Hope 1890 ; near Bans 6500', Trotter 1891 ; Kaini Valley— Shama 

 4200', MacLeod 1893. 



Di3TRiB.—^«j« : N. Ind. (Him.) Nepal— TFflZ^ic/j 349. Aspid. No, 29; « Legi in 

 Napalia 1821 " ; Sikkim and Bhotan (?) ; Assam— Shilloug 6000', C. B, Clarke. W. 



